Been busy-This blog has been made private because of some serious revelations and truth that needs to be brought to light- not just for my cancer- but for other women like me as well.
Something in the stars decided to finally grant me all the side effects I never received in full force during chemo. Neuropathy, bone pain, headaches..... and the lymphedema is creeping up slowly too.
Doing my best to stay ahead of it.
I was never a nap person- you know I'm tired if I'm napping during the day.
I wasn't really able to nap too too much during this crazy train- I did though.... but now- it's all the time naptime. Only I can't sleep.
Whatever radiation is doing to the scar tissue in my arm, and chest - it ain't pretty- it's just ucky. and uncomfortable.
Unexplained sharp stabs come out of nowhere, at random moments. It's my nerves knitting back together.
And the issue at hand.....work.
....
I cannot go back to any work because I was exposed to chemicals.
There- I admitted it.
I sat in a virtual fishbowl of solvent fumes, plastic fumes, horrible chemicals being sprayed around me with no regard and no ventilation.
I realized something wasn't right when I watched Pink Ribbons Inc., a documentary about the pinkwashing of society and how breast cancer is marketed and portrayed in its pretty pinkness. During the course of the documentary, the tie between plastics and breast cancer were cited, in a Canadian worksite where plastics were melted and workers were breathing them in- it actived their estrogen levels to crazy amounts, causing estrogen positive breast cancers. It struck me- that I too- with estrogen positive breast cancer, had been surrounded by fumes of estrogenic chemicals designed to disrupt the endocrine system, with no ventilation at work for 5 years, 40 hours a week. Most print shops have adequate ventilation. And safety protcols with the chemicals they work with (which is a bevy of carcinogens, enough to make your head spin).
Not mine.
Nobody cared, and the crap just went on. The industry doesn't care either. The toxic process of making a tshirt from fabric to printing is HORRIBLE for the environment. and it's an industry where standards are lowered.
Ventilation is standard.
not having it is borderline criminal.
And even more evil when a pregnant woman works in the said place and no care is taken either.
The things we do for money. A 4 dollar an hour raise and paid medical benefits after your first 8 months , with a wholesale connection ot getting your art printed is a hard thing to walk away from. But if I had known the full spectrum of what I was exposed to and what I deserved as a basic human right of safety in the workplace, I would have left much earlier. Maybe.
It was so nice to have steady paychecks once again, I had the great boss who took care of his employees- Yet now that I step back and take a look- I see he didn't care. He didn't take the time to look up what might be a healthier thing to do for his workers, currently using an open door as ventilation. Sometimes.
Something isn't right. I have been told by my doctor that I shouldn't go back into that building- and how could I?
How could I work for someone who made their surrogate mother sign a contract to not be exposed to high chemical contents as they carried their baby, and didn't give a shit about his own pregnant employee?
Done.
I went through this for t-shirts. Other people go through this for tshirts. Not just breast cancer either.
As of this blog post - OSHA is following up on the official complaint, and I call my lawyer back when the reports come back.
This is a scary thing,but I hope this can help my industry move into a place where it isn't so blatantly hypocritical.
I am exhausted through this- but I refuse to let anyone get hurt anymore and I'm making sure safety gets put in place for any other people working in shops without adequate ventilations like they are required to have.
....
stay tuned kids. it's gonna be a wild ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment