TESTIMONIAL

The effect of Environmentally Unsafe INDOOR AIR on  health…

            And how clean, safe indoor air can help you

 Dear Rich,

                 In 1981 my husband and I moved from Boise, Idaho to Independence, Missouri.   I was five months pregnant and in fairly good health.  The home we moved into had just been freshly painted and carpeted and was very chemically toxic. It was heated with gas, unlike the electric heat we had in Idaho   and because we were not use to the humidity, we kept the windows closed and used the air conditioner at all times which concentrated the indoor air pollution.  We were unaware at that time that any of these things would affect us and throughout the rest of my pregnancy I felt fairly good except for being very tired.  After my daughter was born I developed fibromyalgia.  Fibromyalgia is pain and stiffness in your muscles and connective tissue.   It is a lot like arthritis except it is not bone and joint pain.   Because of the pain, you become tired easily.   A lot of people with this disorder also have bladder spasms, headaches, and other problems, which I developed.   We went from doctor to doctor trying to find out why this happened.    I finally ended up at a clinic in Dallas for environmentally ill people.    It was there that we learned about the effects of the chemicals in many building materials on the immune systems of some people.  At this time our job moved us to Loveland, Colorado and we decided to build an environmentally safe home.

So in 1989 we moved into our first safe home.   My husband had done extensive research on safe building products and acted as the general contractor.   My health gradually got better over months of time. It was like peeling an onion one layer at a time.  Each layer we peeled off helped to get to the next more vibrant life layer.   The first thing that got better was my headaches.   Then my bladder spasms improved.    My energy level increased and I had less aches and pains 

 In 1995 we moved to Blue Springs, Missouri and built another safe home which is not quite as pure as the Loveland house.  Lately my pain has increased in my body so I also have to be very careful with my diet.  I know that helps take the pain away.  Minimizing the total load on my body has been my key to success.  I have found that a healthy home is part of the answer.  I think diet is as important as the house I live in, maybe more so, my diet also changes when I am away from here so it is hard to say what does what.  If I did not have a healthy home to live in my diet might not make near the difference it does now.  Like I said, the total load is the most important thing. 

 I currently work full-time and have fairly good health.   When I am away from my house for extended periods of time I never feel as good. For me a safe home allows me to feel good enough to stay active and working.            

A testimonial by Susan Barker-Fisher