From George and Sheila Hubbell, Baytown, Texas

From Sheila Hubbell:

My husband and I have lived near chemical plants for most of our married life. He was a pipe welder and then an inspector and we’ve followed construction with the chemical industry from Texas to Louisiana. In 1983 we took a job in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and fell in love with the people and that area of the state. When that job was finished we decided to get out of construction and stay in the area. We were blessed to live in a small town far from the pollution we were used to. We had a pond and fruit trees and very clean air. Circumstances, however, made it impossible for us to stay in Mississippi.

We had to return to Houston, Texas, in 1989, and we moved into an apartment. I noticed soon after returning to Texas that I couldn’t wear certain lotions and couldn’t wear any make-up. My eyes would burn and water, and my chest would start to feel heavy. I’d never had problems with this before and thought it was probably a temporary thing. I joked that after 6 years in clean air I couldn’t take the pollution any more.

A little over a year later we once again moved to a small town that was about 55 miles from Houston. I was sure that being away from the pollution would make my symptoms disappear. I didn’t get better, however. In fact I began to get slightly worse. I found out, through the news, that the set of apartments where we lived in Houston had a class action suit filed against it for using a banned insecticide. At the time I didn’t link this with the difficulty I was having, but I’ve since learned that prolonged exposure to some chemicals can cause your body to start reacting to all types of things.

Over the years since, I’ve become more sensitive to perfumes, soaps, and lotions. Although not all fragrances affect me and some are worse than others, I’ve learned to read labels carefully and I try to choose "fragrance-free" products. Some give me bad headaches, while others cause the classic allergic reactions of a runny nose, runny eyes, coughing and sneezing. Some affect my emotions and I become angry or tearful. About three years ago I noticed that I became ill every time I spent more than a few minutes in a grocery store. My bones and head would ache for a day or two and my chest would become congested. This has gotten worse to the point my husband now has to do all the grocery shopping for our family.

My husband has also become sensitive to different fragrances and chemicals over the years. We were very grateful for the special room set aside this year at the Feast for those with Multiple Chemical Sensitivies. I would not have been able to attend services otherwise.

From George Hubbell:

My experience with what is called MCS or Multiple Chemical Sensitivity is not as acute as that of my wife, Sheila, but it has been increasing gradually over the years. When I was younger, I developed a serious reaction to second-hand cigarette smoke. I was a smoker for 14 years, but quit about 2 years before God called us into His Church. Since then, anytime I find myself in an enclosed space--a room, a car, or somewhere similar--and there is cigarette smoke present, my throat will begin to close up, my voice changes, and my sinuses swell. I have to get into fresh air as quickly as possible. The symptoms then immediately begin to disappear. Then I became aware that if I was present at any activity where there was a large volume of second-hand smoke, such as at a dance, and I did not shower and wash my hair as soon as I returned home, I would develop flu-like symptoms, which would continue for about 3 days. No fever or itchy eyes, but I would have the "ache all over" feeling and often "fever blisters" would develop.

Over a period of several years, I began reacting to other things. I no longer could use the same after-shave lotion that I’d used for years. Perfumes of all kinds began to cause similar reactions as that of second-hand smoke. One of the biggest problems I developed was a reaction to chlorine bleach, to the point that my wife could no longer bleach any of my clothes without having to double wash them (that is, after washing and bleaching, then having to wash them again to be sure all the bleach had been removed)! About age 48 or 50, I became sensitive to peanut butter and now I cannot ingest anything with peanuts in it or I experience severe abdominal pain!

There is no history of allergies in my family, but last October I was diagnosed with diabetes. I am told that sometimes type II diabetes is brought on by exposure to different chemicals.

Most people I’ve met do not seem to realize the seriousness of MCS. "Allergy" usually brings to mind "hay fever", with the runny-nose, itchy-eyes sort of reaction that many of us have experienced over the years, but believe me, MCS is much worse. And there is no telling what will bring it on. It can mean one can’t tolerate perfume, cologne, aftershave lotion, insecticides, scented hair spray, deodorant, clothes softeners, bath soaps, candles or ANY sort of potpourri, room deodorizers--even fresh flowers--the list goes on and on.

We especially have to be careful where we sit in church services and other functions where a crowd gathers. And I recognize that my problem with MCS is quite mild compared with my wife’s and others of the brethren I have met who have to deal with it.

We have been members of God’s Church for 30 years. We certainly do appreciate the concern many of you have shown in trying to not use perfumes and other fragrances when you come to services.