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Ann Robina Gugler - My Story
I was born on 20th June 1937 in the
small northern NSW town of Collarenabri. In 1941 the family moved to
Canberra where with the exception of four years in Sydney I have lived
ever since.
My occupation was Art, Photography Teacher. I was also
a good athlete and at one time thought of teaching Physical Education. I
was a healthy child and am fortunate not to be allergic to anything.
However I am now a chemical sensitive and have severe allergic like
reactions following even low levels of chemical exposures.
After
thirty odd years of almost daily exposures to chemicals used in the school
environment my body is permanently damaged. The chemicals that caused the
damage include those used in Art, Photography, Motor Maintenance (welding,
spray painting of cars, repair work etc.), Industrial Art, Home Economics
Departments and cleaning products, pesticides used for the annual kill and
the chemicals used in renovation and refurbishing work carried out
regularly in all the schools in which I taught.
In the early days
of teaching a few days away from school was enough for me to recover from
an "illness", but as the volume of chemicals used in the schools increased
I found that it took longer and longer for my body to repair itself.
As the years went on my health deteriorated relatively rapidly and
new health problems appeared. Up until the time when I was expecting my
first child (born in January 1962) doctors had seen me three times in my
life. The first was at my birth; the second when as a three-year-old I
discovered that banging two glass bottles together is not a good idea. I
have a scar on my left foot to prove it. The third was towards the end of
my first year of teaching in 1959. One day I burst into tears and couldn't
stop. The diagnosis was nervous exhaustion. I remember now that at the
time I had just moved into a new flat and a new Art Room?
It was
in the late 1980s and early 1990s that I passed through that invisible
barrier that marks the period when a chemical sensitive can still function
in the workplace and not. By then there was no recovery. I also learned
that a reaction can take place up to several days after exposure. Often
the first warning was pressure in my head, swelling of hands and bloating.
It was and is followed by loss of cognitive skills - as one friend put it
- "you lose the plot." My eyes also go red. After exposure to chemical
fumes from perfumes and photographic chemicals I have had the surface of
my eyes scarred. This usually lasts for only a few days. Other times I
lose clarity of vision - usually followed by a migraine.
Another
sure sign of a nasty is a rise or drop in blood pressure and a feeling of
extreme cold. Palpitations and wheezing usually accompany an exposure to
creams, perfumes, deodorants, after-shaves, dry cleaned clothes and
clothes washed in powders that contain fragrances. A most unpleasant
reaction to food is projectile vomiting. This always occurs in the middle
of the night and without warning. It is disagreeable to have to clean up
when not feeling well. Another swift reaction is a bout of the "runny
dribbles". This certainly cleans one out after a bout of constipation. I
did have my food intolerance diagnosed in the early 1980s following a
visit to Royal Prince Alfred Allergy Clinic. I discovered that I can eat
rice but very little else. I had in fact kept to strict diet for many
years because I had worked out that for e.g. if I ate bananas I got sick
and I always got a sore throat after eating most fruits. The RPA diet
recognizes that natural chemicals in foods affect some people but does not
take into account the man made chemicals added to foods such as e.g. food
colorings, preservatives and herbicide residues, are also dangerous to
some.
During my teaching career I always seemed to be ill - the
flu, the mysterious virus, extreme tiredness to the point of rocking,
night sweats so severe that I often had to change and strip the bed,
weight loss and weight gains, joint swellings, joint pains etc.
Towards the end I have major problems with memory loss and
reversal of numbers and colors. I was extremely giddy to the point of
nausea and if I closed my eyes could fall over. I had problems adding up
to ten. Later when I had a full neuropsych exam, I performed mental
arithimic tests in the 94th percentile - that is until the deodorant the
doctor was wearing kicked in and I went down to 4. The neuropsych testing
also showed that I have permanent brain damage from chemical exposure.
From around the mid 1980s I realized that I had problems doing anything
new. Whilst working on autopilot I was fine. Panic attacks would be the
result of any new situation. Travelling for example became a nightmare. I
had to see doctors in Sydney because there were none (now one) in Canberra
who treated chemical victims. I would put my ticket into my purse and lose
it there. I would get to the airport hours ahead of time because I feared
missing the plane. In Sydney, a city I know relatively well I would have
to ask directions and even then had problems. Once in Alice Springs on
holiday with a group I could not walk around the block without the group
because I would have got lost.
During the years of searching for
someone who could help me I saw many doctors and dietitians etc. I was
also sent to a clinic for people with high blood pressure. I carried out
all the instructions carefully but each in the end put me in the too hard
basket. The dietitian could not explain the twenty four kilo weight gain
because I ate less than 600 calories per day. The high blood pressure
people couldn't understand why the salt free diet made no difference to my
blood pressure. I also had tests for glandular fever, arthritis, diabetes,
bowel cancer (bleeding from bowel) and others that I can't remember just
at the moment - all came back clear.
Following the accident at
school on 20th August 1986 (Dad's birthday) I was sent for numerous tests.
The accident was I being hit by a car hot-wired by the Motor Maintenance
teacher. It was an automatic, in gear, brakes off facing outwards on a
lowered hoist. It sped off the hoist, hit me, swept me along about twenty
feet before I managed to throw myself to one side just before the car
slammed into a brick wall. The Motor Maintenance Teacher was not spoken to
by the Boss nor was I. In fact I got myself off to hospital. Yes there
were quite a few Health & Safety Problems in the School. At the time I
didn't want to upset the Motor Maintenance teacher because he at aged 36
had recently suffered the first of a number of heart attacks. One of the
tests performed on me by an eminent neurosurgeon was when he hooked me up
to an electrical machine and tested for responses. The result - far more
scientific that the pin sticking in method also used by a number of
doctors - was and is that I have lost sensations in arms and legs. This of
course I now know to be a result of long term exposure to chemicals.
Another problem arose around the same time - extreme pain in the lower
back and left leg. I had physical therapy treatment that did not stop the
pain. I worked out that it was chemically caused following a six day water
fast to get rid of fat and the chemicals stored there. The pain returned
during the fast and stopped as soon as I began to eat again. Another
health problem was hormonal. Bleeding heavily for six months straight is
not recommended. Finally the Women's Health Clinic recommended a
hysterectomy. Fortunately I went off to see a gynecologist who said No not
necessary. I am sure that this problem like that of my metabolism swings
were chemically caused.
The last seventeen years I taught in an
open plan work area. There were two open areas - one upstairs and one down
- off which a number of specialists rooms were placed. Our staff room was
one. It was next to the photography dark room that had no extractor fans.
It did have a heating/cooling metal pipe attached to the ceiling and the
system started off in this room before moving into our staff room. I
breathed photographic chemicals every day I worked at the school. I, like
the other permanent staff working in the area could not smell them -
others could. Our inability to smell the chemicals took away one of our
warning systems. A recent hair test showed a result of silver 14.99 (the
mean of OK is .5). Sodium and aluminum showed similar high levels. These
are in photographic chemicals. The exposure to these chemicals - in
particular - ascetic acid - now explains the discolored and broken teeth
that I had during my working life. The higher than norm lead levels did
not show up until years later when I was tested by Dr. Varipadis. Not
quite right - the CMO at the time tested me (early 1990s) and I now know
the results were higher than they should have been but this was not
mentioned to me. Another mysterious health problem actually led me to the
finding of Dr. Mark Donohoe who was the first to diagnose me correctly -
in October 1992.
In the early 1980s I arrived back at school at
6pm to get ready for my night class. My nose felt funny. It was itchy. I
went into the ladies toilet block and looked in the mirror. My nose had
swollen up. Within a few hours half my face and nose had swollen to the
point that I could no longer see out of one eye. I also felt quite ill. I
left school, made my way to the local hospital where a group of doctors
had a look, couldn't work out what was the cause and sent me home with the
advice to take an aspirin. How I made it home I will never know. I did get
into bed and shivered for hours with a very high temperature. Thank
goodness I was too ill to find and take the aspirin because I have a
intolerance and it would have harmed rather than helped. Two days later
when well enough to see a doctor I saw a locum. (It was weekend). This
young man was from Sydney and advised me to go to the Workers Health
Clinic which I later did - but too late to find the cause. However they
have a library and some knowledge about chemical reactions and this held
me in good stead when in early 1992 I realized that I was very ill. I
contacted the clinic and they in turn put me in touch with ANEWPAC, a
Victorian organization of chemically damaged people. Pat Jackson was their
President and she told me about Mark Donohoe. It was October before I got
an appointment. Mark saved my life - both mental and physical.
This marked the end of a way of life and the beginning of a new.
It was also the beginning of a struggle with Comcare and numerous visits
to their doctors most of whom did not believe in Chemical Sensitivity.
Comcare initially accepted me but when it became apparent that I was not
going to get better I was taken off benefits and had to go to the Appeals
Tribunal. My union backed out of legal support because I may not have won
my case. I was told that Chemical cases are difficult and was spoken of as
a "sentinel case". I eventually found a solicitor who really worked for
nothing for me. Eventually after waiting for nearly two years just before
going to the Tribunal I was made an offer by Comcare and accepted. This is
still a precarious position and I could write at length about the funny
clicks on the telephone and reports written by doctors. I can give anyone
in the same position the advice to always to any interview with a doctor
for an insurance company or Comcare to take a witness and a tape recorder
and request a list of the questions that the doctor will be asked. However
that is another story.
What is the future? I don't know. I live
each day as it comes. I live alone except for my animals. I can no longer
do many of the things I loved - I can't go into most art galleries, can't
go to the theater, can't go into libraries to research - in fact find it
difficult to go into tight buildings and amongst groups of people. I am
very lucky that I have a passionate interest in the early history of
Canberra - the construction era.
I am very lucky that I have at
hand a decade's worth of documents researched from the National Archives
that I can use in my writings. And most of all I am very lucky that I have
the support of a small group of people who understand and will give time
to listen when I'm worried, distressed or just need someone to care. |
