Well today was the first time since I have been in this new office that I did NOT get a headache
from breathing too much perfume on my co workers.
I realized the reason why was that 4 of the heavily toxic folks that wear tons of fragranced products were off today.
Three of them usually sit within 15 feet of me and the other one, is the lady that I posted about
in my last blog, the one that preens in a hand held mirror, putting 100 coats of mascara on and has a bottle of lotion and a bottle of perfume at her desk that she uses and sticks up the entire office, my eyes burn on days that she is there.
Just grateful to have had one day without a head ache since May 2,2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
How can they be so blind and insensitive?
As I approach the office I slow down and come to a stop in my manual wheel chair.
I fish through my back pack for my I can breath mask with the carbon filter insert.
As I pull it over my nose and mouth, I take deep breath and sigh, and I am now as
armed as I can be to take on yet another day of chemical assaults that will ensue the
moment I open the door and enter the office.....
People smile and wave and say hello as I roll past their cubical's.
The first wave of fragrance hits me like a brick! I then see a bottle of perfume on a co
worker's desk as she preens herself in a hand held mirror and applies the 10th coat
of mascara to her vain face.
I continue to roll on and get whacked with the scent of wet one's a chemical cleaning cloth that
the safety director has approved for disinfecting the work areas.
We do not have assigned work space and illness spreads so very quickly so everyone uses these
wet one's to clean the desk, phones, keyboards and mice before they start their day.
These cloths are then dropped into plastic trash cans and the smell wafts up all over the office it is
continuous through out the day.
I roll past a newly installed room of carpet which is still off gassing strongly, the smell from that smells like
chemical vomit.
I finally arrive at my desk.
I then put on my thin gloves and use those wet one's to wipe down my desk too.
I then put the gloves and the wet one's into a zip lock plastic baggie and take outside and throw into
a trash can out in the hall way outside the office.
I then go back to me desk and set up my computer and phone, get logged into all the software then lock
windows and take a roll down the hallway to the employee dining room, where we are forced to eat as there are no break rooms in the office.
On my way to that dining hall a heavy chemical fragrance wafts out of the ceiling and I start to cough and choke.
I find a table that is round and able to accommodate me in my wheel chair and I proceed to eat my all natural organic snack as to try and keep my blood sugar level even, I have hypoglycemia.
More of that nasty chemical fragrance wafts out of the ceiling and my eyes are now tearing and I have a headache from it and I haven't even begun my work day as of yet.
I finish eating then roll to the rest room, use it, floss my teeth, put my mask back on and go into the office.
I have to roll over that nasty new carpeted area to get to the fridge to put my lunch in there.
The lady with the perfume on her desk is still preening in the hand held mirror.
They start the pre shift briefing as I sit just out side that smelly carpeted area, all of the others are sitting in that toxic room as that is where they are required to gather and listen to the mandatory daily briefing.
When that is done I go to my desk and log into my phone and start to take calls.
All is well for about and hour when 3 co workers arrive that wear fragrances that make me start to cough again, by now my throat is raw, I am having serious post nasal drip and the head ache is to the point that my brain feels like it is burning.
I sigh and pray that I can get through this day.
The manager and director and HR are all very aware of my illness with chemical sensitivity and continue to let folks wear perfumes and lotions that smell and let them apply and reapply them while in the office.
How can they be so blind as to how it affects me I don't know how they can be so insensitive to it. You would think that the very fact that I MUST wear the mask so that I can work in that office would be a huge clue that something is very wrong in there!
One day they too might be plagued with this miserable illness and then they may actually understand how I fight everyday breath after breath hour by hour to survive this every day that I am at work with them.
I fish through my back pack for my I can breath mask with the carbon filter insert.
As I pull it over my nose and mouth, I take deep breath and sigh, and I am now as
armed as I can be to take on yet another day of chemical assaults that will ensue the
moment I open the door and enter the office.....
People smile and wave and say hello as I roll past their cubical's.
The first wave of fragrance hits me like a brick! I then see a bottle of perfume on a co
worker's desk as she preens herself in a hand held mirror and applies the 10th coat
of mascara to her vain face.
I continue to roll on and get whacked with the scent of wet one's a chemical cleaning cloth that
the safety director has approved for disinfecting the work areas.
We do not have assigned work space and illness spreads so very quickly so everyone uses these
wet one's to clean the desk, phones, keyboards and mice before they start their day.
These cloths are then dropped into plastic trash cans and the smell wafts up all over the office it is
continuous through out the day.
I roll past a newly installed room of carpet which is still off gassing strongly, the smell from that smells like
chemical vomit.
I finally arrive at my desk.
I then put on my thin gloves and use those wet one's to wipe down my desk too.
I then put the gloves and the wet one's into a zip lock plastic baggie and take outside and throw into
a trash can out in the hall way outside the office.
I then go back to me desk and set up my computer and phone, get logged into all the software then lock
windows and take a roll down the hallway to the employee dining room, where we are forced to eat as there are no break rooms in the office.
On my way to that dining hall a heavy chemical fragrance wafts out of the ceiling and I start to cough and choke.
I find a table that is round and able to accommodate me in my wheel chair and I proceed to eat my all natural organic snack as to try and keep my blood sugar level even, I have hypoglycemia.
More of that nasty chemical fragrance wafts out of the ceiling and my eyes are now tearing and I have a headache from it and I haven't even begun my work day as of yet.
I finish eating then roll to the rest room, use it, floss my teeth, put my mask back on and go into the office.
I have to roll over that nasty new carpeted area to get to the fridge to put my lunch in there.
The lady with the perfume on her desk is still preening in the hand held mirror.
They start the pre shift briefing as I sit just out side that smelly carpeted area, all of the others are sitting in that toxic room as that is where they are required to gather and listen to the mandatory daily briefing.
When that is done I go to my desk and log into my phone and start to take calls.
All is well for about and hour when 3 co workers arrive that wear fragrances that make me start to cough again, by now my throat is raw, I am having serious post nasal drip and the head ache is to the point that my brain feels like it is burning.
I sigh and pray that I can get through this day.
The manager and director and HR are all very aware of my illness with chemical sensitivity and continue to let folks wear perfumes and lotions that smell and let them apply and reapply them while in the office.
How can they be so blind as to how it affects me I don't know how they can be so insensitive to it. You would think that the very fact that I MUST wear the mask so that I can work in that office would be a huge clue that something is very wrong in there!
One day they too might be plagued with this miserable illness and then they may actually understand how I fight everyday breath after breath hour by hour to survive this every day that I am at work with them.
Monday, May 16, 2011
mcscanay: Working behind the mask
mcscanay: Working behind the mask: "It has become a way of life for me to be working from behind a mask. It is a way for me to survive in the environment in which I work with ..."
Working behind the mask
It has become a way of life for me to be working from behind a mask.
It is a way for me to survive in the environment in which I work with all that is toxic
around me.
I get some wild stares from folks who are not aware of my illness those that are
not yet affected by chemicals in way that I am.
Some think I am contagious and shy away others are freaked out by it and also
turn away. Some ask why I am wearing it, I try to explain in the most simple of
terms that I have a high sensitivity to all chemicals to all smells.
Today I met another canary at work, she is such a nice woman and I told her how
beautiful the color of her shirt was. I also shared that I had a lip stick
at home that was the same color. When she asked me why I didn't wear it I explained
to her about my extreme sensitivity to all chemicals.
She said she understood that she had to use products that contain no scents too.
I told her that is why I must wear the mask at work do to all the fragrances from the others
working there as well as the new carpet and recent refurbishing work that had been recently completed in the office.
She understood ...It was a start..... Now I know that I am not alone.
It is a way for me to survive in the environment in which I work with all that is toxic
around me.
I get some wild stares from folks who are not aware of my illness those that are
not yet affected by chemicals in way that I am.
Some think I am contagious and shy away others are freaked out by it and also
turn away. Some ask why I am wearing it, I try to explain in the most simple of
terms that I have a high sensitivity to all chemicals to all smells.
Today I met another canary at work, she is such a nice woman and I told her how
beautiful the color of her shirt was. I also shared that I had a lip stick
at home that was the same color. When she asked me why I didn't wear it I explained
to her about my extreme sensitivity to all chemicals.
She said she understood that she had to use products that contain no scents too.
I told her that is why I must wear the mask at work do to all the fragrances from the others
working there as well as the new carpet and recent refurbishing work that had been recently completed in the office.
She understood ...It was a start..... Now I know that I am not alone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)