'Get your affairs in order'

“I was suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and Fibromyalgia that developed after a near death experience with mold” says Gloria from Texas, who now calls herself an “ex-canary.”

Photo: Contributed

People who suffer from Chemical Sensitivities are called the “canaries” of our time. Miners would take canaries into a coal mine with them to determine air quality - if the canary stopped singing or dropped dead they knew it was time to leave. 

Gloria continues, “Unbeknown to me, the mold was in the school where I taught as a bilingual teacher. Symptoms started in 2003. Shortly thereafter, unexplained headaches turned into migraines. Symptoms gradually got worse and five years later, I was having seizures and stroke-like symptoms. I also became allergic to all but 18 foods. When I would eat the foods I had become allergic to, it would result in a mysterious paralysis!  

I had been to see fifty two (Yes, 52!) doctors including general practitioners, chiropractors, neurologists, and specialists in gastro-intestinal, hormone, thyroid, etc., who were all unable to determine the cause of my strange illness. My successful teaching career came to a very abrupt halt. 

By October 2007, I had become a wheelchair-bound invalid. After a ten hour seizure that was triggered by a common chemical cleaner, local emergency room doctors confirmed our worst fear. Their somber advice was “get your affairs in order”. 

In utter disbelief and sheer agony, my family began to video tape the events of my illness, in hopes that we might convince the School District to remedy the mold problem (for the sake of the children) even if it were postmortem.  Instead, I got fired. In the 2007-2008 school year, mold had been discovered in many classrooms at the school where I served as a Bilingual/ESL Teacher. 

By now, small concentrations of mold in any environment caused seizures or loss of motor skills, and would result in paralysis that would last up to 2 days. The diagnosis from Doctor # 53 was toxic encephalopathy. A Spect Scan revealed a brain injury that the doctor attributed to mold. 

My husband and I believed that if I removed the mold, my body would take care of everything else. Yet, even after detoxifying the mold and seventy-five different types of therapies later, I was still reacting!

Then the same symptoms spread and I began to be triggered by perfume, cologne, chlorine, and the blue cleaner used in restaurants. Within minutes, I would crumble to the ground like a rag doll, totally helpless to stop the impending seizure, or paralysis; a cycle that repeated itself hundreds of times over the past 10 years. 

But thanks to the Dynamic Neural Retraining System this has all changed and I can finally move forward in my life.
The first few weeks after I completed the program, I noticed that places I frequented no longer smelled the same and had no seizures. I even had lunch at a restaurant with a friend who was wearing cologne! For me, this was huge!”

After many years of suffering and pain, Gloria now considers herself healed. 

If you suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Chemical Sensitivities or Fibromaylgia and are interested in attending the Dynamic Neural Retraining System program in Kelowna on Jan 27 – 29, please inquire soon as seating is limited.  Email [email protected] or call 778-821-1745 for more information and registration details.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.