Product Review (5) - Vogmask

These are masks which have N99 particle filtering media. The masks have a carbon filter for odour too.

These masks have a exhalation valve filter which makes it easier to breathe.

It can be hand-washed but it has a lifespan.

I find that it works better than the cloth masks which do not have the valve filter. The valve filter really does help and makes breathing easier. It's not stuffy and does not heat up. It also filters horrible smells. The only setback is that it is quite pricey as one costs about RM120+ each.

I think it is a good investment. But I only use them when I need to use masks at a long interval. If I need masks for a short interval, I would use the ones without the valves. That way, the Vogmasks can last longer.

Vogmask also sells masks with DUAL valve filters.

To find out more about Vogmask, click on LINK.

SMOG GETS IN YOUR EYES...... AND NOSE, EARS, MOUTH AND BRAIN!

The haze is no longer haze. It's smog and we've been invaded by it. Every nook and corner of our breathing space. Suffocating slowly by the hour.

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Haze Attack!

The haze was so bad today that I perpetually have the 'haze-smell' imprinted in my BRAIN! I have developed an allergy in both my eyes. I have chunks of gooey membranes in my eyes. My eyes have been itching so badly. And I have a migraine. So did Joel. Air-cons and purifiers have been working overtime.

IF you don't breathe, you would think that you are actually walking in the clouds. That will end the moment you start breathing. Cause you would then CHOKE!

A friend of mine who works in KL posted this up on Facebook this morning. We had THIS kind of air the whole of today.

My husband took the photo above at 9.45am from his office. The picture below was at 10.45am.

That's me with my N95 mask (my respirator is still in the process of  'off-gasing') and goggles. I had to have these in order to water my veggies in 'turbo-speed-mode'. The N95 mask really works. The goggles did too. But boy, it was HOT and stuffy wearing those two. The N95 mask cannot be worn for long periods of time. You'll suffocate. 

Some VERY good advice as we're facing a shortage where masks are concerned! HAHA!

How I miss skies like this! *SOB SOB!*

Joel's school is still closed for tomorrow. Even if it is not closed, I'm not letting him out of the house!

We NEED rain!

Surviving Idiopathic Anaphylaxis

1. Salt (tons of it)
I use it for everything! For wounds, for ulcers, for sorethroats and even for washing vegetables and raw food too! I gargle, rinse and even brushed my teeth with it back then when I first had the anaphylactic attack 3 years ago. I use either the Himalayan rock salt or sea-salt. I buy them from the organic shops.
(Pssst! I even use it to kill the snails that help themselves to my vegetables in the garden!)

2. Water (tons of it) 
Drink GALLONS of it! I know it can be nauseating, but it cleanses the system and cools the body down. 

3. Masks (tons of it)
For me I use surgical masks by the tens in a week. And now I have LOTS of cloth masks! :) Thanks to my friends and neighbour. And I recently found a few from a DIY shop in a shopping mall. It is very difficult to get thick, good, cotton cloth masks in Malaysia. If you know of a place in Malaysia, let me know. I will buy a dozen!

4. Abstinence
Don't eat it, don't use it, and don't smell it if you can't. 

5. Sleep (tons of it)

Understanding People with Idiopathic Anaphylaxis for Dummies

1. Do Not Stare!

• Did your mother never teach you that it is rude to stare? Wearing a mask does not necessarily mean that I am sick. I am merely protecting myself from the combination of the chemicals that is wafting around in the air.
• I am protecting myself from YOUR germs and viruses.
• Me eating from the Thermos does not mean that I am a cheapskate who can't afford to eat from the restaurant (my family ordered and is feasting away at the food by the way). Don't give us that disgusted look. Don't judge before you know the story. Or need I stamp the word, 'ALLERGY' on my forehead?

2. Do Not Ask Stupid Questions

• "Could it be it's all in your mind?" Who in their right mind would 'pretend' to suffer from 'idiopathic anaphylaxis' and be home-bound, drugged up and not live a life of a normal person?!
• "Maybe you need to be MORE positive?" If I'm not positive, I would not have lasted 30 months, mind you.
• "Are you sure you are not imagining all this?" Let me tell you what IMAGINATION is. Imagination is skinning you alive and hanging you on a 10 foot pole and leaving you out there for the vultures to feast on you. Now THAT'S imagination!
• "Maybe you are not praying enough?" "Maybe you need to have MORE faith?" "Have you been reading enough of the Word of GOD?" Just because I don't punctuate my every sentence with 'Hallelujah!' or 'Praise the Lord' does not mean I do not have faith or I don't believe. I believe in God. I don't believe in the commercialization of God. Period.

3. It Is Not About You

• Don't take it personally if I move back, cover my nose or put on a mask because of your over-powering perfume. For me, it's like walking into the gas chamber. I can even taste your perfume and it translates into a chemical taste which burns my mouth, tongue, lips and throat.

4. Don't Say Stupid Things

• Don't tell me, 'You certainly don't look sick! Are you sure you're that sick?' Seriously, who would in their right mind be out if they are LOOKING sick?! Of course I don't. It's my good day. Do you think I would be out if I looked sick???? I would be in bed, drugged up when I am SICK. Certainly not out shopping in a mall!
• Don't tell me that my life is so pitiful, so sad, so terrible and so horrible that I can't go anywhere, eat like a normal person or live like a normal person. Of course I know that! It's like telling a cancer patient on chemotherapy 'You're going bald.' Duh!!!

5. Learn to empathize.

The following four points are for doctors, nurses and people in the medical line.

6. As a doctor, don't tell me that you don't know what is wrong with me, is afraid to dispense medicine and yet keep me in the hospital for 'observation'. Pass me to another doctor who understands and can treat me. Don't sit in front of me and stare into space for eternity and only respond when I interrupt your 'deep thinking' by telling me 'I don't know what to do with you.'

7. When a patient arrives at the ER telling you that he/she is having an allergy attack, don't tell them to have a sit first or register your wife/daughter/mother/god-mother/great grandmother first and then take your own sweet time discussing with the other nurses about the previous patient who almost died. Surprise! Surprise! Now isn't it surprising that your previous patient almost died with your immaculate service?

8. Do not ask me whether my Medic Alert bracelet is an amulet and whether 'Medic Alert' is in Thai language. Shall I  take the Hydrocortisone 250mg and Puriton and jab myself while you go figure out what language 'MEDIC ALERT' is in?

9. Don't snicker or snigger in my face when I tell you that I am allergic to chemicals. Your ignorance and arrogance = death for your patients.

10. Since this is a lesson for dummies, let me offer you some tips on how to deal and interact with people like me.

If you do not know what to say to me:

• Ask me how I am. I will tell you. In a short and sweet manner.

• Tell me that I look good/healthy and NOT 'You certainly don't look sick, you know,' dripping with sarcasm.

• Tell me that I have your prayers and support. I will say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

• Tell me to continue fighting and continue being positive. I will say thank you.

• Don't bore the living daylights out of me by whining to me about your sad, depressing and pathetic life and that you wished that you were dead because you broke a fingernail or because you've been promoted from a size two dress to a size three or because your boobs have begun to sag.

• Do not tell me that I should have MORE faith and try to have another child. This truly pisses me off. Are you going to take over my position as mother and raise my child up if I die as a result of a leap of foolishness?

I welcome genuine and sincere questions from people who want to know more. I despise people who ask questions to shoot me down or dismiss my condition like it's an 'imagined' condition or who pretend to listen and then ask me the same questions over AND over again. 

To all fellow people like me, feel free to add to what I may have missed out. Let's keep on fighting and stay strong my fellow friends!