The Chemical That Almost Silenced My Father

How my father’s pioneering discoveries helped save his own life

In my last letter, I recounted my father’s first work experience at Woodard Research in Herndon, Virginia, which included meeting his lifelong partner—my mom. I’ll now turn my attention to the next phase of his career at MIT to share a story he doesn’t often tell.

My mom was very close to her mother and had never lived away from home, so moving to Boston was a huge endeavor for her. As she has often recounted, she cried for much of the drive from Virginia but made it through with my dad to the other side, where they started building their new life together.

When my father arrived at MIT, his superiors assigned him a poorly equipped lab space, lacking even a ventilation hood. Soon after his arrival, they carted into that lab a container of liquid, extracted from poultry feed that had apparently killed over a million turkeys and chickens on Ohio farms. They assigned him the nasty job of identifying the toxin in the feed extract, despite the lack of a ventilation hood. My father got to work, and using the most advanced techniques of the day, whittled the extract down to the offending agent. My mom said he would often come home in the evening smelling of the chemicals from his lab.

He published a paper describing his work, which quickly caught the attention of the U.S. military. They apparently recognized the chemical he had purified as a contaminant formed during the manufacture of one of the herbicides in Agent Orange—the defoliant sprayed over forests in Vietnam and Cambodia so U.S. forces could monitor the movements of North Vietnamese troops. They later identified the substance as the most toxic form of dioxin, one of the most potent carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals ever discovered.

The person who worked with this same chemical in the military later died of cancer, and my father also started developing polyps in his nasal cavities that had to be cauterized. Then in the mid to late 1970s, he began feeling numbness in his facial and neck muscles, which he dismissed at first. This numbness, however, steadily progressed, until in the mid to late 1980s, he started having more serious difficulty with his speech, and even with eating.

I remember sitting at the dinner table and watching my father out of the corner of my eye as he struggled to eat, with food sometimes falling from his mouth. We all tried not to make a big deal about what was happening, but I was terrified we were going to lose him. This was made worse when I heard he and my mom had visited a doctor who instructed them on how to use a small knife to perform an emergency tracheotomy should the need ever arise.

My father stepped out of the public limelight after he had to stop partway through a public lecture and excuse himself because he could no longer talk. Fortunately, at the same event, a group of naturopathic physicians in attendance came up to him after he had finished. From that discussion, my father learned that a medically supervised fast might be a way he could leach out the dioxin from his system, given that it accumulates in the fatty tissues of the body. And he had lots of dioxin to expel, which by then had been measured at a level hundreds of times above what is considered safe.

With my mom at his side, my father underwent two medically supervised fasts within 12 months, and sure enough, expelled most of the dioxin from his system. It was at this point that my parents also began consuming a stricter form of a whole food, plant-based diet. In the years that followed, my dad’s facial and neck nerves rewired, and he slowly but steadily regained his speech and ability to eat. He continued having a little difficulty with his speech, mostly just slurring words when he was tired. As he has aged, that difficulty has become more pronounced, but he still communicates just fine.

I believe that my father is a living testimonial to the power of a healthy lifestyle. He healed his nervous system, and he never developed cancer, even though he was exposed to unprecedented levels of one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals ever discovered. He is 91, turning 92 in March, which is nothing short of miraculous considering the story I just told.

When my father was at his most desperate point, I remember thinking that we might not only lose him, but also that the world would never hear of the truth he had discovered. The world heard his truth, though, because that very truth helped heal him.

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Pumpkin Pie, by Kim Campbell

November always feels like “squash month” to me. I love adding squash into soups and stews, layer it into casseroles, fill pies with it, and even stuff it and bake it. Pumpkin, in particular, is such a gentle, neutral squash. It is not bold in flavor, but it is full of color and has a creamy texture. It truly takes on whatever flavors you pair with it, whether savory or sweet.

There are so many ways to enjoy pumpkin beyond just making a pie. Stir it into pancake or waffle batter, use it as a fat replacer in cookies and muffins, or swirl it into oats and warm cereals. Add a spoonful to mashed potatoes, hummus, or pasta sauces for extra creaminess. I even whisk it into chilis and stews to naturally thicken the broth and add richness.

You can roast a whole pumpkin, scoop the flesh, and purée it for later. I love freezing fresh pumpkin purée in ice cube trays. Once frozen, pop the cubes into a bag and you will have easy grab-and-go portions ready for soups, sauces, and baking all winter long.

And if you are feeling inspired, here is a pumpkin pie recipe to bring a little extra warmth and sweetness to your week:

https://plantpurecommunities.org/desserts/old-fashioned-pumpkin-pie/