For several days now I’ve been feeling guilty for ignoring my blog; yes, I’ve been busy, but not that busy. I’ve gardened, walked the dog, read books and even, once, a magazine for the over 50s. Take last night, for instance. I was going to come upstairs straight after supper and start composing. Instead I decided to see what’s on TV and 2 ½ hours and a whole 100 gram bar of chocolate later I finally switched it off. And got ready for bed instead of switching my computer on.
Talking of getting ready for bed: when I went to the loo the seat unexpectedly cracked under me and bit my bottom. I knew I shouldn’t have had that bar of chocolate. Whenever I use the upstairs bathroom now, and until we have a new seat, I have to be very careful. Perhaps we should get one of these elevated loo seats they advertise in the magazine for the over 50s. And while we’re at it, perhaps we should check out walk-in baths and showers, stair lifts, Zimmer frames, motorised scooters, beds and chairs that tip you out when you press a button on a cord. The magazine is full of good advice on expensive holidays, investment opportunities, retirement apartments and leisure activities. All interviews are with glamorous and famous people of a certain age, who lead interesting lives. The letter pages are written by smarmy, self-congratulatory pensioners in need of a friendly slap to remind them of the reality of a penurious and frail old age which is the lot of so many of the ancients.
At Friday’s poetry group meeting I was confronted with another side of reality: old people who find themselves not only hard up but also isolated and lonely because of an inability to cope with modern life. When Lorna first mentioned them I misunderstood and said something unfeeling and flippant like: 'well, hadn’t they better learn to live in today’s world?’ It turns out that this inability to cope is not self-inflicted as in unwilling to learn to use digital media and smart phones, but due to EHS, or electromagnetic-hypersensitivity.
We’ve both considered Lorna to be a bit of an eccentric - well, to tell the truth, a regular fruitcake in some respects - but it seems that many of her idiosyncrasies are due to the symptoms she experiences when exposed to mobile phones, for instance. One side of her bungalow is swathed in yellow draperies over walls and windows. It’s like swimming in a murky aquarium. She has a strict rule that no mobile phones are allowed inside. Once I forgot to leave mine outside and after no more than ten minutes she became restless and red in the face. “Someone has brought a mobile in,” she said. Naturally, I apologised and took it outside. When she uses her computer - only ever for a very short time and mainly for emails - she covers exposed skin in aluminium cooking foil.
EHS is not recognised by the medical establishment. Wikipedia says: The reported symptoms of EHS include headache, fatigue, stress, sleep disturbances, skin symptoms like prickling, burning sensations and rashes, pain and ache in muscles and many other health problems. Whatever their cause, EHS symptoms are a real and sometimes disabling problem for the affected person. However, there is no scientific basis to link EHS symptoms to electromagnetic field exposure.
Lorna and the members of her self help group are often unable to go out at all 'because there are more and more masts around' she says, and she won’t visit anyone else’s house because most people have numerous digital gadgets. The other day she fell on her steep and stoney garden steps and hurt herself rather badly but she refuses to use ambulances, doctors and hospitals. “They’d kill me’, she says.
Oh dear. Poor Lorna. And all the other sufferers.
ReplyDeleteWe bought a home from someone who suffered from 'total allergy syndrome'. The limitations on her life were HUGE. Isolated, in pain, and derided is not a nice way to be.
And the fact that Lorna recognised so quickly that someone had bought a mobile into her home suggests that she is on the mark about some of her problems. I bet the medicos largely dismiss it though.
Ah, I do feel bad for Lorna. That sounds like a difficult way to live.
ReplyDeleteI got a new loo. It is so tall my feet dangle like a little kid.
ReplyDeleteI had a colleague who suffered from something that sounds very much like this, though I don't recall it having a name. She was very sensitive in other ways, and rather a bit high-maintenance, so it was easy to brush it off as another one of her quirks. In the end she had to retire early and, in truth, she is much easier to be with now that she has some control over proximity to things that emit whatever it was that made her ill.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous of your chocolate. I don't often crave sweet stuff but I was yearning for some chocolate already, before I read this. None in the house:(
ReplyDeleteI'm not a believer in EHS and Wikepedia has lost a lot of credibility recently. No surprise there, as supposed facts can be added by anyone. However, your friend is obviously suffering and I wish I could think of something to help.
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ReplyDeleteI'm a skeptic. Here's an interesting article: http://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2015/feb/15/better-call-saul-electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-real-health-risk I've found there are far too many people in my acquaintance who seem to embrace illness as a way of life. Funny thing is, the friends I have who have truly serious health problems do their best to focus on what they love rather than what they have.
ReplyDeleteWell, we all deserve a few days vacation from blogging, now and then. The EHS issue is interesting. I thought it was a fictional malady, brought to us by the TV program "Better Call Saul," (as referenced in the article Scheid mentions), but I guess it's a real thing.
ReplyDeleteFriko, Don't succumb as yet to the trappings of old age. As long as you can muck about the garden and take the dog for a ramble, you don't need lifts or higher loo seats. Better to use your muscles and keep yourself strong. I got a box of my favorite peppermint cookie bark for my b-day. I hear it calling my name several times a day. Luckily, the toilet seat hasn't cracked. It would be next to impossible to stay away from electronic devices in this day and age. You'd have to live in a bubble.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet the toilet seat break got your attention and woke you up! Now forget about those senior devices! fight them. Use them as a last resort!
ReplyDeleteI have a relative who, when she hugged me after I'd been fitted with a pacemaker, had both her hearing aids emit a high-pitched feedback squeal until we stepped apart. Does Lorna, by any chance, wear hearing aids?
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of such a thing. Not the chocolate and toilet seat incident, that I can well imagine happening in this house. No, the electromagnetic thing. Don't know quite what to think about it. I'd be a sceptic. I often am and find out later that I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that wind turbines make people ill but is spite of the science I think there maybe something in EHS but quite minor. The Wiki article is interesting and there is a new word to learn, Nocebo. We once many years ago had a cracked timber toilet seat. One sat rather gingerly.
ReplyDeleteYes, I could very well join you with that great chocolate - one of my favs, but too much chocolate for me is like sticking my head in a Bee Zone. Yep, allergies, but moderate. If I do not eat a lot of chocolate i am OK, but then on special occasions like Christmas, Valentines, Easter, there's more chocolate being passed out and offered to you - Most of the time I say "No Thankyou" - people respond shocked "You don't like Chocolate".........YES, I like chocolate but I am allergic if I eat too much. I do feel sorry for your friend Lorna - in this technical world with air waves ever growing and the electromagnetic age growing at even a larger pace, I feel Lorna would be trapped in her house. Most cities now are wi-fi ready and growing more and more. Listen Honey, you work in your garden, eat chocolate, watch TV, walk Millie and when you feel like doing a post, that's when you do it. I never pressure myself to post. I post when I feel like it or have something to write about. Besides, its almost summer here, and summer for me is too short to be thinking about posting. I want to be out doors. I don't necessarily agree with Andrew's comment above. Apparently he has never lived next to a wind turbine or a large windmill, operated by the Atlantic Winds. Its not a minor problem - many people are affected by the high pitched wine that is like "white Noise", but receptive to the brain - for some not a problem, for some big problem. WE have a land of high turbine windmills out this way - doesn't bother me, but others, yes.Now on the somewhat not so serious side - I do hope your backside has repaired and you are feeling better. Those kind of accidents are not pleasant. ha,ha Have a wonderful day.
ReplyDeleteThat's fascinating about the EHS. Puts ones life into perspective, doesn't it? I have thought about replacing my toilet with one that is just taller. Just seems smart in the long run. We have a store here I think they must have bought the toilets in the women's restaurant from the elementary school supplier -- I feel like they are so short my knees will collapse!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are back on the blog! I look forward to your posts and visits!
How sad for Lorna - but how interesting. I'm already thinking this would be an interesting quirk for a character if I ever get around to starting the next book.
ReplyDeleteWhen redoing our bathroom last year, we had safety bars installed on the walls (disguised as small towel bars) with thoughts of the near future when we may need them. We also got the slightly taller toilet seat and are happy that we did. It actually makes more sense for everyone to have one.
ReplyDeleteThere is a character on a popular program with that same disease that you described. I thought it was a made up plot line, but now after reading your post, I see that this is truly an illness.
all those devices to 'help' the older 50 crowd just guarantee that you will get old and feeble. stop using your muscles and they get flabby and useless. I think there a lot of things about the human body, the mind, and the environment that we do not understand and so when we run across someone who seems to suffer from 'invisible' things, we resort to ridicule but there is a lot to be said for experiential evidence. the fact that Lorna could tell someone had brought a cell phone into her house says a lot.
ReplyDeleteFriko, there is much for readers to feed upon in this post.
ReplyDeleteI am annoyed, but also rather intrigued and often amazed by the quantity of products and services advertised to promote purchases by older folks. These adverts definitely do not encourage me to part with my own funds, but I suspect they are effective. Otherwise we would not see so many.
I do not need any chocolate advertising to summon my interest! Perhaps you'll recall that I give up chocolate for Lent. It's not a difficult deprivation, but I admit to enjoying that Easter return.
Not sure if I've ever before heard of EHS. I am sure that I would not wish to live as Lorna does.
What a world it is! xo
Ouch! A bit bottom is a bit, well, a bit dicey.
ReplyDeleteA few winters ago we needed to replace the main throne in the castle. Off we went, shopping at a "big box" sort of store, me testing this one and that by, well, by sitting on them, in my boots and coat and scarf. Like Goldilocks, this one was too tall, too short, too wide, until finding one that just right. Tom installed it and then I needed to test it out. Upon the royal throne I plopped - and perched. Alas and alack, my feet were left dangling. That's what happens when one wears one boots while test driving a toilette.
Poor Lorna. An affliction very real to her.
Well, thank heavens you did write this post. I enjoyed it immensely, including the bit about the chocolate, and learned something new. I can see why EHS would affect some people, because those fields are real, whether people want to believe it or not. She knew you had a mobile without any reason to suspect it. I am so very glad I don't suffer from such a syndrome or I would really be isolated, too! Absolutely fascinating post, Friko. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that she knew someone had brought in a device is telling. I was wondering how she could have a computer of any kind at all in her house to read email--even covered in tin foil? There are all kinds of invisible forces in our modern world. I believe some people can be more sensitive to them than others.
ReplyDeleteNow I am thinking about chocolate... ;)
Mother's elderly friends are convinced that if they are taken to their local General Hospital they will be put on the Liverpool Care Pathway (probably now disguised under another name).
ReplyDeleteA chap in his eighties who lives down the road from her fought his way out of the ambulance after a collapse at home...she reckons the thought of going to hospital was enough to galvanise him into renewed activity..
Oh, dear -- I'd never heard of this affliction. In today's world this would be really isolating. I've always considered the internet as quite a boon for the aging.
ReplyDeleteFriko, I too have never heard of EHS, but do believe that people can have a sensitivity to anything. I know that if I spend too much time on the computer, I get a migraine.... and that watching TV for too long can do the same. It stimulates something in my brain. Everyone is different... and once we recognize this, we simply have to compensate for these strange idiosycrasies. People who are really hyper-sensitive must have a very difficult time.
ReplyDeleteYes, there is a lot of lonely elderly. They need a person who would listen to them and help.
ReplyDeleteChocolate calms and there is magnesium.
Happy spring, Friko!
I often wonder about those peoples who squat all day long - however would we Westerners manage?
ReplyDeleteWell said Friko. The glossy mags and films do not depict the real life of many. My sister is just 70 and walks with a zimmer frame permanently. A divorced retired school teacher/librarian she is also not wealthy, or able to take glamorous cruises. She lost her last job because she had an epileptic seizure, the result of chemo for cancer. We wouldn't take a cruise anyway as those cruise ships are floating cities dumping untreated sewerage in the seas.
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ReplyDeleteThe science behind how a television signal reaches the screen or text message reaches my 'phone is a mystery to me .
ReplyDeleteBut I can understand how your friend can be affected by it or believe that she is, which is the same . It's how witch doctors work , after all .
Lots there for us all to digest Friko. Chocolate and toilet seats for a start lol
ReplyDeleteI sometimes like to peruse the 'elderly ads'. There may come a time when we might need some of the items - also we never know when that time might come!
Cathy
My mother lived on the same level as I do -- one flight of stairs up. There's an elevator available in the building, but she refused to use it, excepting the week she was recovering from some malady or other. Her contention was that even if it took her forever to get up the stairs, it was good for her cardio-vascular system. And it was, right up until her 93rd year.
ReplyDeleteAs for the EHS business -- I suspect that it's analogous to the gluten hysteria. Yes, there are some people who have gluten sensitivity, but the number of people I know who spend their entire lives obsessing over what they're putting in their mouths surely is higher than the number of truly sensitive. And let's face it -- the marketers have their own reasons for encouraging such fear and hypervigilance. The day I found "gluten free" orange juice in the grocery, along with "non-GMO" laundry soap was the day I remembered that old line about a sucker born every minute.
As for the
I struggle when it comes to issues like Lorna's; part of me wants to be accepting and sympathetic, but another part of me feels an eye-roll coming on. I mean, who knows? It could be legitimate, definitely. Then again, UGH.
ReplyDeleteKatie Singer is one of our illustrious locals, a writer and a student of yoga, she would traipse passed my home to attend 3 hour yoga classes with my neighbor. Only the other day I listened to an interview with Katie about her new book on electromagnetic radiation, so I offer you all a link here: http://www.electronicsilentspring.com/
ReplyDeletei have no doubt that we are all affected by EMR, some more then others. Locally we had an activist group oppose a proposed cell tower with one man claiming he suffered from the harmful effects already - while the installation had not yet been completed, embarrassing.
I turned my TV off a long time ago and even Netflix, already for several months, it's a relief as I am not likely to stop after 2 1/2 hours, but tend to binge watch while catching up on my favorite series. It's all good though and grist for the mill, I look forward to your next post.
Friko, I sympathise over the cracking loo-seat: some just do wear out, and it isn't necessarily the sitter's fault - it would have happened sooner or later anyway. As for your friend, well... I suspect you may have read the piece in Saturday's Guardian magazine about afflictions without obvious physical cause, but where the physical symptoms aren't obviously a conscious invention? The mind is a mysterious thing - and one doesn't want to think oneself into a fragility and dependency that might be avoidable.
ReplyDeleteThink of all the electronic blue tooth and hands free devices out there....the waves are in the air...it may be the sheer amount of it all.... I do know I have days where I just have to have quiet! As to chocolate..what about chocolate oranges? HUmmmnnn
ReplyDeleteWell, Friko, you certainly covered a wide range in this post! I have never heard the term EHS before, but have heard that some people are very sensitive to electromagnetic waves. I would suspect that the science is still out about that and am often suspicious when doctors write off suspected causes. The number of professionals that thought Lyme Disease didn't exist and there are still some that don't. Well, I've seen the results of that terrible affliction left untreated and it's pretty shocking. So we may as yet have new findings about EHS -- I would say the 'jury is still out' on that one. As usual another excellent and thought-provoking post!
ReplyDeleteMOST enlightening! Thank you. Bless Lorna
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ALOHA from Honolulu,
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
I was actually happy to learn that you occasionally ignore your blog in favor of chocolate and TV. I've been shamefully neglectful of mine to the point that most of my followers have given up on me. Life has intervened in a most pernicious way and time spent in front of the computer is at a premium. But when I do get a chance to read, here is one of my favorite places to come.
ReplyDeletePoor, poor, Lorna. This post was quite intriguing in so many ways.
ReplyDeleteEat the chocolate. It's good for your health. I think with all the walking and gardening you do that you don't have to worry about the bottom getting too big. I bet that seat for the loo was just worn out.
Hi Friko - I've had cracking, break loo seat syndrome down here ... the I had high loo seat synrome for my hip .. now I'm back to cheap plastic loo seat - such is life .. but it's normal-lish!! I hadn't heard of the severity of symptoms that Lorna experiences .. I'm aware that I don't like too much 'telepathy' around my head ... but seem ok otherwise ... Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely skeptical about EHS. Sounds to me like the old environmental allergy types which was suspiciously correlated with other mental illness.
ReplyDelete