Guest Blogger - Lou Collins Story

Another one of our very brave readers is sharing their story with us. Thank you so much Lou. We are all there for you!

OK, so you want our stories...this is kinda like admitting to the world for the first time I even have a problem with V*!

I have always HATED anyone else feeling/being ill ear me. I especially hate feelng ill myself.
I remember hiding down the far end of the kitchen with my fingers in my ears once when my dad was very ill. The ambulance turned up 15 minutes later, which my poor 6yr old brother had to call for. How guilty did I feel?

And now, 20 years later...I have realized, through the internet, that I am not the only one who would rather have a cold for a month than be sick for a minute. I am also pleased to finally announce 'I have a real phobia' rather than 'I am scared'!

It almost makes it sound as if I am allowed to feel the fear now, rather than having to be big and brave.

So what next? Well the past six months have started throwing panic attacks at me everytime one of the kids has a tummy ache, or hubby says hes off down the pub.

So I went to my doctors. I have never had a problem with this, which I know a lot of emets do, but since I have never seen anyone actually ill in the waiting room, and I believe if they are really sick, they couldn't make it there anyway, I have no need to worry...too much!

My lovely Doctor was fantastic. She assured me it wasn't uncommon (sorry, not a help!) and that a lot could be done. She has given me pills for the panic attacks, anti-sickness tablets to carry around for peace of mind, and a referral for CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)

I have not had my therapy yet, but knowing it is on the horizon is such a help. I really would earge anyone with any sort of phobia disturbing daily activities to seek help. NO-ONE has EVER said I am 'just being silly' or 'i will grow out of it' as I expected.

I would also like to thank sites like yours, Robin, for opening the worlds eyes to our discomfort, and for providing 'in the same shoes' support for all emets out there!

Lou Collins
Visit me at http://scrapprentice.blogspot.com
Challenge yourself at http://scrappersblockchallengeblog.blogspot.com

Guest Blogger - Becca's Story

Thank you Becca for sharing. I think it is so important for us to know we are not alone in this.

Hi,

My name is Becca and i'm 18. I've always been apprehensive to vomiting or seeing someone do it or being around someone who's sick, but I've only been emet for about half a year. In the beginning of February i ate a tuna sub that was a couple days old. I wasn't sure if it was still fresh, so i took a couple bites and decided to throw the rest away. That whole day I was worried that i was gonna get food poisoning and I had plans that night. I spent the whole day looking up anything i could about food poisoning, how long tuna stays fresh, how long it takes to get symptoms from it etc... I ended up staying home that night because I was afraid I would get sick in front of everyone, even thought I ended up being fine.

Ever since that day I've been terrified of throwing up. I haven't been sick since i was 12. I think about it every day. Every time I eat I wonder if the food will make me sick. When I touch anything I think about what germs could be on it. I'm a waitress. When i go to work, I worry that someone in the restaurant will be sick and I might have to clean it up. I worry about going up to tables because someone might be incubating a viral disease and get me sick. I worry when I bus tables. When I touch glasses. When I do dishes When I handle cash. When I have a soda I worry that a fly might have landed on the rim of the glass and I'll get salmonella. Then when I come home I worry if i touched my mouth or nose or eyes without realizing it.

I live with 6 people. I worry about them getting sick and making me sick. I get on them about washing their hands when they come home. I annoy everyone with my emet. I won't cook meat and I sanitize every possible surface of the kitchen when someone does. At the end of the day I feel like this big baby. If I have a panic attack at night, it makes me feel so much worse when I have to wake someone up to sit with me until it's over.

I really wish my family would try harder to understand what I go through on a daily basis. It's torture. I literally can't eat, touch anything, go out anywhere without wondering if it will make me sick. I even have nightmares about throwing up. I constantly wash my hand. There's a million little habits I have that I think will help me stay healthy.

I wouldn't wish this on anyone. I've been working on getting help for myself, and doing little thing here and there to build up my courage.

I guess in the end it'll all come down to how badly I want to get better, and that's a hell of a lot.

Sick side or healthy side?

It is amazing how often kids get sick and how often I end up at the doctors.

At a recent six month checkup I freaked out, even though we were on the healthy side of the room. My daughter started to play with the toys, and you know some moms let there sick kids on the healthy side to play with toys. Just think of the crazy germs that I am exposing my little ones to. hopefully none of them cause vomiting. I pray, fingers crossed.

Darn it I wish parents would keep their sick kids on the sick side. Really we don't need your germs.

Yeah I freak about the smallest little things, but that is all part of being an emet.

Guest Blogger Time

I love sharing personal stories about having emet, but I also like hearing them. I would love to hear your story about living with emetophobia. It can be about daily life, things that make you go blech, or just how darn annoying having this phobia is.

Email me with your story and I will publish it in an upcoming blog post.

Thanks,

Robin

For the love of bleach

I don't know about you, but I have ruined more clothing then I like to admit by emetophobia induced freak-outs that involved bleach.

Pretty much any time my hubby cooks meat I am convinced that I am going to get salmonella so I bleach down the entire kitchen. Seriously bleach it down. If he makes hamburgers or fish I have to bleach those darn countertops. Oh and of course let the bleach sit at least twenty minutes , just to be sure everything is completely killed. He asks me if I realize that I have an immune system, and I just laugh. I am not taking any chances.

So in the process of all this freaking out and bleaching I end up getting a shirt or two covered in bleach spots. I am ruining my clothes with my freak-outs. He keeps telling me that other things kill germs without ruining clothes. The problem is I only seem to trust that strong scent of bleach because it smells like it is killing everything.

With that being said, what cleaning products can you just not live without? Talk to me fellow emets.

Back to the doctors

My six month old had a 102.5 fever yesterday so back to the doctors office I went, and then get this I sat in the sick side. Alas, I have survived, although the insomnia I am going to have for the next week on whether or not I picked anything up from the office.

Why I choose a CSA (Community Shared Agriculture)

Oh e.coli, what I won't do to avoid you. Once my precious spinach was hit with you I didn't know what to do, until I realized that a CSA could be the answer.

I joined a CSA this year so that I knew where my food was coming from. I knew no toxic chemicals were used in growing it, and I knew it would be safe for me to eat. No more worries about some worker in another country getting paid fifty cents an hour to pick my produce. No more worries about someone with poor hygiene coming into work sick and passing it on to me family. No worries that my food will make me sick.

I love the selection of fresh fruits and veggies we get every week, and I love that it is all local. I feel it is much safer and even with that feeling I do owash my produce like mad.

So if you are worried about the safety of your food, go local, join a CSA, and sit back and relax next time a spinach scare occurs.