However, this prompted some deep reflection as to what I could have changed or did better along the way and my thoughts kept going back to my childhood. . . .
I grew up in an aluminum sided house. Yes, aluminum-AI. This straight from the CDC website:
Brain and bone disease caused by high levels of aluminum in the body have been seen in children along with kidney disease.
Read it for yourself ---> http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp22-c1-b.pdf
Let's start there. I vividly remember kicking a ball at the side of our house denting it over and over - only to realize I was going to see some serious wooden spoon action if those dents were discovered. I worked for hours in the hot sun beating down that aluminum siding with my bare little hands trying to straighten out the damage I'd done, and then after no resolve made a big old bucket of mud and threw it upon the dents and moved on. . . that siding was sharp and on a good day you could pick up radio stations from Wisconsin on the North corner of the house "crcrccrrc THIS UPDATE JUST crcrcrc IN- GREEN BAY ccrcrccrcr HIGHEST TEMPERATURES IN 100 YEARS ccrcrcrr".
Fast forward to the summer of 1985 and we spent the summer pulling that aluminium siding off, breathing in the aluminum dust particles and then staining, by hand with paint rollers, what seemed like miles and miles of cedar siding. My sisters and I would roll the stain onto our bare arms in our tank tops, let it dry and then marvel in peeling it off- who knew that wood stain contains carcinogenics, neurtoxins and high levels of VOC's? Sure was fun though peeling it off like a layer of dead skin! If I ever make my own line of spray tan, I'm going to name it "cedar siding stain" because in all actuality that was my first "fake" tan, and the color was just fabulous!
An absolute at our house growing up was, if you got sick and showed any sign of a fever, out came the rectal mercury thermometer. Well, Marci and I put an end to that when we broke the end bulb of the thermometer and played for hours on the bathroom floor with that amazing little ball of liquid metal. We could squish it in our fingers and it would go back together, it shimmered like a crystal, magic ball- and when we were done in the bathroom we carried it out to the kitchen table and rolled it back and forth- Gosh that was fun! This just in from W.H.O.(World Health Organization) -
- Mercury may have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes.
- Mercury is considered by WHO as one of the top ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.
SAY WHAT SAY WHAT??? Say WWWHHHOOO!
If my recollections are right, shortly after that I had a 3 week stint in the local hospital with kidney issues, the silver lining? Prior to being admitted to the hospital my mom wasn't able to take my temperature- or atleast not in the manner to which we had become accustomed!
A daily chore when I was younger was to head out to the chicken coop. I was tasked with collecting, from beneath our chickens, their eggs- yup, eggs, straight from beneath the chickens in their coop filled with chicken poop and chicken feathers without gloves and without .. .GASP!!. . .washing my hands afterwards! I'll pause a moment here so you all can visit the CDC website and search:
SALMONELLA
Or better yet, here are their recommendations on handling chickens and eggs:
SALMONELLA
Or better yet, here are their recommendations on handling chickens and eggs:
Consumers who own live poultry should take steps to protect themselves:
- Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water right after touching live poultry or anything in the area where these birds live and roam.
- Do not let live poultry inside the house.
Who knows how many bouts of Salmonella I may or may not have had- perhaps I've developed a tolerance?? Those eggs sure were tasty though!
Along the same chore line as the egg collection was to help my dad with the pigs. I think my older sister Marci got more exposure to this than I did,but I do remember the pig flea dip. Did you know pigs could get FLEAS?? I recall the large bucket of chemicals and I remember how it smelled. . .inhale deeply, those micro particles of Lindane, and slowly exhale. I think the eye opener was when my dad dipped our cat in it and it convulsed and died in a rather horrifying manner within 2.5 seconds- no more inhaling the Lindane and sadly, no more Ke-Ke.
We also lived in a pretty wooded area growing up. With woods you have the almighty mosquito. We also lived literally feet from my grandparents house. On a hot summer night, when the windows were all open , we wouldn't get any sleep at our house because my grandpa's snoring next door was so loud. In fact, when my grandma sneezed in her house, we would yell "Bless you!!" from ours. Combined we had maybe 2 acres of property? Give or take. One summer day my grandpa showed up in the yard with a backpack mosquito fogger that left an awesome, fun cloud for us to run through and play in. I could stand 2 feet from my sister and not see her within that fog cloud. It was great! His backpack was probably designed for 100 acres, but he used it all up on our 2 acres! That was the summer of no pesky mosquitoes! Looking back, it was also the summer of no butterflies, no squirrels, no ants, no bees, no birds. . .hmmph! Mild coincidence I'm sure. Those Pyrethins sure did their job!! I'm thinking if I had to take a hair drug test today, it would still show up. . . .
We also took 2 fluoride tablets daily- never missing a dose. I don't think I need to elaborate on how toxic this substance has been portrayed of recent- just keep in mind this factoid: Babies and children excrete less fluoride from their kidneys and absorb up to 80% of ingested fluoride into their bones - MY BONES, I FEAR FOR MY BONES NOW,TOO!!!
My mom also had us on a steady diet of beef liver for quite some time - organ meat, BLAHHHH!!! I wonder if eating the "filter" of an animals body could put the toxins that it was getting rid of into your body???
Fast forward to 1998 through 2001- I was temporarily , a pretty impressive "functionng alcoholic"- Those were the days! Or so I thought until I realized the damage that I may have caused my body- nursing my daily hangover with extra strength Mortin- this from the National Kidney Foundation website: NSAIDs may cause an increased risk of sudden kidney failure and even progressive kidney damage. I wish I would have just taken the Tylenol, why didn't I just take the Tylenol??
So, as I was saying, I am thankful that I can be optimistic of the news I've received and hope for many more years with my kidneys- after all, I've become quite fond of the little guys! I've had many offers of donations this week and looking at it now I may tell my sisters "No thanks!!" because they were exposed to the same things I was (minus the chosen path of professional, functioning , alcoholic for 4 years) or better yet, I won't even need to take anyone up in their offer:)
Along the same chore line as the egg collection was to help my dad with the pigs. I think my older sister Marci got more exposure to this than I did,but I do remember the pig flea dip. Did you know pigs could get FLEAS?? I recall the large bucket of chemicals and I remember how it smelled. . .inhale deeply, those micro particles of Lindane, and slowly exhale. I think the eye opener was when my dad dipped our cat in it and it convulsed and died in a rather horrifying manner within 2.5 seconds- no more inhaling the Lindane and sadly, no more Ke-Ke.
We also lived in a pretty wooded area growing up. With woods you have the almighty mosquito. We also lived literally feet from my grandparents house. On a hot summer night, when the windows were all open , we wouldn't get any sleep at our house because my grandpa's snoring next door was so loud. In fact, when my grandma sneezed in her house, we would yell "Bless you!!" from ours. Combined we had maybe 2 acres of property? Give or take. One summer day my grandpa showed up in the yard with a backpack mosquito fogger that left an awesome, fun cloud for us to run through and play in. I could stand 2 feet from my sister and not see her within that fog cloud. It was great! His backpack was probably designed for 100 acres, but he used it all up on our 2 acres! That was the summer of no pesky mosquitoes! Looking back, it was also the summer of no butterflies, no squirrels, no ants, no bees, no birds. . .hmmph! Mild coincidence I'm sure. Those Pyrethins sure did their job!! I'm thinking if I had to take a hair drug test today, it would still show up. . . .
We also took 2 fluoride tablets daily- never missing a dose. I don't think I need to elaborate on how toxic this substance has been portrayed of recent- just keep in mind this factoid: Babies and children excrete less fluoride from their kidneys and absorb up to 80% of ingested fluoride into their bones - MY BONES, I FEAR FOR MY BONES NOW,TOO!!!
My mom also had us on a steady diet of beef liver for quite some time - organ meat, BLAHHHH!!! I wonder if eating the "filter" of an animals body could put the toxins that it was getting rid of into your body???
Fast forward to 1998 through 2001- I was temporarily , a pretty impressive "functionng alcoholic"- Those were the days! Or so I thought until I realized the damage that I may have caused my body- nursing my daily hangover with extra strength Mortin- this from the National Kidney Foundation website: NSAIDs may cause an increased risk of sudden kidney failure and even progressive kidney damage. I wish I would have just taken the Tylenol, why didn't I just take the Tylenol??
So, as I was saying, I am thankful that I can be optimistic of the news I've received and hope for many more years with my kidneys- after all, I've become quite fond of the little guys! I've had many offers of donations this week and looking at it now I may tell my sisters "No thanks!!" because they were exposed to the same things I was (minus the chosen path of professional, functioning , alcoholic for 4 years) or better yet, I won't even need to take anyone up in their offer:)
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