Mold

As promised some time back, it is time to give a little update that may explain why my posts have gotten so rare and impersonal. 

The short answer is: LIFE.

I'm sure you can relate!

But the longer answer may be surprising as much of it can be summed up by the word: BASEMENT.

This summer we began to sort basement storage with the purpose of paring down. Why? Because of mycotoxins.

To back up: Did you know that around 75% of the population does not have noticeable trouble from the mold in their homes? But that leaves 25% of us who get ill from it. Sometimes severely and chronically ill.

"But, I thought you had Chronic Lyme disease," you say?

True! But that frequently goes hand in hand with other chronic conditions, thanks to genetic tendencies and/or the way these organisms work together in our bodies to take down the immune system. 

In many ways, Elsa and I have hit a plateau in our healing since beginning to doctor 8 years ago, and we have long suspected one of the big reasons for that.

MOLD.

For those curious about the science and how it relates to our house and health, I've included a few facts at the end of this post where the rest of you can ignore it.

But four years ago, Elsa and I were tested to have toxic levels of several kinds of mycotoxins in our bodies. Since then Mom has also been diagnosed with CIRS due to mold toxicity.

So, along with our usual summer and autumn activities of flower and vegetable gardening (Mom and Dad), harvesting and preserving the produce, knitting for The Nautical Nordic on Etsy (H&E), camping at the lake a few nights, mowing lawn and practicing trumpet (D), enjoying some Auntie/Grandparent time (while waiting for Baby #2 around Christmas!!!), resuming a few piano lessons (H), cooking nearly everything from scratch and washing endless dishes (M,H&E)...

…We have been dealing with the first stages of mold remediation, including:
- Two phone calls with our mold consultant on the east coast
- Having a mold inspector here twice (he normally only visits once, but our house was more complex due to unusual building methods and some still-mysterious areas of high mold-counts)
- Working on extra mold investigation as directed by the professionals
- Going through reams of daunting reports that sometimes make us wonder if we just need to build a new house
- Getting in touch with a mold remediator who will soon be coming to look over the job

At the bare minimum, we need to professionally remediate a closet on first floor and bathroom on the top floor plus have our entire original basement gutted and micro-cleaned. Then we must hire a foundation expert to stop the constant source of moisture coming through our foundation walls.

Thanks to many hours of help from family and friends, we got the basement emptied before the snow flew! But even though we had as much HEPA vacuuming done as possible before things were brought up (plus air-washing outdoors before most of what we kept was stored in the garage), we have been more ill again from all the disturbed mycotoxins. 

The severe case of shingles in one of our household (for which I earlier asked for prayer) was a tough result. Thankfully after a month of only about 3 hours of sleep per night, improvement is finally being seen by about 6 hours a night and less pain. Thanks for continued prayers!

"Now to Him who is able
to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us,
to Him be glory..."

Ephesians 3:20-21

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For those who want a good overview of how Mold, Lyme, and CIRS work together and a tip-of-the-iceberg look at what we are dealing with physically, check out this October 19, 2021 podcast of "Susie Larson Live" [an author and speaker from St. Paul, MN] with guest Dr. Jill Carnahan, MD:
https://myfaithradio.com/program_podcast/dr-jill-carnahan-mold-toxicity/

And a bit of the science:

85% of the time, the mold illness issue in homes is not from living spores, but old, dead mold, which is actually more dangerous. It dries and breaks into tiny fungal fragments. The amount of toxic fragments is 300-500 times higher than actual mold spores in a home. In addition, there are even smaller and more harmful poisonous chemical compounds produced by mold: mycotoxins.

The mycotoxins found to be at high levels in our bodies include:

- Aflatoxin: which is produced by the Aspergillus flavus in our house and can cause liver issues

- Octratoxin A: which is produced by at least the two following molds in our house and is damaging to the kidneys, suppresses the immune system, and is linked to cognitive issues, brain fog, memory loss, Alzheimers, crippling fatigue, and much more.
    -- Aspergillus niger, which is at least 26 times higher than normal here
    -- Aspergillus ochraceus, which is 100 fold higher than normal in our house; colonizes in the gut and occasionally also in lungs and sinuses

Our house also tests 10-fold higher than normal for Penicillium crustosum, which lowers the immune system and increases the risk of opportunistic infections, such as Lyme, co-infections, and Candida... all of which we are being treated for.

Then there is Chaetomium, which is hairy and hard to get off/out of possesions. It sticks in sheetrock, fabric, paper, furniture, mattresses, pillows, etc., which causes some families to have to move away from basically all of their possessions if they are going to get well. We are not currently looking at this severe of a response since we have been able to make some progress in healing even while living in our current situation.

These test results come from the dust all over our two upper floors. Even if the basement is the primary source, the toxins are all throughout our living areas.