The Icy Numbing

                
    "Imagine a strange metallic taste and magnify it at
      at least 50 times.  Then imagine it pervading your
      nose, throat, larynx, tongue, bronchi, and brain,
      smashing you completely." 

    "A very weird state.  Hard to explain.  Almost
      the feeling one gets when exposed to subzero
      temperatures.  Your membranes seem to get
      anesthetized.  Yet, they make their presences
      known, despite the absence of sensation."

March 2003 Health:  fair/fatigued
Emotional Outlook:  well/optimistic

She was now practicing Avoidance.  This is the practice of
avoiding the airborne agents that trigger one's asthma.  And
it is a practice advocated in Report 4 (A-98) of   the AMA's
Counsel on Scientific Affairs.

On the woman's mind at this point in time was her plan to go
to Huntsville, Alabama, and to search for an apartment there.
This created hopeful optimism in her.  Job opportunities were
opening up for her in Alabama, and a physician told her that
moving away from Johnson City could reduce her frequency
of asthma. This optimism negates any suscipion that her ills
were triggered by anxiety or depression during this time span.

March 16, 2003

She went to a grocery store, in order to buy some last minute
items for her trip.  She had been in the store for only a minute,
when an asthma attack was triggered.  After all, the store was
laden with strong odors, and the AMA has already defined
strong odors as asthma triggers.  On this occasion, her inhal-
er took much longer than usual to work.  And on this occasion,
she became disoriented for the first time.  She had entirely lost
her sense of direction.  An EMS crew had to drive her home.

March 18, 2003  EMS call - hospitalized.
Health: severe illness
Mental outlook:  scared after the attack

Being that her trip had been arranged, she convinced herself
that she could travel.  So, she and her son left for Alabama.
En route to her destination, she suddenly became sensitive to
vehicle exhaust fumes.  Her face seemed to get hot and swollen,
while a gland near her tonsils seemed to enlarge.  Chest tight-
ness & asthma then set in.  It felt as if a 10 inch ball of burning
fire (exhaust fumes) hit her in the chest, spreading throughout
her entire body. She could even taste the petroleum odors.

In having become too weak to continue the trip, she searched
for an environmentally friendly hotel.  Her son finally located a
room that seemed suitable for her.  But, the result was that the
irritants in the hotel area triggered yet another asthma attack.
She was placed on oxygen for six hours, and given breathing
treatments with Xopenex, Atrovent, and Salmeterol.  She was
also given the intravenous form of steroids every four hours.
That night, while in the hospital, her blood pressure dropped
drastically.

She had been diagnosed with: (a) Acute and severe asthma
attack, and (b) Hypopotassemia.  Her objective medical
findings, as noted on record, were:   (a) labored breathing,
(b) wheezing, (c) rales, (d) rapid heart beat, (e) gruntled
sounds.  This negates the defense attorneys' allegation of
mental illness.  And the October 2005 rhinolaryngoscopy
indicated the presence of  a physical illness much more so.

March 20, 2003  Health:  debilitated.

She recalled being barely able to function in Huntsville.  Yet,
she and her son attempted to explore the city.  When waiting
for a traffic light to change, she started to become hypersensi-
tive to exhaust fumes once again.  She had another asthma
attack.  This time, her inhaler did not seem to help.  And
when driving back toward the hotel, she completely lost her
sense of direction once again. This is the second time that
this happened.  EMS personnel escorted her back to the
hotel.

March 21, 2003  E.M.S call/Huntsville hospital

On this day, she went to a health food store.  Her son went
inside, while she waited outside.  He purchased rosemary juice,
and suggested that she put some in her bath water, thinking that
a warm bath would help her.  And being that she had always
enjoyed the odor of  Rosemary, she put a small capful into
the bath.  It was a mistake to have done that.  The bath was
relaxing, but upon coming out of the tub, she starting to feel
warm, and then faint, being unable to take in a full breath.  For
the third time on this trip, she became totally confused,
while feeling very lightheaded Her son called EMS, and en route
to the hospital, she was administered oxygen and an IV.  At
the hospital, she was given saline.

March 22, 2003  Health:  very bad; EMS call

She realized that it was not possible for her to live in Huntsville,
being that it seemed to have a lot more “ vehicular exhaust”
than did Johnson City.  However, she felt that she had to com-
plete the trip to Tuscaloosa as planned.  She did. 

March 23, 24, 25, 2002

She spent 3 days in Tuscaloosa with friends.  And she had
trouble breathing outside their house as much as inside of  it.
Her friend smoked indoors, so she stayed with her friend's
sister.  She went to a Chinese restaurant with friends, but had
to leave it, because of  its indoor air quality.  It was the familiar
type of  irritant airspace.

She and her friends then went to Books-a-Million.  This was
the store where she would spend many hours when she lived
in Tuscaloosa.  This time, however, she had been seated for
no more than five minutes, when the aroma of the coffee be-
came too heavy, full, and noxious to her.  Another asthma
attack was triggered.   So, she went outside and resorted to
her inhaler.

Late that night, her friend's sister turned on a gas heater.
The odor made the woman sick, bringing her close to
another asthma attack.  She had to sleep next to a window,
while wearing a filtered mask throughout the entire night.
Her friends then took her to church the next day, and she
sat next to the open back door, wearing two filtered masks.

She went back to Johnson City that week.  And on the way
back, she got stuck in traffic.  She became ill once again.  When
she finally reached home, she collapsed out of  weakness, a
headache, a sore throat, and chest inflammation.  This collapse
mode lasted for the next few years.  Since April, 2003, she has
had varying degrees of  tightness in the chest, along with asthma,
nasal pain, burning, and congestion.  She took all of her pre-
scribed medications, and resorted to wearing activated carbon
masks much of  the time.  In addition, she has a car air cleaner,
as well as dust screens for the car.  This helps her a lot. How-
ever, she can still smell odors, even through the carbon masks.

There were two doctor's appointments that she was unable to
keep.  One was missed because she couldn’t find the doctor’s
office in the midst of another irritant response to exhaust fumes.
And the other physician had his office in a commercial building
downtown.  As she was approaching the entrance, she caught
sight of nurses smoking.  She knew that she would not be able
to make it down the smokey, fragranced, and cleaning agent
laden corridor.  Her need to find a primary care physician was
pressing.

May 31st, 2003  Health:  Depends on exposures.
Mental:  Good/Fair

She found two doctors at a nearby university who understand
her type of  medical condition.  And they did all they could to
help her.  She was very apprehensive on her first visit to one
of  the newly found physicians.  And it was with the utmost
self-control that she waited in the waiting room.  This was due
to her extreme sensitivity to temperatures, fragrances, and
cleaning agents.  Blood tests were ordered after a lengthy
consultation.  And en route to the testing  area, she started to
feel ill again; yet more so than previously.

She was once scheduled to take a CT scan.  And the center
where the scan was to be taken was a bit worse than the
building where she had previously been.  The technician had
the woman in the machine promptly, and performed the scan.
Meanwhile, the woman began to feel light headed.  It seemed
as if  a metallic smell were causing it.  She had to be helped out
of  the room, after the scan.  She felt dizzy, even to the point
where she felt that she was about to pass out.

She remained ill up to 48 hours after the CT scan.  After the
scan, she was short of  breath.  But, this form of  shortness of
breath was much different than the previous bouts.  It appeared
to be a tissue reaction, she said; one accompanied by a hollow
lack of sensation and even a numbness.  This absence of sen-
sation extended to her  nose, bronchi, esophagus, trachea, and
lungs.  She said that her lungs hurt.  But, it was a dull chronic
inflammation that she felt.  And she described it in the following
manner:

      "A very weird state.  Hard to explain.  Almost the feeling
      feeling one gets when exposed to subzero temperatures.
      Your membranes seem to get anesthesized.  Yet, they
      make their existences known, despite the absence of
      sensation."

      "All this is very strange. It is anxiety-causing, because
      if not ameliorated, it leads to a strange sort of  “in-
      ability" to breath.  It's not like congestion, in the usual
      sense. It leads to the desire to cough, but the cough
      does lead to a cessation of  symptoms.  Also, I feel
      as if  I am in the process offainting at times.  I feel
       shakey."

June 05, 2003

She finally began to feel better, two days after the CT scan.
That “hollow” & “metallic” syndrome finally resolved itself.
About this she wrote:  "Just that little exposure to the
CT Scan environment made me ill for two days!"

She had to go to the bank one day.  And it was a hot and/or
humid 84 degrees outside.  She started to feel ill in the heat,
with the activated carbon mask on.  The mask itself was start-
ing to emit traces of exhaust odor.  She never made it to the
bank that day.