Rocketdyne nightmares
By Trudi Ferguson 07/03/2008
I just read the article by Michael Collins, “Radiation Rangers find Chromium in Runkle Canyon”!
Michael’s ongoing professional coverage of this environmental disaster has been beyond the call of duty!
This has been my life. Thirty years of caring for my family and the friends I’ve known over the years.
My entire family has been snuffed out! Kaput, Nada, No More, Dead, Gone!
Yes, it is true I would have to deal with the dying of aging parents at sometime in my life as we all do. This I accepted, dealt with, cried, mourned and then moved on with my life.
My father was sick for years. He had cancer of the larynx, later lymphoma of the parotid gland. He died in 1989 following a massive stroke, he was 69. My father suffered from some kind of dermatitis, with itching. He was convinced we had an infestation of mites. I remember one day coming home from school, and seeing all of the mattresses in our house out on the lawn. When I asked him why?
He told me the sunlight would kill the mites. But his itching continued as did his suffering.
My father was in the United States Marine Corps for 30 years. He fought for this country! He fought for his freedom! He fought for his family!
My mother’s death certificate states she had thyroid insufficiency, emphysema and osteoporosis. She lived to be a ripe old age of 78! Only, she lost mental functions at least 10 years prior to her death. One of the strange things I remember about my mom when we lived on the Pass Road she would wear nylons. My nephews, about preschool age, would kick her in the shin by accident. Her skin on her legs would tear, but not the nylons!
But then, in November 2005, my brother, age 56, died of melanoma. OK, again, I dealt with it. Wait, just three months following this, February 2006 my other brother also died, age 59 of a complete cardiovascular failure (too complex to go into). Again, I pick myself up and life goes on. Melanoma is linked to exposure of heavy metals arsenic.
The latest casualty, my brother’s wife, died January 25, 2008. She was found slumped over on the sofa at her home. The coroner said it was a heart attack. She was 58. She used to live in Woodland Hills.
Then there is my sister, she is living. She has been thrown into the general diagnosis of bipolar Disorder. She is three years younger than me. Today she called me at 8 a.m. to ask me what time I would be picking her up to go to the movies. One problem with this, I never told her I would pick her up, nor did I have plans to go to the movies? She has good days and bad days.
Today was a bad day.
Oh, and there is me. I’m 55, and I have to take four different types of BP medicines to control blood pressure. I am overweight, but not obese. I’ve had my hip replaced in 2006, age 53 at the time. I’ve been told my kidney never developed completely and has a large cyst on it. Other than this, and head tremors, I’m relatively healthy.
Then a friend called me and told me about the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.
This friend was diagnosed with Hodgkin ’s disease age 20. They found tumors in his lungs. His brother also died, age 53 of liver failure in February 2006. They moved to Simi 1961.
Their father worked at Rocketdyne SSFL, he has been diagnosed with bladder cancer! Their mother had female reproductive cancer.
This same friend married one of my very good girlfriends. We have known each other since we were 13 and the very first day of attending Columbus Junior High. Later, in the 1980s she was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Her older sister was found at work babbling like a 5 year old. She was also catatonic at one point when she developed a horrible skin rash. My friend told me at the time, the rash was caused from the medication her sister was prescribed.
This sister was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Their younger brother recently had a foot of his colon removed, because of a benign tumor. Also their mother recently died, last month. She had severe emphysema and colon cancer.
I remember a time, when my girlfriend came to our house at 7368 Santa Susana Pass Road, for a sleepover. She had a tremendous nose bleed, she was choking and spitting up blood clots the size of her palm. My mother called her mother and they came and picked her up and took her to the doctor. The doctor cauterized her nose and I believe this had to be done one more time. Our drinking water was from the WELL!
My husband’s family lived in Box Canyon 1961. My father-in-law died during a four-way bypass, he was 60 in 1985. He worked for the aerospace industry. His wife (my mother-in-law) died in 2000 of lung cancer. Oh, and my mother-in-law also had a large sore on her leg, she told me it was a staph infection. It was very strange looking, and she had this sore for years. She also had severe osteoporosis.
They had three children together, sons. All of them now have Type 2 DIABETES! But the parents did not! My brother-in-law had a heart attack at the age of 45!
My husband was diagnosed with bilateral carotid artery stenosis. Surgery was done in 2006.
Another friend of ours, still living in Simi Valley, is currently on the list for a liver transplant! We were neighbors in the Texas Tract in Simi Valley.
Another girlfriend whom I went to Simi High with lived in Box Canyon told me she has had over 30 surgeries. Her son was conceived in Box Canyon. When he was 6 years old, he came down with a rare liver disorder. She told me, they flew in a specialist from Texas to treat him. They also told her, there was only one other place on the planet where this liver disorder has been seen, and that was Hiroshima!
Last but not least, a woman I’ve recently met, used to live in the Santa Susana Knolls as a child, now has thyroid cancer! Her father was a Rocketdyne employee, too. She remembers swimming in the pools of water, in the bedrock, on Black Canyon Road!
What is the single denominator these people all have in common? They all lived within the five mile radius of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory a.k.a. Rocketdyne. The names have been withheld to protect their privacy.
I’m beginning to believe laboratory animals have more rights and laws that protect them than people have today.
Could it be we are the laboratory animals?
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