Electro-Hyper-Sensitivity & Me

In March 1997, swarms of ants came to my housewarming; I hired an exterminator to kill them. His bill said only "spray for carpenter ants" and $327. He didn't wipe out the carpenter ants, but he nearly killed me.

I coughed for several months afterwards, my health declined steadily, my short-term memory felt like Swiss cheese, and worst of all, I couldn't understand people anymore. If body and verbal language did not match, I'd write them off as illogical and walk away, like Spock from Star Trek. Unlike Spock, I started having misunderstandings that grew worse, at work and at home, as mercury and increasing stress took their toll.

Five years and 20+ doctors later, I was so sick and depressed that my friend Fern worried about finding me dead. I had no one to look after my pets, and didn't have the heart to kill them first, I told her. She said, "See Dr. Cline; you've tried everyone else."

In 2002, Dr. Cline diagnosed the worst mercury poisoning he'd seen to date, which he attributed to dental amalgams and vaccines. [In 2008, I discovered that the exterminator had used a banned commercial fungicide, Calo-Clor, aka mercuric chloride; I had about 90% of the symptoms on the Material Safety Data Sheet after living in vaporizing mercury vapour for five years].

Dr. Cline started me on a chelation protocol: the only treatment for heavy metal poisoning according to VIHA's own website, but not covered by MSP! Politicians refused to help saying I was too angry; I should go home, write a book, and get rid of my anger.

Mercury caused allergies: food, chemicals, soaps, odors, noise, fluorescent lights, computer screens, and electricity. I could hear electricity running in the networking closet when IT techs opened the metal door. I'd run from my station in the hospital lab and hide in the lunch room, faced tucked into the cushions of the only sofa, until they shut the door and the screeching stopped. I'd developed electro-hyper-sensitivity.

Ironically, my father helped design, build and install the satellite-tracking antennas at Youbou, and around the world, that emit the microwave radiation used by cell phones, wifi, etc. that hurts me the most.

I sleep under a microwave-protective bed net, made of cotton, copper and silver fibres to shield me from the neighbours' wireless and antenna radiation. I take masses of supplements to support my immunity. I have no wireless or microwave-emitting devices in my home, and have special harmonic interference filters for my wired computer system, permanently "off" unless I'm using it. I've rewired parts of my house to make it safer for me, painted with low-VOC paints, installed non-toxic flooring (wood, ceramic). None of this is tax deductible or covered under MSP or private insurance.

I avoid high-microwave environments, e.g. public buildings, libraries, pools, community centres, theatres, malls, apartment buildings, doctors' offices and hospitals, restaurants, and university — learning was always my greatest pleasure, and I miss that most of all.

I do not have a smart meter, and pay extortion to B.C. Hydro to keep my analogue. Need I mention I bought my house on Friday the Thirteenth? Now I stay in bed and count my marbles...

Thanks to my friends and supporters, I'm still here and have a social life outside the four walls of my house.

My chiropractor, Dr. Henny Vogelzang, saved my sanity when she said I reminded her more and more of her son who has high-functioning Asperger's. She gave me hope: she said mercury poisoning can be treated and Dr. Cline can do it. He did.

Robin Smith using techniques of FasterEFT/Eutaptics helped me regain a sense of "me" — what does this body sensation mean? Am I feeling scared? Betrayed? Sad? He brought me back to life in ways that no one else could.

Tai Chi Health Recovery led by Rick Goffic at Unity Church helps keep me balanced and laughing, as do the women of Sacred Circle Dance.

Steve has been a rock in my life since 2003, when I was at my lowest and craziest, and he's still there whenever I need him. Whether it's a computer glitch or I think I'm losing my marbles, Jonathan and Erika open their hearts with a cheerful, "Come in; you can count ours!"

Eli, my red heeler aka Australian Cattle Dog, came to me as a foster ~12 years ago and stayed for the homemade meals. He takes his job seriously and guards my back 24/7, especially while I'm cooking... People often confuse me but I do understand my dog!

So many others have helped me when I felt so utterly alone and lonely that I could barely breathe: I want to thank them too, but they prefer to remain anonymous. It's been a very costly — in all ways — 22 years since being mercury poisoned, and I'm finally channeling my anger into writing that book.

— Christel