Stories

I remember in the weeks following Colin's diagnosis with type 1 diabetes I heard of numerous people with friends or relatives with the same disease. Suddenly,diabetes was everywhere I turned. It's the same thing with mold. In the weeks we've been in the Tucson area I have encountered numerous people with stories of their own. My daughter Megan needed dental work. She told the dentist her story of mold exposure. "Interesting", he said."We had mold remediation done several months ago and ever since my wife hasn't been the same." Mood changes and concentration issues have surfaced. He didn't know about the mold specialist in Benson. I talked with a woman whose daughter is in medical school in the Caribbean. We were considering this woman's rental home. I asked about water damage in the home and she seemed unusually interested and aware. She explained that her 24 year-old daughter lived in a brand new "super" dorm this last semester.
The daughter got quite sick and noticed mold under the cracks in her walls. Numerous students complained of illness as well. In this case, construction continued too soon after a heavy rain. I talked with a nurse in Dr. Gray's office who explained what happens to her when a mold patient comes in with contaminated clothing. She starts coughing immediately. She said she has to leave the room usually because she is so short of breath. One of the assistants in the office breaks out in rashes just from handling the paperwork. I talked with a property owner in Sierra Vista who had dozens of rentals remediated last year for toxic mold. It's quite sobering to realize the extent to which mold is an issue in our country. In large part because we have no mold standards. But that is worthy of a different discussion.