This is something that may affect everyone reading this. Please bear with me. Even if you are not in Illinois, and especially if you ARE. Our very lives actually may depend on it.
All through this twisted journey of life altering, and ongoing cancer battle I’ve been on, I’ve never asked “why me”, however, now and again I entertained the thoughts of HOW me? HOW may have this cancer been caused? There is a reason for everything, and sometimes bad things are caused because of someone else’s free will which can affect others in a very negative way.
I reminisce of long time residents and immediate neighbors. Louie and Grace raised 5 kids in their house next to me. He died of cancer about 12 years ago. Shortly after, a neighbor directly across from him passed away from some type of cancer. Some time after that her son Lloyd, who we affectionately referred to as “the deaf guy” cos Sarah had a hard time understanding at the age of 2 why he always grunted and made strange sounds at her, also passed away from cancer. Louie’s wife Grace died just over 5 years ago from cancer. In each of these cases, I imagine it was found too late to do anything about it. But there’s 4. Right next to me and right across from me all in the time we’ve lived here. What about farther down the street? Or The next block over? What is going on over there? A few years back, directly across from me, my neighbor Ellen, found cancer and had surgery to remove it. So far so good for her. Thank God. Then me… I did get to thinking “what the hell?” Is it something in our food? Is it something in our water? I began to seriously worry about the health of my husband and future health of my daughter. We found out that just across the highway my neighbor’s brother had cancer, his wife, and currently having treatments, their daughter.
Two weeks ago, Ellen’s husband Wayne approached us with more devastating news. By accident, because of x-rays from his knee surgery, they found colon cancer within him! Now hold on just a minute. This is WAY TOO MUCH. Louie and Grace had been the longest residents. Then Lloyd and his mother across from him. Currently, we are the longest residents in our area now at 17 years, followed by Wayne and Ellie at about 12 years. What is going on? What is attacking our little corner of the world? I re-visited my thoughts of poisonous carcinogens in our water. Possibly run off from the highway? A cleaning fluid from the railroad tracks just across the street? Poisons from boats on the chain of lakes that may be seeping into our wells? What gives? HOW did all of us get some form of cancer? Who’s next? My husband? God forbid my daughter? I’ve become consumed by what may be going wrong. I’ve even thought of hitting the streets by my house to find if there are more I haven’t heard about.
Now, I haven’t purchased a Chicago Tribune in years, nor do I normally buy donuts. Recently, on a whim I decided to buy a few donuts to share with the extended family. When I was leaving, I glanced at the Trib sitting there on the counter. I almost walked out, but something caught my attention and I decided to go back and purchase it. I never took the time to read it, but oddly, lugged it along with me on vacation. I finally look at the headline stories… which were alarming. Not just to me, but alarming to ALL of us. I urge you ALL to read this article. It has really got my panties in a bunch. So much so that I’m afraid to go home. It shows there are over 500 sites in Illinois alone, of KNOWN contaminated water supplies. This contamination can cause… cancer. Only a few of these are on a list for “clean up”. It is getting into the Fox River and into aquifers where our own wells siphon our water supply into our homes. It is even in water you may think is clean just because you pay the city for it. Many have been KNOWN since 1990!!! The top 9 are listed in this article. There is a link where you can look up to see if you may be one of the effected areas. If you have a DRY CLEANERS near you, odds are, you’ve got trouble. It is the chemical perchloroethylene, (also called PCE, Perc, the brand name is TETRACHLOROETHYLENE. – “common synonyms” are PERCHLOROETHYLENE; ETHYLENE TETRACHLORIDE; CARBON BICHLORIDE; CARBON DICHLORIDE) from these dry cleaners which could be silently killing us. I was devastated to see, on this list the first one in line is FOX LAKE. Now I’m petrified my cancer will return if I continue to bathe or drink my water. I’m terrified my daughter who has been party to this her entire life may already have something lurking with in her. It has also been known by the ever popular “them”, that it travels through the ground (I assume through aquifers?) and can turn up as a vapor leaking from your property into your house like radon does, which will also cause cancer or other life threatening illness, as well as being in your soil when you dig it up or play on it.
#1 – Dry Cleaners are killing us
#2 – Illinois set aside $2.7 million dollars for clean up of some sites. (apparently it’s not a costly task, and if that’s true, then why hasn’t it been done sooner?! Maybe because of fact #3. Why, if these places were KNOWN contaminants are they allowed to stay in bleeping business and continue to poison our lakes, rivers, aquifers, countless animals. People. Me. My child?)
#3- the dirty rat Rod Blago, TOOK $2 million of that to “balance the budget”. Wait, to pay for CTA trains to have TVs installed, spending more then $2 million, but forget cleaning up messes we allowed that is making unsuspecting people sick? Where is the logic in that?!?! I guess there’s no money for clean up now.
#4 – they use the term “common fix”. I’m thinking it ain’t fixing shit people. Houston, we have a problem.
I urge you to check to see if your area is on this list. http://drycleaners.apps.chicagotribune.com/
Whether it is or not, aquifers can run far and deep, I implore you to get your water and perhaps your soil tested! Not just for Perc, but other carcinogens that may be lurking as well, such as Dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride which is also in the lovely water supply up here. Just because you are not on this list, does not mean you are safe. It may mean no one has found out yet!
Take action. I am. And if I find it in my well, bet your ass there will be hell to pay.
Erin Brockovich, brace yourself. We’ll be dialing your number!
Full Trib Story, here (2 articles)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-dry-cleaners-pollution-bd26-jul26,0,5184515.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-dry-cleaners-vapor-bd26-jul26,0,4767111.story
