Kathryn C. Treat, Author: Has Life Passed You By?

As  a member of the Rave Reviews Book Club, I am always happy to support a fellow member’s RRBC blog tour. Today I have the pleasure of hosting Kathryn C. Treat, author of Allergic to Life: My Battle for Survival, Courage, and Hope. Kathryn is the RRBC Membership Director and a very dear friend. We met in 2003 at Dr. Rea’s clinic, the Envrionmental Health Center-Dallas, where Kathryn was treated for mold exposure and I, for pesticide poisoning. We bonded then and have been friends ever since.

Kathryn’s book shines a spotlight on multiple chemical sensitivity and the precautions that must be taken to avoid further exposure. Her story is one of determination and courage. You can support Kathryn by purchasing her book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble and following her on Twitter, Google, and Facebook. Better yet, join Kathryn at Rave Reviews Book Club. It’s an experience you won’t want to miss. Tell them Kathryn sent you. Here is Kathryn in her own words.

 

“I pray to God for answers. I ask for His support and encouragement. If I have to live in this pain, in this bubble, in this life of isolation and loneliness the rest of my life, I don’t know what I will do.

Recently I was in contact with a friend who is also a mold survivor.  We talked about isolation.  In fact isolation seems to be a general topic and matter of woe among fellow mold sufferers and those suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).

I soon began to realize that once my life had changed and I was no longer able to attend indoor functions, be among large crowds, go shopping or out to lunch, I also wasn’t being called or visited.  A majority of my treatment took me far away from home to Dallas, TX.  The longer I was there, the less I heard from others.  It was hard going through all that I went through by myself.  I thought when I finally came home, I would be totally well and everything would be the same as it always was.  I soon began to realize what it must feel like for a soldier to return after many months away at battle.

Excerpt:

I also began realizing what soldiers must feel like after returning from an extended tour of duty. How do you assimilate back into your life? Things keep going on and moving forward but you aren’t there to participate in the moving forward. People carry on conversations but you feel like you were dropped in the middle of a story without access to the beginning. So you just sit there, and you listen but don’t speak.

Things were different when I returned home.  I was still sick and still not able to visit in the homes of friends or go out.  So much had happened after being gone for almost a year (2003) that I felt lost in conversations.  Someone would talk about something that had happened and I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what they were talking about because I hadn’t been there, hadn’t been involved in life at home and hadn’t witnessed changes that took place.  In this depressed state I wrote:

Life Passes Her By

She sits and stares out the window and she doesn’t recognize anything

Life has passed her by and nothing is the same

Where was she when all this happened?  She was here but

Life passed her by

Buildings were built and buildings were torn down

People arrived and left;

People were born and others died

Life passed her by

People divorced and others married;

People found new jobs and new hobbies

Where was she—she was there but she did not participate in life

It passed her by

She reaches out but touches nothing;

Life is just past her grasp

She stretches and bends and tries again

But life passes her by

She talks to people but it is a jumble to understand what they say

The life she missed is just out of her reach

Life passed her by

Life may pass us by but we can choose to keep letting it pass us by or we can choose to find a way to stretch a little further and grab hold of it.  We can choose to find a way to participate again.  Is life passing you by?  What can you do to reach and grab hold of it?

Kathryn and her husband, Rick.

Allergic to Life can be purchased at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Signed copies may be purchased at Kathryn’s website.

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