Twenty-Eight Years ago today, my world collapsed when my daughter Katherine was diagnosed with leukemia.
The day before, I had insisted on a CBC to discern whether she had anemia or leukemia. It seemed surreal to say those words, yet this doctor, finally, had to agree that her dramatic bruises and constant low-grade fevers were textbook symptoms. I hoped I was just being paranoid.
Her pediatrician called back that night. You never want to be put at the front of the line that way. Her white count was sky-high, and we were booked for a bone marrow aspiration.
By the next day, Katherine was a cancer patient, and we bought her a Madeline doll to give her courage. We spent our first night in the hospital together, and Nurse Cindy Lou Who, as Katherine called her, came to sit with her while she slept so I could cry in the shower. It had been a day of agonizing stoicism, of a worse fate than I had dared believe we could suffer. My precious brilliant four-year-old had leukemia. I remember stroking her silky brown curls and realizing that the chemo would make them fall out. And so began a hell that never ended, only hardening into permanent grey bleakness the day she died.
My life is bracketed by two dates: July 22, 1998, when she was diagnosed, and June 22, 2002, when I awoke to find my beloved first-born child dead in my arms.
Many people have days like that – where there is a sharply delineated before and after. And many have shared their experiences in this book.
As I remember all this, Poisoning Our Children has gone live on Johns Hopkins University Press’s website. Pre-orders are available at https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/54124/poisoning-our-children?srsltid=AfmBOoom9b8VL_44YjXIzfJkCpIVzRaVnN1lcpFkbURbYYGufR4-avTi
The release date is February 2, 2027, nearly 25 years after her last birthday, her eighth.
It has been a long road. I never gave up. My expertise in Public Health, earned over long years, has been vital to telling the stories of children made sick by environmental exposures. My first reviews of literature on pesticides and child health were done to convince City Council to stop spraying for mosquitoes. Later, I employed the same skills to stop my city and others from treating lawns, an initiative I subsequently brought to my university. Despite being threatened by the company spraying for mosquitoes with a spurious suit for libel and slander because I had distributed peer-reviewed information to all municipalities in my county, I swore to myself that that would not be the end of it. I gained the necessary credentials and have continued to speak out. I have persisted in fighting against those with economic interests in poisoning our children, and I take a fierce pride in never becoming complacent.
I hope many readers will take the time to learn what we can all do to prevent cancer, autism, ADHD, lower IQs, birth defects, asthma, and autoimmune disease in our children. If you teach, I would be glad to put you on the list for an exam copy.
Dr. Bruce Lanphear wisely advised that experts stay pure, and I have decided to donate all proceeds to non-profits working to protect children. Unlike most industry reps, I offer a full disclosure at the end of the volume:
Expecting complete transparency from other scholars and industries, I will offer my own disclosure statement. Besides all these magnificent human beings who have contributed their time and effort, and Benedictine University, my home institution, which has supported me as a tenured professor, no person, donor, or institution has supported this project financially or otherwise, and 100% of any author profits will help sustain non-profit environmental organizations mentioned within.
The only consolation I can imagine is the hope that even one child will be spared the suffering so many other children like my Katherine have endured.
By the next day, Katherine was a cancer patient, and we bought her a Madeline doll to give her courage. We spent our first night in the hospital together, and Nurse Cindy Lou Who, as Katherine called her, came to sit with her while she slept so I could cry in the shower. It had been a day of agonizing stoicism, of a worse fate than I had dared believe we could suffer. My precious brilliant four-year-old had leukemia. I remember stroking her silky brown curls and realizing that the chemo would make them fall out. And so began a hell that never ended, only hardening into permanent grey bleakness the day she died.
My life is bracketed by two dates: July 22, 1998, when she was diagnosed, and June 22, 2002, when I awoke to find my beloved first-born child dead in my arms.
Many people have days like that – where there is a sharply delineated before and after. And many have shared their experiences in this book.
As I remember all this, Poisoning Our Children has gone live on Johns Hopkins University Press’s website. Pre-orders are available at https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/54124/poisoning-our-children?srsltid=AfmBOoom9b8VL_44YjXIzfJkCpIVzRaVnN1lcpFkbURbYYGufR4-avTi
The release date is February 2, 2027, nearly 25 years after her last birthday, her eighth.
It has been a long road. I never gave up. My expertise in Public Health, earned over long years, has been vital to telling the stories of children made sick by environmental exposures. My first reviews of literature on pesticides and child health were done to convince my City Council to stop spraying for mosquitoes. Later, I employed the same skills to stop my city and others from treating lawns, an initiative I subsequently brought to my university. Despite being threatened by the company spraying for mosquitoes with a spurious suit for libel and slander because I had distributed peer-reviewed information to all municipalities in my county, I swore to myself that that would not be the end of it. I gained the necessary credentials and have continued to speak out. I have persisted in fighting against those with economic interests in poisoning our children, and I take a fierce pride in never becoming complacent.
I hope many readers will take the time to learn what we can all do to prevent cancer, autism, ADHD, lower IQs, birth defects, asthma, and autoimmune disease in our children. If you teach, I would be glad to put you on the list for a free exam copy.
Dr. Bruce Lanphear wisely advised that experts stay pure, and I have decided to donate all proceeds to non-profits working to protect children. Unlike most industry reps, I offer a full disclosure at the end of the volume:
Expecting complete transparency from other scholars and industries, I will offer my own disclosure statement. Besides all these magnificent human beings who have contributed their time and effort, and Benedictine University, my home institution, which has supported me as a tenured professor, no person, donor, or institution has supported this project financially or otherwise, and 100% of any author profits will help sustain non-profit environmental organizations mentioned within.
The only consolation I can imagine is the hope that even one child will be spared the suffering so many other children like my Katherine have endured.
