The Unseen

By Serena Justice

As a young adult, Serena Justice began experiencing many mysterious symptoms that stumped doctors for years and caused her life to unravel. Through her own investigating, she uncovered the cause of her chronic and mysterious symptoms to be the result of a product recall. Her symptoms were later accurately diagnosed as hypersensitivity to both chemicals and radiation, two conditions that commonly label an individual as a “canary.” Most medical professionals told her that “canary” conditions had “no cure,” and that “avoidance” of modern pollutions was the only solution.

When Justice finds her faith, the powers of Heaven begin to manifest in her life, and she is Divinely led through a journey of recovery. Miracles manifest in many aspects of her life, including being Divinely directed to her soulmate. Together, they minister to many in both the prison and mental health systems, where miracles continued to unfold.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ink & Quill Publishers
• Release date: Dec 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781948266574

Book preview

The UNSeeN

Liberating the Captives

Serena Justice

Copyright © 2023

All rights reserved

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. The characters depicted in this book are fictitious and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. No Part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the author/publisher.

Line/Content Editor: Janelle Evans

Interior Design: Jo A. Wilkins

Cover Art Concept: Hanna & Emma Beach

(Design inspired by Serena Justice)

Cover Design: Richard R. Draude & Janelle Evans

E-Book Design: Richard R. Draude

p. cm.—Serina Justice (Self-Help/Medical)

Copyright © 2023 / Serina Justice

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-948266-44-4/Paperback

ISBN: 978-1-948266-57-4/E-Pub

1. BODY, MIND & SPIRIT/Healing/Prayer & Spiritual

2. Biography & Autobiography/Personal Memoirs

3. Self-Help/Motivational & Inspirational

Ink & Quill Publishers

2023

Henderson, NV 89002

Printed in the United States of America

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Disclosures

Events recorded in this book are true to the best of my memory and in most cases can be documented by medical documents and other various records. I have narrated the scenes in this book to the best of my ability, to accurately reflect the reality of the events. While some statements made in conversations, I have been able to recall word for word, others have been narrated to reflect the message stated. I have changed the names of most individuals, organizations, and places in order to maintain anonymity. In some cases, times have also been changed in order to chronologically condense the events that happened over a ten-year timeframe.

This book contains information on current societal issues and narrates real life events. Certain portions of this book may not be suitable content for young children.

Mandatory Disclaimer:

I am not a doctor. I do not get paid to help anyone. I am legally bound to inform you that the information provided in this book is not intended to be taken as medical advice. The statements and claims made in this book have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. It is advised that a physician or other healthcare professional be consulted regarding any medical or health related diagnosis or treatment options.

Author does not receive any compensation from any recommended websites, organizations, individuals, or any sources mentioned. Mention of specific individuals, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or the publisher, neither does it imply that specific individuals, organizations, or authorities endorse this book, unless endorsement is specifically mentioned. All material herein is the responsibility of the author.

Internet addresses and other sources given in this book were accurate at the time written.

Table of contents

1.Mysterious Illness

2.Intuitions

3.Change of Environment

4.Misunderstood

5.Navigation

6.Caged

7.Cleansed

8.Court

9. Spiritual Eyes to See

10.Learning to Be the Light

11.Called to Liberty

12.The Refiners Fire

13. Labels

14. The Gathering

15.Called to Witness

Preface

Becoming a writer wasn’t something I would have ever planned for myself. However, developing two chronic environmentally induced illnesses was also very much unplanned. This book is the personal narrative of my ten-year journey living with these two life-crippling and life-altering illnesses. These illnesses could likely be viewed as two of the most misunderstood and controversial illnesses of this generation. This book unveils why.

I decided to narrate this book from the perspective of the canary in the coalmine, because I believe it accurately compares to the lives of those with such illnesses. Invisible, yet very real, toxins leave canaries either caged in an isolated environment or living in a state of survival as an environmental refugee. They’re not forced to escape natural disasters, but the pollution disaster that has evolved since the industrial age.

While I am not the first canary to speak up, perhaps I am one of the first to publish my experiences into a memoir. By sharing my story, in a sense, I am shedding light on many other canaries whose unjust sufferings should not go unspoken. I came to learn that many of their experiences reflect mine as they have encountered misdiagnoses, medical malpractices, misunderstandings, money troubles, isolations, institutionalizations, in some cases incarceration, and many other injustices that often come with chronic and mysterious illnesses. I hope this book will also serve as a reminder that the constitutional right to liberty and justice for all was never intended to exclude the sick, the poor, nor the unpopular.

It never ceases to amaze me that when explaining the list of symptoms that I experienced with such environmentally induced illnesses, how many people would connect the dots with their own mysterious symptoms. Symptoms such as fibromyalgia nerve pain, chronic fatigue, routine headaches, difficulty sleeping or concentrating, eczema and other increasingly common symptom complaints. These individuals were taking medications for these ailments or had just learned to live with them. They had never investigated the root cause of why they were having such symptoms. Many individuals, including many within my own family, noticed their symptoms would disappear after eliminating or reducing their exposure to certain industrial made products. This made me question how many other children and adults suffering from routine digestive issues, sleep disorders, headaches, memory lapses, concentration difficulties, fatigue or other chronic symptoms, but have no idea if these ailments are really just how their body is reacting to unnecessary industrial-made toxins in their home, school, workplace or city environments. How many are in the beginning stages of becoming a canary, yet are being misdiagnosed and medicated, instead of properly educated on what healthcare should really be?

While my story illuminates the importance of environmental and public health awareness, it also shares my spiritual journey which I believe can be relatable to many walks of faith. For the first half of my life as an unbeliever, no one would have ever guessed I would become a woman of faith. Now people who know me would never guess that I ever lacked faith. I wouldn’t be true to who I am if I shared the environmental message without sharing the spiritual as well. For me, I believe it would not be right to speak of creation and leave out the Creator. I believe I have been called to share some of my many faith-strengthening, grace-given miracles in this book. My story is without a doubt a story for God’s glory.

I could view becoming a canary as a calling. Canary birds suffered in the coal mines in order to prevent the coal miners from suffering the toxic burden and associated health consequences. Canaries were used in the coal mines as a precursor alarm. However, an alarm is no good if it is silenced. As a recovered canary, I believe I have a duty to share my story because my past shouldn’t become anyone’s future. This book is a call to environmental awareness, a call to faith, a call to action, a call to liberate those held captive to unnecessary illnesses and injustices. This book is intended to bring the hidden things of darkness into the light. This book is to unveil the unseen.

Introduction: The Shattered American Dream

I grew up believing that in America, if you worked hard and didn’t give up, you could be whatever you wanted to be. However, what if in the midst of studying hard and working hard your dreams began to crumble due to a disabling illness? This seems to be happening to an increasing number of Americans. In today’s society, many American dreams are being redirected or even shattered through invisible illnesses—cancers, diabetes, fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, neurological disorders, addiction, mental illness, degenerative diseases, etc. Even at young ages many children and youth are developing various invisible illnesses that weren’t even in existence decades ago. But why? I don’t think many people question why until they themselves are brought under the tyranny of chronic illness.

One of our prior American presidents, Thomas Jefferson, stated in 1781, If the people let the government decide what food they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in a sorry state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.(1) Tyranny seems like an accurate description of the body and mind under the state of chronic illness. The variety of challenges that come along with invisible illness have no boundaries. Growing up I never foresaw my good health being taken from me, especially not in my twenties. At age twenty-one, my American dream was diverted into a new direction. After years of mysterious symptoms, I would eventually learn that I had developed two conditions that are commonly misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and mistreated. I would eventually learn that individuals with these chronic illnesses are commonly known as canaries in the coalmine. Becoming a canary withdrew me from the path of living the American dream and led me to a bird’s eye view of the American medical system. This is my story.

(1) Jayson Calton and Mira Calton, Rich Food Poor Food: The Ultimate Food Purchasing System (California: Primal Blueprint Publishing, 2013), 271.

(2)

Introduction Poem: So What’s A Canary?

Coal miners needed air quality monitors before the digital age,

The air was filled with toxins, so they brought canary birds in a cage.

Chemically sensitive canaries were used as a health precaution,

Canaries had to be sacrificed, coal miners had no other option.

So deep in the mines they went, canaries barely able to breathe,

When workers saw them become sick, they knew it was soon time to leave.

When the canaries died, miners ran to evacuate,

If not, then death, would also soon be their fate.

Now world environmental pollution, similar to the coal mines,

Creating sick human canaries, warning pollution levels aren’t fine.

The number of human canaries continues to rapidly increase,

Their health and lifestyles crumble, environmental pollution disrupts their peace.

Like the birds, human canaries are meant to be a wakeup call,

Or soon there will be no place to evacuate, nope, nowhere at all.

(2) Photo: Courtney, Inclusion is the Canary in the Coal Mine. Inclusion Evolution Parents, Students, and Teachers’ Guide to Inclusion, published July 24, 2017, https://www.inclusionevolution.com/segregation-individuals-syndrome-canary-coal-mine/

Table of contents

1.Mysterious Illness

2.Intuitions

3.Change of Environment

4.Misunderstood

5.Navigation

6.Caged

7.Cleansed

8.Court

9. Spiritual Eyes to See

10.Learning to Be the Light

11.Called to Liberty

12.The Refiners Fire

13. Labels

14. The Gathering

15.Called to Witness

16. Fly Away

Mysterious Illness

Average

I wasn’t always a canary. I had a relatively healthy childhood. I was raised in a middle-class neighborhood in Henderson, Nevada, which is located on the outskirts of the Las Vegas Valley. I did well academically and was involved in many sports throughout all my school days. In the summers, I would spend nearly every weekend at Lake Mead with my dad. Swimming and water sports have always been some of my favorite activities. My dad would call me a mermaid because I never wanted to get out of the water.

Until my early twenties, I had never struggled with any health issues. Growing up, the American dream was in clear view. By age twenty-one, I had a nice job, a family, and a nice home in a good neighborhood. Some might say I was living the American dream. I had been married for a few years and had a beautiful healthy, one year old daughter named Melody. I had been working at a bank for three years and had worked my way up into a leadership position. I was also in college part-time, pursuing a degree in criminal justice. I had a career goal to obtain a position in the fraud investigations department at the bank.

One day I had a conversation at work with a fellow employee named Patrick. At the time it seemed like a strange conversation. Patrick, who was at a desk next to me, was sighing and rubbing his face as if he was really stressed or signaling that something was bothering him. After a few minutes of him in this stressful state, he looked over toward me and said, Man, Serena, you’ve got to stop wearing that stuff to work.

What stuff? I asked.

That vanilla scented lotion.

It bothers you? I said.

There is just something about that specific smell. It’s not just you, whenever any woman wears that smell, it gives me a massive headache.

I’m so sorry. I will go wash my hands and I’ll stop using it at work.

This was the first time I had ever heard of someone experiencing symptoms from an artificial scent. At this point in time, I had never heard of chemical sensitivity. However, I could relate to Patrick to some degree, as secondhand cigarette smoke always made me nauseous. While I didn’t completely understand how the smell could make him sick, I wanted to be kind and eliminate his unnecessary suffering.

Advertisement

At age twenty-one, my husband at the time, Rodger, and I began to have vehicle troubles. Since we both worked full-time banking jobs, far away from our home, on opposite sides of town, we needed two reliable vehicles. One evening, as we laid in bed watching TV a Mazda commercial came on that caught our attention.

Come on down to Eastside Imports. We’re leasing brand new Mazda 3s for just $139 a month! the commercial advertised.

The next day we went to that Mazda dealership after work. It was late in the evening when we arrived. The dealership was only open for a few more hours. As we drove past the front entrance to park, we noticed about five car salesmen standing near the entrance, each one had their eyes on us as we parked. One approached us as we got out of our vehicle. He was a tall thin man with slicked back black hair.

Why hello there. What brings you in this evening? the salesman said.

We saw an advertisement for leasing a Mazda 3 for $139 a month. We wanted to see if it is possible to trade in our car and lease a Mazda, I said.

Let’s have you take a look and get you a test drive then.

We picked out a black Mazda and test drove it. Afterwards, we went into a booth while the salesman ran our credit to see if we qualified. He came back from talking with his finance department manager.

It doesn’t look like you will qualify for leasing, however, it does look like we have another option.

What’s that? I asked.

You would qualify for a loan on the car. The payment would be more than $139 a month, but you would end up owning the car, he said.

How much would the monthly payment be?

Just over four hundred a month. I will give you a minute to think it over.

He walked away for a moment. Rodger and I were both tired. We had our daughter who was just over two years old at the time. She was sitting next to us in her stroller munching on crackers. Feeling hesitant about the salesman’s offer, I turned to Rodger. What do you think? We need another reliable vehicle, but $400 a month seems beyond what we can afford.

It’s only a few hundred dollars more a month. We could just find other ways to cut costs.

Okay. If you think we can do it, let’s go through with this then, I said.

We traded in our car and financed a brand-new Mazda. On the drive home that night I thought to myself, I can’t believe I’m driving a new car home. The new car smell is so fresh. The new car smell was nice in the moment. I would later realize the consequences of this hasty decision.

The Standard American Medical System

The next morning, after driving my Mazda home, I woke up vomiting stomach bile and felt nauseous throughout the day. Despite the sickness I decided to still go to work. While processing a transaction at the teller line, I thought to myself, This nausea is so intense. How can I be customer service friendly when I feel this sick?

The next day I woke up with the same sickness, and the following day after that. It became a daily occurrence. After a couple of months of this, I finally went to see a doctor.

All of your blood tests came back normal, the doctor said.

This doctor referred me to a specialist. The specialist ordered a colonoscopy, endoscopy, nuclear imaging, as well as various scans and blood tests. All the standard tests that my insurance approved showed that I was perfectly healthy, with the exception of periodic high white blood cell counts. During this time, I was in and out of hospitals. I would tell the hospital intake receptionists, I need to check myself in.

What symptoms brought you in today?

I’m extremely nauseous. I’ve been vomiting bile. My stomach is in knots, and I feel extremely dehydrated even though I’ve been drinking lots of water.

Alright. Take a seat and a nurse will be with you shortly.

I would receive IV hydration in the hospital due to my routine stomach issues, but that was about it. No doctor could uncover a diagnosis for the mysterious symptoms I was experiencing. I was going broke from doctor and hospital co-pays, yet I was receiving no relief, and no diagnosis to explain my problems. Every anti-nausea medication, pain killer, and other pharmaceuticals prescribed always made me even more sick. I began using marijuana to help alleviate the nausea and other stomach symptoms, but this was only a temporary solution. I had to use it routinely, or else the symptoms came back worse.

One evening hospital visit, the doctor decided to admit me overnight. He said, It looks like your white blood cell count is really high. I’m going to admit you overnight to see if we can find something.

The following morning, after the doctor’s shift change, another doctor came in the room by the name of Dr. Adani. Dr. Adani said with a prideful attitude, I have looked over your record, we can’t find anything wrong with you.

The doctor last night admitted me because he said he wanted to look into the possibilities of why my white blood cell count was so high.

I know, and I believe the night shift doctor made a mistake admitting you. Your white blood cell count is back to normal now. You don’t need to be here. You’re not even accepting any of the medications we offer you to help with your symptoms, he said.

That’s because every medication that has ever been given to me has made me worse instead of better.

Well, I believe you are just pretending to be sick, and if you are going to keep denying western medicine, then you might as well move to Colorado or Washington.

My guess for his professional opinion of moving was because at the time, Colorado and Washington State were the only states with legalized marijuana.

Okay, I said, that sounds like an unreasonable suggestion. So, what now then?

Keeping you here is a waste of hospital bed space, so I am discharging you.

He turned around and walked out of the room.

Medical Malpractice

In January of 2011 I was having my usual symptoms, however this time I was hyperventilating while vomiting. This was causing me to choke on the bile trying to come up. After I was able to catch my breath, I got up off the bathroom floor and approached my husband Rodger, who laid in bed watching television. In pain and dizzy, I hunched over the bed and looked up at Rodger. I was choking on my own bile. I need to go to the hospital.

Rodger rolled his eyes. You are fine, just lay down and rest.

I’m not fine. I really need to go.

You’re not going to the hospital again. They never find anything wrong with you. All they do is offer you painkillers and send you home.

Rodger I can’t handle being this sick. I need to go.

We can’t afford to keep paying these hundred-dollar co-pays every time you go to the hospital. I’m not taking you.

Frustrated and in tears, I said, If you’re not going to take me, then I will drive myself.

He shrugged. Fine. I’m not going to stop you.

Weak, intensely nauseous, and emotionally upset, I drove myself to the hospital about ten miles away, stopping once to vomit on the side of the road. I arrived at the emergency room in a haze.

When I saw the emergency room doctor, he said, It looks like we have done every test possible, but we are unable to figure out why you are sick. It does however look like your gallbladder is too small to function.

Is that why I’ve been sick?

It’s a possibility. We normally remove gallbladders if there are gallstones. However, I think in your case, we should try removing your gallbladder and see if it helps.

In desperation for any relief, I agreed. So, they admitted me for surgery.

Shortly after waking up from the surgery, an older female nurse came into the room and informed me that my husband was in the waiting room.

Do you want me to let him in? the nurse said.

No, I’m not up for anymore arguing. He didn’t want me to go to the hospital.

Are you sure? she asked.

Yeah. Tell him I will talk to him when I get home.

After recovering from the surgery for a day in the hospital, I was discharged with powerful pain medications. The medications intensified the nausea, but I still took them to numb the pain. Upon arriving home, I approached the front door to find that a chair had been pushed up against the doorknob from the inside, suggesting an attempt to lock me out. I called my husband Rodger, but he didn’t respond to my calls. I called my cousin Mark who was good friends with Rodger. He answered his phone.

Hey Mark, I said. I just got home from the hospital, and it appears that I’ve been locked out of the house. There is a chair up against the door and Rodger is gone. Do you know what’s going on?

I spoke with Rodger. He doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore. He took Melody to his parents’ house, and he says he is going to file for a divorce.

My heart sunk into my stomach. Are you serious?

I’m not joking. I didn’t think he would try to lock you out though. If I were you, I would get in and get all your belongings while you can. I can bring my truck if you want.

If I took some of the stuff, where would I keep it?

You can keep it at my place for now.

Okay. I don’t want to stay here alone though. I’m going to call Aunt Krissy and see if I can stay with her.

I sat on my doorstep and called Aunt Krissy and explained the situation. She agreed to let me stay in her spare bedroom. Meanwhile, I continued to sit on my doorstep waiting for Mark to arrive. I was trying to process everything that had just happened since I left to go to the hospital a couple nights prior.

Rodger and I have always gotten along well. How could he take our daughter and leave me after one argument over me going to the hospital? How could he not care that I just got out of surgery?

Overall, my body was tensed up, in a state of shock, and my mind and emotions were wounded. My mind seemed too knotted in confusion to even begin to comprehend how much my life was about to change. My emotions seemed to be numbed from the post-surgery pain killers I was on. Looking back, I was in no state to be making hasty decisions. Mark and his wife arrived and helped me move some furniture and various belongings to my aunt’s house. I was too drugged on pain killers from the surgery to really process everything that had happened.

Wrong Hospital

Days went by and I was still having my usual sickness. Only this time, as I vomited, I had a stabbing internal pain where the surgical wounds were. Aunt Krissy drove me to the hospital near her home. I was immediately taken back to a hospital bed. The doctor walked in.

I heard that you are having chest pain and have been vomiting bile?

Yes, I said, but it’s not exactly chest pain. It’s a stabbing internal pain where my surgery scars are from my gallbladder removal.

How long ago did you have your gallbladder removed? he asked.

Two days ago.

Two days ago? Was it here at this hospital you had the surgery?

No, it was at the hospital on Corner Ave near the highway.

What are you doing here then? You need to go back to the hospital where your surgery was performed.

The doctor discharged me. I sat on a bench outside the hospital entrance, dizzy and vomiting bile while I waited for Aunt Krissy to pick me up.

Aunt Krissy arrived and drove me back to the hospital on Corner Ave, which was almost an hour drive away. Upon being admitted, I had a scan done over my abdomen, then was put in a patient room. After the scan, the doctor came into the room.

It looks like your main bile duct on your liver was punctured during surgery. We are going to need to put you under anesthesia and place a stent immediately.

Frightened about another surgery, I timidly nodded my head. After getting changed into a hospital gown, I was wheeled in a bed to a surgical room, where I was put under anesthesia for the procedure.

After awaking from the surgery, the doctor entered the room.

Your procedure went well. Good thing you got here when you did because the bile was spewing into your lungs.

That would explain why I was in a lot of pain and throwing up more bile than usual, I said.

Well, you should be doing better now that the stent is in. It is only temporary though until the puncture wound heals. You will need to have it removed in about six months. Just make sure you don’t wait any longer than that to have it removed.

Later, I would realize I had completely forgotten this doctor’s instructions.

Impressed by Invitation

Losing my health, my husband, my daughter, and my house all at once left me in a dark place. While I was grateful that Aunt Krissy allowed me to stay in her spare room, I couldn’t bear to stay there. I was depressed from my circumstances. To numb the emotional pain, I went for long drives during the day or evenings, whenever I wasn’t at work. I would only come home to Aunt Krissy’s at night to sleep. One day, after coming home from one of my usual long drives on the desert back roads to Lake Mead, Aunt Krissy approached me.

You haven’t been here much. Are you doing okay?

Honestly, I’m grateful that you let me stay in your spare room, but it’s hard to stay around here. The painful memory of the first night I arrived after Rodger left me keeps haunting me. I miss Melody. I’m just trying to keep my mind distracted.

You know when I was in a dark place, going to church really helped me. There were a lot of nice people there. Would you like to come to church with me this Sunday? I think it would be good for you.

While normally I would reject such an offer, I wanted to be kind, especially since it was so kind of her to let me stay in her home, so I agreed to go. When Sunday arrived, I attended church. I was very uncomfortable. I had always been the type of person to turn the other way whenever people would begin to talk about God, Jesus, religion, or anything spiritual. When the pastor would reference Bible quotes and stories, it was like he was speaking a foreign language to me.

I had never read the Bible. I never took the initiative to read any books growing up. I’ve always had poor reading comprehension and I struggled to retain anything. By the time I finished reading one sentence and got to the next one, I would forget what I had read in the previous sentence. As for Bible stories, I didn’t know anything. I had always heard people talk about how Jesus died on the cross for us, but I never really understood what that meant.

For a brief period of time when I was younger, my dad brought me to a Lutheran church with him, but I never paid attention. My mind was always distracted with toys or thinking about what I would eat at the casino restaurant we always ate at after church. Even Christmas and Easter to me were just about candy, eating tasty food, getting new toys, and spending time with family. While I was very uncomfortable attending this church, I did enjoy the modern Christian music played by the band on the stage, and the inspirational talks about how to remain hopeful in difficult times. As a bonus, the pastor was really good at sharing funny stories and relating them to current issues that many people faced. The experience was really entertaining.

At the end of the service, the pastor said a prayer and asked, If anyone here is hurting and wants to accept Jesus into their life, I’m going to ask that you quietly bow your head and to slip your hand into the air.

I felt inspired so, with my head bowed, I raised my hand. Tears rolled down my face, peace came to my heart, and for the first time in my life I was knowingly touched by the Spirit. The experience truly shifted me to believe that there was a God, and that this life was not the end. This was the moment that I became a believer, however it wouldn’t be until a couple of years later that I started to become a follower of Christ and begin to understand things of the Spirit.

Removed

I would continue to go to church every Sunday. Nine months after the stent placement surgery, I was at a follow-up appointment. After awaiting in the lobby of the doctor’s office, I was called back by a physician’s assistant. On the way back to one of the medical rooms, the physician’s assistant asked me, Have you had the stent removal surgery yet?

No, I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to.

It’s vital that you get that removed, I will have the doctor schedule an outpatient procedure at the hospital for you.

I went to that hospital appointment a few days later. There, I was put under anesthesia to have the stent removed. This was in late 2011, almost a year after the stent insertion. Eight years later, in 2019, while going through medical records, I came across an x-ray report dated March 18th, 2014. The x-ray report of my abdomen stated, There appears to be post-surgical clips over the right upper quadrant, possible secondary to previous cholecystectomy.

After reading this I ranted in thought, "You have got to