Hey, my name is Madeline Whittier and this is my story. I was born with this disease which is about as rare as it is famous. It is a form of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, but you probably know it as "bubble baby disease." Basically, I'm allergic to the world. Anything can trigger a bout of sickness. It could be the chemicals in the cleaner used to wipe the table that I just touched. It could be someone's perfume. It could be the exotic spice in the food I just ate. It could be one, or all, or none of these things, or something else entirely. No one knows the triggers, but everyone knows the concequences. According to my mom I almost died as an infant. And so I stay on SCID row. I don't leave my house, have not left my house for seventeen years.
