Rhonda's interview
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How did all start?
At birth, most likely due to being exposed to trichloroethylene in the womb and up to 10 years old from my Father's watch repair shop.
Do you already have a diagnosis? How long did it take you to get it?
I am diagnosed with MCS in 2015 and it took me 52 years to be diagnosed after suffering my whole life with reactions and contact dermatitis from it.
For what medical specialties have you been treated? What has been the most useful specialty for your?
Allergy Specialist and Neurologist and both recommend the only treatment is supplements and avoidance.
What has been the most useful thing for you so far?
Avoidance
What have been your biggest difficulties?
Being around people, relationships with men and family, public places, and getting fired from work for asking for them to enforce their no fragrance policy. Life in general is an isolating experience.
How has your social and family environment reacted? Have your social or family relationships changed?
I have few people I can be around and I have no social life to speak of and many people think I am making things up or some kind of fanatic but all I am doing is trying to avoid reactions from them.
What things have you stopped doing?
Going places, being around people, going to Church, going to friends houses, family's houses, people cant come to my house, I even suffer at the beach if I try to go, the chemicals in peoples laundry products and suntan lotions cause me breathing difficulty and it just gets more chemically as the years pass because companys want fragrance to be stronger and last longer.
What do you think about the future?
I think we are killing ourselves and our planet and people like me with MCS are canaries for the future of mankind. We are the first ones to evolve from chemical use due to the damage it does to our brain, skin, lungs, kidneys, liver, and I believe it is becoming more and more prevalent and in the years to come it will eventually spread to ginormous amounts of population. I believe many diseases are the result of the chemicals in everyday life in the average persons life and they are just not aware and think that they have diseases by chance. The chemicals people are exposed to on a daily 24/7 basis are known carcinogens, known to cause organ damage, known to cause reproductive harm but people are not aware. The chemical industry is rich while they are killing people and the people never make the connection to the products they have lived with in daily life over years is what is killing them, giving them and their children diseases, and eventually poisoning them even causing early death in many cases.
So far, which years have been the best years in your life? What have you done during them?
Probably from 0 to 3 years of age were the best years, other than that I have lived suffering
What would you like to do if you didn’t have your condition?
I would go places like the beach, Church, friends, I would enjoy places and people more if I didn't have this in the way of living.
If you had to describe your life in a sentence, what would it be?
I live my life suffering emotionally and physically because people do not understand my disease, if they can't see it, it must not be true.
Finally, what advice would you give to a person in a similar situation?
Avoidance, don't let people hurt you, and fight for your rights because if we do nothing the world will never change. Advocate for yourself and pursue people who understand and care, ditch those who don't.
