MCS: a sensitive issue.

Dianne Wiganowsky heard an unusual noise outside her house in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in September 1992, so she went to look out her screen door. She did n t expect the potent stream of lawn c i that struck her in the face, n cou shL know that, at that me r alth would begin to din th point that most of her time is svrlnitoring pain. What hit Wigan sky was a strong mix of active agricultural organophos-phates and fungicides that a lawn care company was spraying, carelessly, with a bullet nozzle on a neighbor's shrubs and trees. The powerful stream hit Wiganow-sky at the door with such velocity that the chemical mixture ran down the rear wall of her living room. Two days later she had "the worst flu in the world," followed by lethargy so severe she couldn't get out of bed, succeeded by pneumonia. She visited five different doctors, all of whom couldn't find anything wrong, and all of whom referred her to a psychiatrist. When Wiganowsky, 54, went outside, her eyes turned red and bloodshot, her lips cracked and bled, and pain roamed her body, settling in different areas. Eventually, Wiganowsky got sick after bathing because of chlorine in her water, and she stopped using her favorite shampoo when it burned her scalp. She can't stand the prickly pain she experiences after using deodorant or lipstick, and a whiff of perfume makes her nauseated and sick. After sitting on the carpet in a friend's new home, Wiganowsky got blisters on her thighs. She is now engaged in an unhappy struggle to avoid nearly everything. Until recently, most physicians, like the ones Wiganowsky first saw, would refer such patients to a psychiatrist. Many still do. But a segment of the medical profession is giving more and more credence to evidence suggesting that Wiganowsky and others are victims of an illness that has been variously dubbed environmental illness , total allergy syndrome, chemical AIDS, and, most commonly, multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). Some patients and physicians call MCS "20th-century ill-ness" because they believe it is caused by a growing environmental load of chemicals in the modern world. To someone who has become sensitized to these chemicals, sniffs of such common products as hair spray and laundry soap produce myriad symptoms , including headaches, rashes, depression , confusion, and fatigue. After talking with all the experts she could find, including …