San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, December 1, 1989
Mark MacNamara, Chronicle Staff Writer

Inside, a 5-year-old boy named Shelby has a chemically induced, AIDS-like illness. In the past nine months, a bright, imaginative boy's condition has brought his family to emotional and financial ruin.

His mother is dead tired. His baby sister has respiratory problems. His father is at wit's end.

And as the father, Tom Olsen, tells their story, the refrain is always, "Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you understand what I mean?" As though doom was not apparent.

FATHER HURT ON THE JOB

Olsen, 33, was a dock worker in Oakland until 1978 when he slipped down a ship's hole, badly injuring his legs and back. He moved to Fresno for several years, came back to San Francisco in 1987 to go back to school to learn a new skill. With him, Tom brought Shelby, his son from a former marriage.

It was then that Tom met Naomi, and a few months later the two moved in together and eventually married.

Tom Olsen had stored clothes and household goods in a Martinez warehouse where he claims the Shell Oil Co. kept 1,000-pound bags of Catalyst, a highly toxic substance, along with other industrial solvents.

Shelby slept on bedding that Olsen says had been contaminated by Catalyst.

DOCTOR BLAMES CHEMICAL

"The child suffers from recurrent infections related to a chemically induced immune deficiency," says Dr. Alan Levin, the boy's doctor. "This is not related to the HIV virus: His B cells are damaged, not his T cells. But it is very likely that this is an acquired immune deficiency problem.

"The boy is clearly sick and the evidence is pretty clear that his illness is related to this exposure," the doctor says. "His medical history shows him to have been well before this. Also, I have treated others who were exposed to the same substance in the same episode and show similar symptoms. And finally, there are animal studies that demonstrate that exposure to these kinds of chemicals can cause this disorder."

In October, the Olsens, along with Levin, appeared on the Phil Donahue Show to discuss the case.

The Shell Oil Co. acknowledges that Catalyst, which is used in the refining process of crude oil, is toxic but says toxic levels in the storage area were no higher than those "which occur naturally in the area."

PAINFUL TRANSFUSIONS

Whatever caused Shelby's illness, he must undergo a rigorous series of tests and painful transfusions. Olsen says that "slow-drip" transfusions, which must be done over a six-hour period once a week, have become so expensive that he has had to look for other treatments.

"We were not without some means," says Olsen. "We were ordinary participating people until we were devastated. Do you understand? Now, we're wiped out. Voom. Gone. Zero."

In the past nine months, Olsen says, he has spent $60,000.

"It's money to Stanford, Oakland Children's Hospital, MRIs, CAT scans, hearing tests, pharmacies. We've had to beg, borrow and steal."

They've exhausted all credit cards, banks, friends, parents.

"Our story is that his disease has gotten us to the point that we're just broke," Olsen says. "We have no way to function. We can no longer meet his medical needs, to keep him alive."

They do not qualify for welfare because Olsen's pension from his dock worker days is more than the $800 allowed for a family of four.

"You get to the place," says Olsen, "where you're consumed with what's going on.

"His hearing is out. What do I do now?"

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1989. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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