Love Is the Healer

At 25 years old, Maryanne Sea was hit by a car while crossing the street during an Ann Arbor, Michigan blizzard. Two years later, her immune system collapsed completely. This is the true story of the first woman to be labeled "permanently and totally disabled" by the U.S. government as a result of multiple chemical sensitivity. Her Environmental Medicine specialist recognized that Maryanne could not tolerate the influx of chemicals that had been increasing in the air, food, and water since the 1950s. To heal, Maryanne had to live in a bubble—a room with nothing but three chairs, a lamp, and an old TV set—and wait, however long it would take, until she regained tolerance to the modern world. Then into the bubble came Cory Sea, Ann Arbor's "Renaissance Man," to bring Maryanne back to life. Instead of recoiling from the sight of a 68-pound woman sitting on an old chair all day, he opened his heart to her. And Maryanne began to heal. "Love is the Healer" is the story of two people, who were tested in dramatic and extreme ways, and who were on the brink of losing touch with themselves. In the end, they discover that the only thing that they could not afford to lose was their love for each other.

At 25 years old, Maryanne Sea was hit by a car while crossing the street during an Ann Arbor, Michigan blizzard. Two years later, her immune system collapsed completely. This is the true story of the first woman labeled "permanently and totally disabled" by the U.S. government as a result of multiple chemical sensitivity. Maryanne's doctor, an Environmental Medicine specialist named Dr. Paula Davey, spent their first three-hour appointment asking questions like, "How do you feel when you put gasoline in your car?" and "How do you feel when you polish your nails?"— to which Maryanne replied that she loved these smells. Dr. Davey recognized that Maryanne could not tolerate the influx of petrochemicals that had come into the air, food, and water since the 1950s, including pesticides, synthetics, and plastics. To heal, Maryanne had to live in a bubble—a room with nothing but three chairs, a lamp, and an old TV set—and wait, however long it would take, until she regained tolerance to the modern world. The bubble was stark. She sat on a wooden chair all day, and at night, she pushed three wooden chairs together to form a bed. She could not talk on the phone. She could eat only one food, shipped on dry ice from Africa, each day. She could not have pens, papers, or any books near her, and she could not read her own mail. Yet Maryanne did have a powerful resource in her awareness and every day she focused it on one question: "Why was her body rejecting life?" Maryanne realized that she had been frightened of life from the very beginning, that she had become frozen in fear, and that she could not feel love. And she knew that this fear was at the core of her reacting to virtually everything on this earth. Then into the bubble came Cory Sea, Ann Arbor's "Renaissance Man," to bring Maryanne back to life. Instead of recoiling from the sight of a 68-pound woman sitting on one old chair all day, he moved closer to her and opened his heart. "Love is the Healer" is the story of two people, who were tested in dramatic and extreme ways, and who were on the brink of losing touch with themselves. In the end, they discover that the only thing that they could not afford to lose was their love for each other.

Maryanne Sea received her Master's degree from the University of Michigan and was ready to change the world when she was hit by a car during an Ann Arbor, Michigan blizzard. The shock caused her immune system to collapse completely. Two years later, she was not able to tolerate plastics, pesticides, synthetics and many more chemicals that have come into the air, food and water since the 1950's. Soon the US government labeled her "permanently and totally disabled" and her doctor, an Environmental Medicine specialist, advised her to live in a bubble, a room with nothing but three chairs and a lamp. Into the bubble came Cory Sea, who ignored all that seemed bizarre about Maryanne's life, and simply loved her. "Love is the Healer" is the story of their twenty year journey to bring Maryanne back to life. The story culminates in the transformation of Maryanne's sensitivity into a gift that has helped many heal, and in her teaching health care professionals in a number of hospitals and universities. Maryanne has appeared in three documentaries about Multiple Chemical Sensitivity produced by ABC Australia, ABC USA and BBC Great Britain.