August 14, 2011
One day in the middle of May 2010, SDG&E workers came to my La Mesa home to install a new meter for both my gas and electric service. They did the same for my neighbors. I remember their trucks and the boxes on the sidewalk. How quickly they did it and left. How we turned off our computer and TV to prevent a power surge.
When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge, it is sometimes said.
I really didn't pay much attention to these installations, assuming that they were similar to the old ones, just digital. Boy, was I wrong. As an active, retired educator, I never expected that the challenge would come in the form of harmful radiation coming from these new utility "smart" meters installed by SDG&E. But that is just what has happened.
Please note that everyone in our county and throughout SDG&E's territory had these installed in the past year and a half, except for a handful of people. None of us were told of any risks.
Shortly after, when I began to have ringing ears and sleeplessness, I wondered why but kept thinking it would disappear. I'd hear ringing in my ears no matter what time of day. Even in the night, and it would be more apparent when it was quiet, it seemed.
At night, I'd wake up suddenly around 2:00 or 2:30 AM, the same time every night, wide awake, and have trouble getting back to sleep for several hours. Some nights I didn't sleep much at all, just a couple of hours.
This was also occuring to other members of the household, at times. There were peculiar symptoms that some of us experienced that we could not explain but was making life very complicated.
Last summer was a rough time as a result. There were some headaches. I spent time reading in my room, something I like to do to relax. By fall, things didn't get any better, but worse.
Add to the list, by October, a rapidly growing skin cancer on my face, looked like a largish pencil eraser, you could practically watch it grow ... and it hurt.
The doctors took a bit of time to schedule me in and removed it in January — cut it out, leaving a scar. By the end of November, I noticed in addition to the ringing ears and other symptoms, that I suddenly was extremely nauseous, dizzy, and developing headaches when I used my computer or cell phone.
I'd always kept a good distance from the cell phone for safety sake, used speaker mode, but that wasn't helping.
In frustration, I called a local environmental doctor I'd seen for a workplace mold exposure many years before. I remembered he knew something about electro-sensitivities and thought he might know what was going on. I told him about the computer and cell phone reactions, but nothing else, as I didn't think those things were pertinent. Wrong again.
He asked if I had a smart meter on the house.
I said, "Yes, but what does that have to do with it?" I thought he was changing the subject. He asked if I had any other symptoms and went down a list that included the ringing ears, sleeping problems, and more ... He said that a number of his patients were reporting these same symptoms after installation.
During the few days before I got into see this doctor, I wrote and called SDG&E, with a negative response to my requests to remove the smart meters.
While seeing the doctor, I was shocked to learn more about the new SDG&E meters, that they emitted pulsed RF radiation, something experts warn about, and that many other people in California had the same symptoms after installations of the meters. Further, my electric meter was right near the place where my head lay on the pillow, less than a foot, on the exterior wall. That was very unsettling.
But I felt confident that I could solve this problem as the doctor wrote me a letter that strongly demanded SDG&E remove the meter and replace with an analog as it was causing medical problems for me. In addition, he cited the Americans With Disabilities Act, as I qualified for that category.
He provided me with a handful of current peer-reviewed scientific studies that showed this type of radiation and frequency was associated with the exact set of symptoms I had experienced.
I went home, letter and studies in hand, and filed a complaint with SDG&E and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), attaching my doctor's letter.
My husband and I moved out of the master bedroom, temporarily, to wait for the meter to be removed. I bought shielding for my computer, to be able to use it.
Meanwhile, I made numerous calls to SDG&E. Some left me in tears. It was very troubling to be emphatically told by the SDG&E representatives over the phone that the meters were perfectly safe and were mandated by the state CPUC. I called the state CPUC and they claimed that the federal government was making them mandate these for the state.
Then, they changed their story. The CPUC admitted that it had authorized the use of wireless smart meters, not mandated them. SDG&E never backed down from their stance that everyone was going to have them, there was no "opting" out. I waited for my letters to be arrived and acted on.
Eventually, I received a reply, within a week from SDG&E and about a month or more from the CPUC. Both sent what appeared to be personalized form letters, both denied the possibility of harm from the meters, and both said there was no chance of having the meters removed from my home. I remember bursting into tears when reading these.
It was inconceivable to me that my home, my haven, would be polluted with dangerous radiation that was making me ill and no one in charge of these devices cared at all or would remove them. Ever. My doctor was shocked that they would ignore his letter.
As I researched this problem, for the first time in my life, I knew I was facing what seemed like a challenge without any recourse. And to top things off, the sensitivities to what turned out to be RF radiation, were getting worse by the month. I could not use my computer for several weeks, no more cell phone use, I had to strictly avoid all wireless and RF radiation sources.
My life seemed turned upside down. Headaches, when going near the electric meter, in particular, inside or outside, were progressing into the most severe I'd ever imagined, lasting for up to three days, with chills and dizziness, memory problems ... Sleeping problems continued, the ringing of the ears got more intense till the sound actually hurt and there was loud clicking in my right ear. I later learned this was called "microwave click" from RF radiation exposure.
During several weeks, pain in the right ear was like someone stabbing it. I went to the doctor a lot during this time, to my primary doctor and the environmental doctor, when I could.
Both were supportive and avoidance seemed to be their main suggestions. I stopped going in the master bedroom to obtain clothing and other belongings as needed. I had to ask other family members to get them and move them out into another room.
An ear, nose and throat doctor diagnosed me with significant hearing loss in the painful ear and hearing loss in both ears, noting that it was a result of exposure to electromagnetic fields. He commented that he had some other patients like this, and to avoid the meters. The ringing ears continued.
I was determined to get help, but must tell you how awful it felt to be dismissed so mercilessly by SDG&E and CPUC. It seemed like a living nightmare. I kept calling and writing SDG&E and CPUC, without any help being given. We were still living outside of our master bedroom and bathroom — and in a small house, this was causing problems.
After talking with a number of activists and experts, including scientists, around the state who had more information than me, I scheduled several consultations with electrical engineers with a specialty in RF radiation. They advised that certain metals are what work to shield from the radiation.
A series of experiments resulted, with me trying out their suggestions, to see if anything worked. We shielded, following their directions, behind the meter on the interior wall. This gave relief from the shrill, high-pitched ringing that was painful, it reduced it to a lower level. We still could not occupy the bedroom.
In fact, things were getting worse for me by the month, as I would get an immediate headache and sinuses swelled shut, heart palpitations (typical of RF radiation reactions to overexposures), it seemed like my immune system was saying, "hey, stay away."
Full article HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment