Peggy's Blog

Dear Friends, As some of you know, my health has worsened substantially over the past five years since I acquired a chronic bartonella infection that caused serious cardiac issues, and since I contracted chronic neurological Lyme on top of my already-severe case of ME/CFS and MCS. Just as things were starting to improve on proper meds for bartonella and Lyme, the worst Ice Storm in 30 years hit Massachusetts. Without power, I lost my heating system, well pump, lights, stairlift, and was thrown into a catastrophic state of emergency. I ended up in the hospital for 4 1/2 days. Hospital stays can be lethal for people with chemical sensitivities and ME/CFS. As ME writer Jodi Bassett states, "It is very common for severely affected patients to spend 2 months, 6 months, 12 months or even YEARS or longer recovering from a hospital trip. For example, some patients have not regained their previous very low-level of health 2 or 4 years after a trip to hospital. Some never do recover, a...

The Ice Storm I know this ice storm in New England was potentially lethal for everyone, but the past few days were harrowing for me. I turned 40 on Wednesday, and on Thursday night the power went out – and stayed out for almost 48 hours. The temperature was around 15 degrees Fahrenheit or less at night and for much of the day, and my life turned into a Jon Krakauer novel very quickly. With multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) everything is inaccessible (so if you’re an EMT, firefighter, hospital worker, M.D., nurse, or shelter worker, think about this). Calling 911 is generally out of the question, emergency rooms are full of toxic cleaning chemicals and scented people, and the carbon monoxide from generators or the toxins from wood smoke can be particularly dangerous or lethal (and hotels: forget about it). Because I was weak and sick going into the outage, I was suddenly like that guy in Into the Wild – picture the end of the movie version of the book – who has eaten the pois...

Mayor Ray Nagin reports that the "storm of the century," Hurricane Gustav, is bearing down on New Orleans. Are we better prepared this time? Time reports : "Stung by the images that flashed across the world, including the photo of an elderly woman dead in her wheelchair, her body covered with a blanket, officials promised to find a better way." I remember that image too – the wheelchair, of course, is what got me. Not only the wheelchair, but also the appalling lack of recognition of disability issues in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I heard reporters talking about race and class and sidestepping the disability issue. I remember another image of a man with no legs on a rooftop. The newscast cut from that image to one of a reporter saying quizzically, "Why didn't some people leave?" The reporter, of course, drew no connection between those crazy stragglers and, say, the lack of legs. So what's the plan for Gustav? "This time, the cit...