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To inspire
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MAR-12-05
12:16:58
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Forum: Serious Discussion for Christian Singles
To inspire
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Submitted Anonymously
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This is an article a paper wrote about me. God gave me this disease to inspire and succeed despite my limitations. I now share this with you. The newspaper gave me permission to share it.
Sealed indoors for eight years
06mar05
SHE calls herself "the bubble girl" – a young woman who says she has not been outside for eight years because of severe reactions to modern chemicals. Exclusive story by BRAD CROUCH
The 24-year-old lives in a sealed house, looking through airtight windows to the world outside, and spends her days socialising over the internet.
A transparent plastic panel in the house separates her from her father, but allows him to show her catalogues and the TV Guide as she gets on with life.
The woman, known as Season, says she has not left her southern suburbs house after experiencing violent reactions to common chemicals eight years ago.
Her former GP has confirmed Season suffers from multiple chemical sensitivity and neighbours say she is almost totally unknown on her street.
Season's mother has a similar condition, but not as severe – she can leave home briefly, but wears a facemask to avoid chemicals.
The women avoid everyday items – from deodorant and make-up to ink and carpet – for fear they may trigger an allergic reaction known as anaphylactic shock that blocks the throat.
Season will speak to visitors only from behind a plastic panel, but despite her predicament, remains positive.
"I have a future and a life. It is just that it is inside," she said.
"I was upset at my situation at first, but made the decision you just have to get on with life. I don't believe in putting my life on hold.
"I'm not after attention or sympathy because I am not in pain daily like many other people out there are."
Season says her condition was triggered when she was held down as a schoolgirl and a can of deodorant was sprayed in her mouth as a prank.
She says she subsequently suffered four violent reactions to chemicals, requiring hospital treatment when her throat became so swollen she could not breathe.
"I have not been outside the house ever since," she said. "I now live in a bubble. People cannot come in and I have to be so careful about what comes into the house.
"I left school in Year 11 and have been inside ever since."
Season has multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome, or MCS, a disorder triggered by low-level exposure to multiple chemicals.
MCS is a subject of medical debate, with some doctors believing it is a psychological condition, even though there are changes in the immune system.
Its cause remains unknown and there is no treatment.
DOCTORS treated Season for symptoms when she first became ill, but she is not under the care of a specialist.
She uses liquid antihistamines and steroids to ease breathing difficulties.
"She suffers from multiple chemical sensitivity, but the severity of her reaction can't be verified by specialist reviews or by blood tests because the nature of her condition is such that she is unable to get outside to go for testing," Season's former GP, Dr Helen Paech, said.
"(It) is life-impairing, rather than necessarily life-threatening. Some of them (chemical reactions) may be life-threatening, but are they all life-threatening? I'm not sure.
"Am I convinced if she walked out of the door, she would have a severe allergic reaction? I would like to try and test that, but she's too scared to test it and I suppose you can't push it.
"She's had an anaphylactic reaction – I have never observed any of those, but I think that's what happened . . . and that is what she is afraid of happening."
Season's brother and father are not affected.
Her parents, who asked not to be named, said their daughter coped remarkably well with her situation.
"She just gets on with it. She's great," her father said. "We're on the pension, but I do some computer games and she enjoys it as well.
"We nearly lost Season and have to be so careful with everything.
"My wife might have two hours before things get bad, but with Season we might have just 20 minutes."
The family's life now largely consists of mother and daughter living in the main part of the sealed house and the father using computers in the room on the other side of the plastic barrier.
He has wired electronic equipment, such as a DVD and a computer, through the wall so Season can turn them on and view them through the plastic.
"She can use a keyboard from her side, but modern equipment releases chemicals which she cannot tolerate," he said.
When her father comes into the main part of the house through a rarely opened door, he has to shower in vinegar.
"We can't use soap . . . and every time my mother or father go out and want to come in they have to shower," Season said.
"We had to pull up the carpet and now just have concrete on the floor. We had to get rid of all our clothes because of the perfume residues, and now we soak clothes for weeks before wearing them."
Dr Paech, who was her GP for about two years until she moved surgeries in 2002, has made half a dozen home visits, but has only been inside the sealed part once.
"I had to shampoo in her shampoo, I had to wash my clothes in her washing liquid," Dr Paech said.
"I made sure I drove straight from home – that I didn't go anywhere on the way. I went in and examined her ... and she said after I left she had a reaction."
Asked about Season's mental state, Dr Paech said: "Other than her fear of another anaphylactic reaction should she go outside, she seems completely normal.
"She's a little unusual in that she's unwilling to take the risk of trying to go outside, but that's her choice.
"At one stage I was concerned that . . . the underlying problem that she was suffering from (was) depression or anxiety, but her behaviour didn't change on antidepressant medication.
"She's bright and bubbly – she
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