"My name is Alwyn Lewies and I am 38 years old. I am giving a short background of my life with an illness called Electromagnetic Sensitivity (ES), which I have been struggling with for the past 12 years since exposure from a cell mast.

"It started in 2000 with a cell phone tower that was erected at my workplace in Wapadrand, Pretoria. We were approached by a cell phone company who was interested in putting up a tower on my premises and we were assured that the tower would have no effect on us at all . . .

"I will continue to fight until the end. I owe it to myself and my family to seek a way to find a normal life. This letter is my last attempt to try and convince the authorities that ES is very real and a life threatening disease. I just want my life back and it really just depends on the cell phone towers closest to my home . . .

"We are setting up this blog for victims who are hearing a constant noise in their homes. After reading several blogs related to this particular noise(s), we found that people, in general, are seeking answers as to what is happening to them. One blog was consistent with the descriptors of what we have been describing to the State of Massachusetts. We have confirmed it is a microwave pulsation accompanied by of "pure tones," illegal in Massachusetts and a few other States. Whether proven to be a pure tone or not; it is a nuisance and it is trespassing on and into your home and the source being the utilities. 

"The descriptions that are consistently repeated by victims across the country as well as the world are . . .

Blog includes petition to Attorney General of Massachusetts regarding Smart Meter Program "Opt Out" rights.

"Russ and Kathy Loader have magnetic fields in their apartment well over 100 mG, coming from wiring or another source under their floor. They have become ill, as have previous tenants in this and nearby apartments. Many in the building suffer from cancer. But no one is taking responsibility and authorities deny a problem exists . . .

"Habits must change at home, at school, at work, at play . . . everywhere. In changing habits, you'll be helping not just yourself, but everyone . . .

"What Happens When the Lights Go On?"

"Current Concerns"

Editor:

I am the unhappy recipient of a Smart Meter in spite of my telephoned objection noted in my Hydro file in October.

I have been experiencing intermittent physical symptoms and physical distress. If it were not for the reaction of my cats, I would be tempted to think that I am just "off"; but my two youngest cats exhibited abnormal hyperactivity during the first two nights after the Smart Meter was installed; a third cat experienced acute diarrhea and vomiting for 24 hours and has not eaten in over a week.    

In a registered letter to Grey Reimer, executive vice president of transmission and distribution for BC Hydro, I stated: "Substantial scientific data exists relative to the health hazard from the neurological effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation.  The purpose of this writing is to memorialize my objection & demand to remove the device.  If you fail or refuse to do so, this writing is to serve as my notice of litigation to you."

I included a deadline replacement date of Dec 15. The Coalition to Stop Smart Meters lists symptoms of electrohypersensitivity at http://www.stopsmartmetersbc.ca/html/?page_id=179.

If you or other members of your family and pets are having similar experiences, you might follow the bread crumb trail. If you too send a letter, the paragraph quoted and a deadline date for replacement are suggested.

Jalien Shandler

Madeira Park

Stop Smart Meters! Website

This is part one of a four-part piece based on interviews with people inside the high-tech industry who've become electro-sensitive and begun to question the silence that pervades their field on the matter. To protect their future ability to find work, we've used pseudonyms. 

"Located in the Pacific Northwest, 'Nora Wood' has worked in high tech for many years, but now finds herself reckoning with the effect her work environment is having on her health and well-being. She sees a lot of good in technology when it's wisely used. She's in her mid-forties and has a sharp mind. 

"It was a six-month period of working at home, between stints doing high-tech office-based work, that brought the problem to the fore. She felt better at home, but then when she started up her current temporary contract with a major tech company, the troubles returned: hair-trigger irritability, sleep problems, and brain-fog. In the office job before the stretch at home, she'd noticed the wifi routers directly over her workspace, but hadn't put the pieces together . . .

Part 2    Part 3    Part 4    Part 5

"Kathy Read sleeps with a CPAP mask, designed to help her breathing correctly through the night. She has two metal knees, and walks with a cane.

"But most importantly, she's a cancer survivor. Read has been in remission for five years, after treatment for non-hodgkin's lymphoma that was diagnosed in January 2005.

"And now, she's fighting the installation of a smart meter on her home.

"I don't want it because of the fact that I'm a cancer survivor," she said.

"I had non-hodgkin's lymphoma, and it can come back." So, with the help of a relative, she's been pouring over research regarding the emissions from the meters, currently being installed in homes across the province. And what she's finding, is that all smart meters can lead to further health problems . . .

View Part One HERE

Part Two available HERE

"I would like to tell you about our experience with wireless meters.

"Prior to the wireless meter being installed at our house in Cache Creek, we had sent registered letters to BC Hydro-David Cobb, Office of Info & Privacy-Elizabeth Denham and BC Hydro, Smart Meter Specialist Department, telling them we did not want "smart" meters on our houses in Cache Creek or at the Chasm. We were aware there was a potential for a health hazard as well as other problems associated with "smart" meters.

"We came home from going to the doctor in Kamloops one day, our power had been off for about a minute and we found out a "smart" meter had been installed. This was a few weeks ago. I was sick to my stomach, vomiting and dry heaving for approximately one and a half weeks. I had been sick before because of medication I take but never for this long except during the first eight treatments of chemo. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2010. I didn't think that maybe it was because of the meter until my mouth started hurting and I started to get sores in my mouth and on my lips and could hardly eat. The only time that had ever happened to me is when I had the first part of chemo over a year ago. My last chemo was Sept, 15. . . .

"We continue to receive a great number of reports of people suffering health effects when 'smart' meters are installed. It seems that women are being impacted far more frequently than men, consistent with existing research on electro-sensitivity.

"Here are firsthand reports from two women living in the San Francisco Bay Area . . ."