our mold story

We were a happy, healthy family of four. Kurt and I were married in September of 2004 and we began our very happy Christian life together. We welcomed our first child, Alexis, into the world in February of 2006. We were in love, and wrapped around her little finger! Our second child, Alivia, was born in June of 2008. Life was great! Life was perfect. We really had no complaints or worries, and were loving our life together. In April of 2009, we decided to leave the home we had been living at for the past 6 years, and move across town. Our new home was beautiful....it was brand spanking new and was very spacious and nice....we loved it there. A few months after moving into the home, a tile started to pop off of the wall in the beautiful ceramic tile shower that the home had. I noticed it because as I was showering, I slit my finger open on the sharp edge of the tile. A few weeks later, despite a few calls to complain about the situation, the shower still had not been looked at, and I slit my finger on the tile again. We called and asked someone to come and look at the shower, before someone was seriously hurt.... a few days later the shower was looked at. Several tiles were popped off, and we saw something really "not right"......there was mold and wetness, EVERYWHERE. I will not get into the whole reason for the problem, but something was not done properly when building the shower, and caused the mold to grow. The smell was one of horrible dampness, mold, and mildew. It physically made me ill to even be near the area. The area was left this way for 3 weeks. A layer of dust began to settle on everything in the bathroom and the ajoining master bedroom. I knew nothing about mold at that time, but I refused to sleep in the bedroom and would not let my husband or children go into the area. My mommy instincts told me that it was not something that we should be near. I shut all of the doors and lined the spaces under the doors with towels to prevent the mold from getting into the rest of the home. Just walking into the area where the mold was would make me start to feel as if I was gong ot vomit. I would get a headache and my eyes would begin to pour water. I felt dizzy and felt very ill. We slept on an air matress in my then 17 month old daughters room, for 3.5 weeks. Finally, the crew came back to "fix" the problem. Knowing nothing about mold, I trusted that they knew what they were doing and thought nothing much of the process. The bathroom was cleaned up by carrying buckets and buckets of moldy gunk from our shower out through the entire house. No precautions were taken to ensure that the mold did not go throughout the home, and we did not know any better at that time, so we did not demand it. Knowing what I now know, I know that the mold spores were spread everywhere through our home, infecting our bodies and ruining most of our belongings.
A few weeks after this had gone on, my entire family became very ill. We all started to have respiratory issues. We had chronic coughs, red bloodshot eyes, headaches, sinus infections, ear infections, rashes all over our bodies, and felt very ill. My children were acting very strangely....lashing out and screaming in rage. They began to throw fits and act out of control at times. My children NEVER act this way. I knew something was going on....but had no idea what. I never linked mold to our illness and symptoms at that time. Soon, I began to forget things all the time. I didnt really know what was going on. I kept thinking that maybe we had picked up some strange virus, and that it was hanging aroung for a long time. I never once even began to link our sickness to the experience with the mold in our home.
Time went on and we were sick all the time. We were never healthy from the time the shower was ripped out, on. It was ripped out the week of Thanksgiving 2009, and on February 7, 2010, we were still unhealthy. My daughter, age 4 at that time, began to loose her hair. She had big oozing lesions all over her body. Drs said that it was eczema, or ringworm, or even "dry skin". I was feeling so frustrated and annoyed. I knew that there was something wrong with my family and I knew that it was not "dry skin" that was causing my child, who had always been perfectly healthy in every way, to loose her hair in patches and to have lesions all over her body. Everyone in my family was ill. I was feeling horrible on a consistent basis. My 18 month old was very clingy and crying all the time. She too, had several of the lesions on her body. I had the lesions all over me as well. My feet began to break out into a dry scaley rash. I began to get toenail fungus. I had yeast infections. We were falling apart and no one could tell us what the problem was. I was desperate, as a wife and mother, to find out what in the world was going on with me and my family. I was researching and trying to find an answer, but there just were no answers. Drs were no help. Te drs around here just are not educated on this tpoic....most of them blew me off and made me feel like I was just kind of getting a little neurotic. They acted like it was just all in my head. The fact that no one would listen to me and no one would tell me what was going on was driving me crazy!
In early Feb 2010, a dear friend of mine called me to chat. She said that she had read something on "sick houses" and mold. She said that it sounded so much like my family and our situation that she thought I should check it out. I was making a birthday cake for my daughter, who was turning 4 that weekend. While the cake was baking, I got online and began to research. When I began to read about toxic mold and about mold toxicity in the body, a light bulb went on in my head. I began to cry. I could not belive that I had finally found something that may explain why my family was so ill. Suddenly, my relief from finding an answer turned to panic. I had an answer now....but this was serious. This was a carcinogen.....this was devestating news IF this was the case. I searched and searched that night and found a certified mold inspector in our area and sent him an email. I went about my business, assuming that it would be awhile before he contacted me, if ever. The very next day he contacted me and talked to me about our situation. He said that he highly advised that we leave the home ASAP and not return until he had run tests and the home was proven to be safe. Kurt and I were sitting in the living room, watching the kids run around the house. Lexi and Livie were playing with the new toys that Lexi had received the night before at her 4th birthday party. Decorations were still all over the house. We jumped up, took the clothes on our back and a few toys the girls grabbed, and we left. That was the last time we saw our home and most of our belongings inside the home. We went from a relaxing Sunday morning of coffee and playing, to abandoning out house and everything we owned.....within minutes.
A few days later, the inspector came to our home. He met my husband and he did some readings. He said that he would advise us not to return until he had the readings back and knew what we were dealing with. He told Kurt that by looking at him, he could tell that he had mold toxicity. We moved in with my parents and waited for the results. We hoped to be back in our home within a few weeks. We didnt know how extreme the situation was at that time, and thought that after the results were in, surely we could go back, have the house cleaned, and go about our lives. A few days later, the results were in. It was explained to us that the mold count measures the mold spores per cubic meter in the home. All homes will get some type of reading, as mold is everywhere....but a mold count under 25, 000 is good. A mold count of 50, 000 to 100, 000 is beginning to be something to worry about. A count over 100, 000 spores /cubic meter is considered toxic. Our mold count came back as 881,800 spores per cubic meter of aspergillus and penicillium molds. Take into consideration that this is AFTER the mold had been "cleaned up". Who knows what the count was when we were living and breathing in that horrible toxic stuff for 3.5 weeks. The inspector, and a qualified industrial hygenist, told us not to return to the home. They said that we did not own the home at that time (we were set to purchase it just a few short months from this incident) that we should never return. Most of our belongings were trash, and we would loose most of what we had built as a family. We were devestated. We went from sitting in our living room, drinking coffee, watching the kids playing, and enjoying our life....to having no home, having no belongings, and wondering how bad our health issues really were.
This sparked me to begin researching like mad. I began to become comsummed with trying to figure out what to do next. I didnt know where to go or what to do. No one around this area is very familiar with mold. Drs know nothing about it. Most attorneys and insurance companies know nothing about it. No one was there to help us. We felt so alone. We had to put every ounce of trust and faith we had in God. God was there for us, and He alone is what pulled us through this horrible process. Both of our parents were wonderful to us during this time. Praise God for Kurt's parents and my parents. They were a Godsend and they helped us so much. We lived with my parents for 4.5 months during this time. I continued to research and research. I HAD to find out what was going on with us healthwise and what to do about it. The more I read, the more scared I became. The mold that we had in our home is a known carcinogen (causes cancers). I had so many nights when I would just lay in bed with my girls, and cry. I didnt know what to do. I wanted to do the right thing....and I wanted to be sure to do everything that I could to combat this mold. But how? I prayed and prayed. I asked God to help me...to use me to help my family. To give me the strength and the knowledge to find answers....and to give me the stubborness not to give up until I had some answers.
A month or so after moving out of that house, while researching one day, I came across a dr that happend to be a few hours from us. He was very well known for his environmental medical practice, and he was supposed to be amazing. I looked him up and we made an appointment to see him. I had some hope. We went to see Dr Sultan in March of 2010. He was just what we needed. He knew about mold and he understood what I was talking about. After 9 hours at the drs office, and 46 needle pokes, I had a diagnosis of mold toxicity. The dr and myself, opted not to put my children through that. He said that we could use myself as the "ginuea pig", to spare the kids from all the pain and trauma. I really respected him for that. I soon began different series of shots and supplements. My whole family began taking probiotics to boost our immune system. The whole process got really expensive, really fast! As happy as I was to have some answers, there are some questions that are still not answered, even now as I type this. It has been 10 months since this whole mold ordeal surfaced. We have been out of the "mold house", as my 4 year old calls it, 7 months, but we still have many worries. We are doing what we can to boost our immune systems and ensure that we are ok, long term....but the fact of the matter is, we can not be sure that we are ok. That is part of the problem, when dealing with toxic mold....that is why it is so serious and why it is so tragic. The only thing that I can do is research and find out everything that I can, and pray. Prayer is so powerful. God is with us in this, I know that. It was not a coincidence that my friend called me and put that bug in my ear last Winter. God was using her to tell me to GET OUT. When I think about what could have been, I get so upset. I think about if my friend had not told me about it. We would still be living there, and we would be so so sick. We may have lived there for years....we may have lost lives. That is so scarey to think about as a mother. It is so scarey to look at my kids and know that I could have lost them....I really could have. But, the fact of the matter is, that God WAS watching over us. We DID get out. I have to put my faith in Him and trust that He will protect my family.
This experience, though it has been one of loss and sorrow, has also been one of building character and gain. I have lost so much, but I have gained so much more. The stuff that I lost, was just that....STUFF. It was hard to see that at times. It was hard to take something that my child made for me as a toddler and toss it into the dumpster. It was hard to take baby items from my children and throw them in the trash.......to take momentos from our wedding and honeymoon and toss them into the dump as if they meant nothing to me. It was very hard to hear my children wail , cry and beg for months, for me to go to the "mold house" and get things that they loved. They just didnt understand....how could a 1 and a 4 year old possibly grasp this? I could not even grasp it, and I am an adult. It was very very hard. I tried to be honest with them. I tried to explain things to them the best that I could. At times, my daughter would say "I just want to live at the mold house. It is ok, I will just be sick". It was very heard to know that my kids were sad, and know that there was not a darn thing I could do about the situation. However, we pushed through. We threw away most of our belongings. We had to replace all couches, matresses, baby items, stuffed animals, etc. All soft toys, keepsakes, etc. that were made of paper or soft material were thrown into the dumpster. I found myself havig a very hard time with the baby items. I would hold the stuffed animals that my children played with as infants, and give them one last little hug, before I threw them into the dumpster. It was hard to let go of it all. However, I have learned that this stuff, is just STUFF. What is really important in this life is my family, and God.
God was what got us through this. People have asked me, "how are you doing this? I would be in a nuthouse if I was dealing with all of that. I just could not do it." Well, my answer is number 1. it is not something that you choose to do. It is something that happend to us and I feel like we either a. wollow in our self pity and sadness, which would get us no where, or b. be strong, pray, and move forward, to get our lives back together for a new "normal". I choose b.
2. God is what is getting me though this. When no one else is there, God is. God is there to hear me, help me, and guide me. He is the reason that we are out of that home. He is the reason that we found people to help us. He is the reason we are not very very sick right now. I have grown so much through this experience. God has really shown me that sometimes life throws us some horrible horrible circumstances. There are so many people out there that are dealing with things so much worse than anything we have been through....and that is life on this earth. I am so thankful that God is there for us. I am so thankful that one day, we will be in Heaven with Christ and will have no more pain or sorrow. I am so thankful to Him for everything that He has given to me. This experience has made me really learn to lean on God. In times of trouble, that is when we really grow, spiritually....if we just lean on God.
I feel like it is my repsonsibility to help others now. I want to help others that are in the same situation that we were in. I want to help those poor mothers out there that are holding their chilren and wishing someone, anyone, would give them some answers. I want to help create an understanding about toxic mold. It is very serious, and when you are dealing with it, you feel very alone.
Always remember though, no matter what you are going through, God is with you. God is our father and He is there for us, just as we are there for our children. He wants to help us, guide us, and comfort us. He wants to be there to help us build our life back. Whatever you may be dealing with, remember that. Hang in there, research, and PRAY!