Tuesday, October 23, 2012

That Dreaded Call, and What I Learned by Accident

I remember that call so clearly.  I could only stare at the numbers on the microwave in the teacher's lounge as the Doctor told me that the MRI of my Lymph Nodes was clear.  The bad news was that there was a suspicious spot on my thyroid that would need to be biopsied.  I had felt that my glads seemed large one December day right before my wedding.  It's one of those discoveries that made me break out into a cold sweat, but I had convinced myself that I must just be coming down with a cold.  Months later I was finally cleared of Lymph Node problems only to discover that there might still be cancer in my 23 year old body.

Many times, the health care professionals I encountered told me how strange it is for a person my age to have this issue.  I wondered what could have caused this mysterious spot, but I figured that I would never know.  An ultra sound, two fine needle biopsies, and a surgery later, I was told that I did not have cancer, but there were per-cancerous cells in that spot.  It is a scare that I did not want to repeat, but since I don't know what caused it, I can do nothing to stop it from happening again to the rest of my thyroid.

Fast forward several years.  I have a newborn baby, and I happened to check a book out of the library that a parenting magazine promised would help me to save money on housekeeping.  It is called Green Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck, and I had no idea about the things that it would tell me.  In a section titled, "Some Discouraging Words about Nail Polish and Hair Spray," Sandbeck explained that studies were done in a New England town where cancer rates were elevated, and researchers found the homes in the area to have elevated rates of phthalates (Common phthalates inclued DEHP, DBP, DMP, and DEP).  Phthalates are endocrine disruptor which means that they change hormone levels which can lead to cancer and other problems.  Wait.  My pre-cancerous thyroid is part of the endocrine system...  Is there a link?  I have no idea, but at that time I was spraying hairspray plus several other styling products, lotions, makeup, shampoo, body gel, the list goes on that likely contained phthalates.  Why do I say likely?  I have since learned that phthalates are often contained in the fragrance portion of cosmetics, and companies are not required to list these dangerous ingredients.  The Environmental Working Group has done much research by testing products to see what's really in them, and the results are clear.  Many of the products include cancer-causing agents.

Do you want to know more, are you overwhelmed and exhausted by this news like I was?  Do you know that you don't want to put these chemicals anywhere near your body (especially if you are of reproductive age like me) again?  Well, there's bad news.  Personal care products are not the only place where dangerous chemicals lie.  Are you sitting down?  Well, you had better get up, because unless you special ordered an all-wool couch, your couch is sprayed with flame retardants.  If you don't follow the link, I will just briefly mention that polybrominated diphenyl ethers are the main source of flame retardants used, and they are shown to cause infertility and, you guessed it, thyroid hormone level disruption.  I can't say that things are better for me now, because IKEA (where my couch came from) claims that they don't use them, but researcher Heather Stapelton took apart an IKEA couch and tested it only to find another dangerous flame retardant, chlorinated tris.  These have been banned from children's pajamas, oh did I forget to mention that flame retardant is sprayed on your children's pajamas?  Anyway, chlorinated tris have been banned from pajamas due to carcinogenic properties.  Yep, that's in my couch...


The flame retardants used in couches are probably found elsewhere in your home too.  Polyurethane foam is made from petrochemicals, and that means it is basically hardened gasoline.  It is highly flammable, and California Law requires that it be sprayed with flame retardants (even though, by the way, they are not proven to help in the case of a fire!).  The list where flame retardants might be found includes baby changing pads, car seats, nursing pillows, comforters, pillows, chairs, cushions, bumper pads, foam safety guards, and children's pajamas.  This list is pretty unsettling to say the least. 

I only spoke about two of the plethora of dangerous types of chemicals that fill our home.  Toxins have been found in diapers, baby bottles, canned food liners, and even the caps of the home-canning jars.  Then there is wood, carpet, vinyl tiles, some plastic toys, and the list goes on, and on, and on.  Trying to rid your life of these toxins is exhausting and expensive.  I've had many people tell me that they want their homes to be safer, but how could they possibly afford it?  I am right there with you, if that's you.  I have a toxic couch, vinyl tiles, plastic toys, and even a nursing pillow that contains dangerous chemicals just to name a few.  Do you think that companies should be allowed to sell us endocrine disrupting and cancer causing products?











If, like me, you can't afford to replace your furniture and all of your other products that emit chemicals, urge your congress person to stand up for kids and NOT Big Chemical!  There is a Safe Chemical Agenda that they can side with, and let's make our voices clear. Today is the Healthy Families Day of Action. Sign here to show your support: http://bit.ly/RbpPIs

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10 comments:

  1. Becki, thank you so much for sharing your personal story. No 23 year old, or anyone should have to face cancer. We're fighting with and for people like you, childhood and young adult cancers are on the rise and we need to prevent them at all cost! Thank you for being an inspiration.

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    1. Thank you! I was blessed. I didn't actually have cancer yet, and although I still had to loose half of my thyroid, it could have been so much worse. The more that I can reduce my exposure the better, because there's always that nagging thought in my head that it could happen again- or worse, happen to my children. I hate that there are VERY FEW restrictions on the chemicals bouncing around in so many products, and I want us ALL to be safe from them once and for all.

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing your story, it is heart-breaking that you had to experience this. However, through your personal story and your advocacy for this cause, we will make change!

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    1. Thank you! I was heart-broken going through this, but by God's grace I made it, and I turned out alright. I'm glad that so many of us are in this cause together!

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  3. It is great that you are sharing your story. We should not be dealing with these health problems, especially not at such young an age. Here in Massachusetts, our Democratic candidate for the Senate will support the Safe Chemicals Act while Scott Brown won't because he has accepted campaign money from the chemical industry. This makes such a difference to me and says so much about the candidates. Living green and eating organic is crucial for health as long as there is no change to the legislation on toxic chemicals and their regulation.

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    1. I agree with you. I'm not sure in PA that either candidate supports the Safe Chemicals Act, but what I think that green living for me is essential as much as possible. I have forgone hairspray, and nail polish is almost gone from my life too. I went through a huge pile of them, and found that they had cancer-causing agents! When I do (on that VERY rare occasion) use the three bottles I kept or even the water-based formula that I bought, I use it outside. This is not all. I've greened so many areas, but there is so much more to go! I hope these companies will be held accountable someday soon!

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  4. Becki, I gasped when I read about your cancer. I am glad you pointed out that most chemicals are coming from products in our home. Furniture. bedding, drapes, and cabinets all have dangerous chemicals in them. Thank goodness for people like you who continue to educate, educate and educate about the chemicals lurking in our home and get people to support the Safe Chemicals Act. Anna

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    1. Anna,

      Luckily I didn't end up having cancer, but because of pre-cancerous cells in my biopsy and no benign cells in my biopsy, they felt that they needed to go in and take half of the thyroid to remove that spot. After further testing, and only by the grace of God, I was confirmed to NOT have cancer. I always felt that something caused this spot, though, and I won't ever know what. There are so many things that could have caused it... It's so important that the number of people who have to go through what I went through decreases dramatically, and I hope our lawmakers will wake up and do what is right.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your story and this info. I so appreciate you joining in this fight to inform and change the laws!

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    1. You are welcome. I'm glad that I'm finally speaking clearly about the way I feel about all of the unwanted chemicals in my life!

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