"Canary"

I recently learned that people who suffer multiple chemical sensitives are called "canaries." This is because we're being likened to canaries used by miners. Miners would take the birds with them into the mines and send them ahead into uncharted territory. If the birds died, the miners would know there is toxic/ deadly gas that needs to be avoided. In other words, a "canary" is a person who suffers toxins other people can't yet detect.

The analogy made me cry a little. It's a rather grim, depressing way of describing ourselves. It makes it sound hopeless, as if we were born to suffer. As if we're disposable test subjects. If too many "canaries" die from a company's products, is that when it is decided to pull those products from the market? Unfortunately, this does sound like the truth. Companies don't pull their poorly tested products from the market until too many people complain about the dangers and side effects they experienced with the product.

If those of us who chemical sensitive are "canaries," shouldn't everyone else pay close attention to us as we use products in order to save themselves from harm? If we are going to embrace being "canaries," shouldn't we use our roles to be activists for a cleaner, safer, less-toxic world?

I, personally, am not so sure I want to embrace the term. I believe I serve a greater purpose than being the one to "suffer" or "die" as a warning to others.

My doctor warned me not to Google MCS. He didn't want me reading all sorts of misinformation and skepticism from the medical community. He also didn't want me to get scared or confused. I needed to learn my own body without influence. I'm sure he had other reasons for telling me not to Google this. I respected this, and I didn't Google MCS... for the first month. As the "diagnosis" (he doesn't like to diagnose or use labels, which I also respect) made more and more sense during that first month, my curiosity grew. I did, however, remember how futile and infuriating it was to research fibromyalgia online. I learned not to bother reading medical websites, because they are wrong and will only anger me. I also read a lot of very bad advice. This time, when Googling MCS, I ignored all the medical results and "studies" and went straight to the blogs and forums of people with MCS. I just wanted to read about other people's experiences to gain a little perspective. Reading these blogs has helped me gain a lot of perspective. While I don't feel the need to wear an organic hemp mask and a personal air filter everywhere I go, I think I could have needed to be that extreme if I didn't seek out treatment for all my health problems when I did. While I don't get extreme flu-like symptoms that warrant an ER visit when I'm reacting, my reactions, though more mild, are still my body's very important way of communicating with me. I may not be "as bad" as the most vocal "canaries" online, but my suffering is still my own and is still important. I'm also learning from these blogs ways that may help me improve more. I do live in a house with carpet, particle board cabinets, a memory foam mattress, rotting window frames, and so on.

The most helpful/ interesting blogs for me so far have been:

http://safecanarynest.com/welcome

http://thrivingwithmcs.com/blog

If you don't suffer MCS, but want to know what it's all about, I highly recommend either of these blogs. They're very "eye opening" and they're about these people's experiences.