Kinship

Since our story aired on Wednesday, I have heard from numerous people in similar situations. It does not cease to amaze me just how many of us find ourselves in this position. It remains unfathomable to me that our political and medical communities remain virtually unaware of the dangers of toxic mold. Here is one of the stories. (Used with permission.)

"I just watched your story on CBN. So familiar to us and what we are going through right now.

We started to suspect mold last fall. We left for a mini vacation and some of my symptoms let up drastically. We stayed with family in December when my symptoms were keeping me from getting out of bed. Again, my symptoms let up some. Everyone was telling me I was stressed or it was depression.

I was so angry that I went home and took a hammer to my walls. The plywood was wet and the window parts were rusted inside of the walls. We built our home in 2006 in Yorkville, IL. Our builder made so many mistakes, but the biggest mistake was that they didn't install our windows correctly.

We never found a lawyer to take it on, of course the insurance company didn't help, and we let the house go. As of December of this year it was purchased by someone. I can only imagine it was an investor who will patch it and resell it. I contacted the county, the state, and others, but the house was still put up for sale with no disclosures. As much as I researched, I just didn't find the right information in time. I was very out of sorts and had trouble thinking straight, so I'm going to blame it on that I guess.

Unfortunately, we never tested. My body and my children's health was deteriorating. This much we did know. The house sat for 9 months until the bank took it back. The last time I entered, I was extremely sick within minutes to say the least. The hardest part at this point almost a year later is that all I want is my children well again.

We have moved a couple times already this year and also had to get rid of both of our cars since the mold was so bad from being in our garage. The money is gone from just trying to replace simple things and some of the necessities.

I never thought we would be at this point, but it sure has opened our eyes to the important things in life.

My kids have improved in some ways which is a blessing. My oldest daughter used to throw up almost every night and also in the car. She was having hormone changes at age 6. My middle daughter has breathing problems now and reacts to something new almost every week. She had mold growing under her new mattress. She used to stop breathing while she was sleeping in our old house and hallucinate. At least it seemed that way to me. My son was born in that house. He has allergies now and sensitivities also. They are so young, I'm not always sure they understand if they are feeling bad or not.

My symptoms started 3 years ago now, I was told I have a demylinating disease. At that point, I still didn't know it was mold. After many tests they found that I have an optic nerve delay in both eyes, which of course is from my exposure. All our symptoms are. I started juicing, went on a gluten free diet, and made some other healthy changes. I was trying to help myself with my symptoms without the drugs the neurologist gave me.

Just the other night I was thinking about how this year has been an emotional roller coaster. I heard your husband describe the same feeling. God bless your family, it means so much to me to have met you. I wish it would have been in different circumstances, but this is where I've been brought in my life now. And I know it was for a reason."