That is a good question.
Do I think that it is linked to depleted uranium? Yes. I was tested by an independent team, as well as the services that had been offered to us by the Canadian system in 2000, and in that regard, clearly, the test was rather inconclusive. All of the governmental test results are negative and I was not surprised, because both companies that had been hired by the government admitted that they were incapable of conducting tests to detect the presence of depleted uranium. The fact that we were misled this way really caused a lot of damage among the veterans' community. The department's credibility was diminished.
When I left for the Gulf War, I was 29 years old and a triathlete. I celebrated my 30th birthday over there. I just turned 52 on March 17. That means I have been sick for 22 years.
I realized right away, even before leaving, that all of the injections received were not normal. That was very clear. Usually, nurses such as I follow a protocol. If something goes wrong, at least then, it can be determined which injection could have caused a particular reaction or illness. When 8 to 12 injections are received in the same day and it is not documented, how can it be determined what has made us unwell?
I did not feel well when I took the plane. Even my mother, the day before my departure for Trenton to go and take the C-130, could not hold me in her arms because I was in so much pain. She will never forget it. Already, while leaving, I did not feel well. On board this C-130, it took 34 hours to arrive in Saudi Arabia. We had a lot of time to not feel well. On site, we were ordered to take more injections that had not been tested or approved. We did not even know what they were. We were given orders. Another nurse would give my injections, and then, as a nurse, I would give soldiers their injections, knowing that it was not medication that had been approved or tested. It was done through the British; it was not even Canadian. I asked myself questions. I reacted to that. Afterwards, we were ordered to take a small pill every eight hours. I reacted badly to that as well. I had abnormal symptoms, like hypersalivation in the middle of the desert, vision problems, urinary and fecal incontinence, cramps and gynecological bleeding. It was too much.
On top of that, we were operating in the desert, where there are sand storms. We were exposed to everything in that environment, to local endemic illnesses that we were not used to. The Americans recognized nine communicable diseases linked directly to the environment in which we found ourselves. That is serious.
We started to put it all together. We did not feel well. At 29 years old, as a triathlete, I did not feel well. I realized that others were fine. It did not seem to affect them in the same way. As a nurse, I found that rather strange, but I told myself that maybe they had received a placebo and I had gotten the real thing. Who knows? One wonders.
The longer the war went on, the more we received prisoners of war and wounded. I remember, among other things, a surgery with Colonel Auger, with whom we worked. Afterwards, he became General Auger, then Surgeon General in 1998, and then he was let go in 1999.