Gosh, where does the month go? Okay, since the air has been so bad I was sick and I guess time just gets away when you are not feeling well. The air is cleaner now and a few antibiotics do wonders!! It's really hard to explain to other who do not have breathing problems how hard it can be. It takes so much energy to just breathe sometimes that you forget everything. When you have breathing problems, you realize how much energy it takes to do simple things -- like eat and digest the food, or just doing the every day things that people normally do. When you can't breathe well, your whole body feels it . . . you are tired all the time, you have trouble concentrating, sleeping, or just thinking. If you have never been short of breath, then consider yourself very blessed. It really is hard!!!! You think, well, I used to be able to do this, why can't I do it now? Other times, you just feel like you are going crazy. Why can't I remember anything? Then, once you get to breathing better you can look back and realize that is why you were so tired or felt so distracted!!

With MCS, it can be even more challenging because no one believes you are having trouble or think you are just faking your breathing problems. I am lucky because I have a great doctor who believes what I say and listens to me, but getting other people to understand my problems can be hard. My brother used to think I was just exaggerating until he watched me turn purple after being exposed to a small amount of perfume. Luckily, I was in the hospital when it happened. Someone had walked by my hospital room with perfume on and the door to my room had been open. It was then that he realized how serious my allergies can be.

It is amazing how many every day items can be hazardous to my health and those with MCS. This week, my car broke down and I had to get a rental to get around town. I had to have the agency roll down all the windows of the car for an hour and also run an ionizer inside the car to try and get rid of all the smells inside the car. The agency had cleaned the car after it had been returned by the previous renter and even though the smells were not strong, they were way more than I could handle. It really makes it hard to do everyday things. Renting a car can be hazardous to your health -- who would have thought that?

PS Boy was I glad to get my car back!!!