SpiffNarley

Thank you so very much. I love my American neighbours. I felt it was my duty as an emergency worker, as a Canadian, and as a human being, to help. I don't doubt Americans would do the same were there a disaster in Canada.

Thank you for the information. I read the article this past week. I don't know how I feel asking for money from the fund. I chose to help - no one forced me to go. I worry about the many Americans without health insurance who are now ill as a result of their being at or near Ground Zero. Thankfully I have medical coverage. I would rather the fund go to helping those who are going bankrupt trying to get well.

• Treatable (I hope) breast cancer. Going through chemo now, no more hair, feel sick all the time but determined to win.
• There were no masks/respirators available in the immediate hours after the attacks. I wore a flimsy one that got clogged with smoke and sut pretty quickly. Most volunteers in the immediate aftermath and during that first week did not have protective equipment.
• I am Canadian and live and am being treated in Canada.
• I became uninsurable the year after 9/11 after being in perfect health (I was a triathlete).
• Interesting question: no, I don't recall dreaming that I have cancer.
• I am in pain every moment of the day. I am pretty good at handling pain though. When it gets to be too much, I take medication for it.
• I take medication, no drugs.
• My mom took it the best, she is a very positive person. My spouse took it the worse. I totally get that. I would be shattered were she to get a similar diagnosis.
• I did not see building 7 fall.
• I am not a fan of the Mayor. I think the NYFD's union articulate the reasons why well.
• I luckily have been able to handle the nausea with "traditional" meds. I would not be opposed to "pot" but would probably not like feeling "stoned" all the time. I have a great life that I want to be conscious for.
• I am 8/10 scared. I am terrified about the cancer coming back. I have seen it happen to so many women with breast cancer.
  
• I have had to keep working to pay the bills, only taking 2 weeks off in between treatments. I hope to work as long as I can and don't want to think about not being able to. I just want to get through this last round of chemo (which has been the hardest). I have a huge student loan to pay off. That stresses me out.
• I hope I answered your questions well enough. Thank you for taking the time to write to me. Let me know if you need me to elaborate on any.

Thank you for sharing your story. I was coughing up sut tinged sputum for a number of weeks after. I had an N95 mask - which was all that was available for volunteers at the time I was there. I was taking multivits at the time. I don't think I was tested for lead afterwards. I had a number of the PTSD symptoms you refer to in your questions and it took a number of years and counselling to get past my PTSD. I had a very hard time with the fact that a number of people survived the collapse of the towers but were trapped and could never be rescued. That was one of the hardest memories I dealt with.

I wasn't aware of it. I live in Canada so perhaps that is why I have not heard about it. Good for him. There are hundreds of us. I am lucky that I live in Canada and have free healthcare. I find it difficult to think of how grateful people were during the days and weeks after the attacks, and how people with power to change things have now all but forgotten us. That isn't fair.