July 27, 2007 our daughter Alixandrea was born; she is everything we’d hoped for, she is perfect. No complications. Life was perfect. Our credit is getting better, we have a new car, my husbands job of 4 years is moving along, my almost 13 year old son Dakota is settling in with all his friends. We couldn’t ask for anything more.
When she was 6 months old we decided we needed a bigger place, so we moved into this home with a basement and lots of land.
What we thought to be a perfect find; a little house of our own, in the same town.
Only later to find out how badly our nightmares would also come true.
Feb. 09, 2008 we moved into this house on Stolle Road in Dupo, IL. The weather was wet, icy, and freezing. My husband of 7 years who has only been sick maybe twice, fell very ill, and stayed ill for about two and a half weeks. Our family doctor diagnosed him with allergies.
On the second week of living in the Stolle house I started to lose my voice ; I get sick maybe once a year, so I waited to see if I’d get any better.
Now on the third week of being here my son started losing his toenails, his hair was changing to white or gray like; he’s having stomach pains and feelings of sickness all over. He’s had constipation in the past, and was barefoot all the time; so again we thought nothing of it, but decided to make him an appointment anyway. It was on the third week that my voice was now moving into barely a whisper, so I’m going to the family doctor and I’m taking Alixandrea with me; she had eczema. He gave me some steroids for my throat and told me too; that it was allergies.
Well it was that day I feared that our new baby was bound to pick up what we had all gotten, so against our family doctors advice twice now. I let him vaccinate her, with the warning that these vaccinations are causing autism; while not understanding fully what autism really was.
Later to regret that as well, now if your just asking Alixandrea Hagan’s parents their opinion on vaccinations; we’d feel that the shot’s broke down her immune-system, and she falls deadly ill from black mold. It was then, that we noticed the devastating changes in all three main systems of her body.
The forth week I was right, Alixandrea did fall ill, but her illness was different; it shook our souls, it was like nothing any of us had ever seen. First it was in the sinuses then that night her cough was worse than a long time smokers. I called the doctor again….. He said allergies; gave her some cough syrup. We were also noticing our skin around our nails turning white and ashy we looked dead.
On the fifth week she was getting worse; she went back to the doctor. He said he was unsure so he gave more syrup.
For the next two weeks we watched as our perfect baby kept getting sicker and sicker, so I called the landlord to come check the home to see if there would be anything in the home that could be the cause of our new illnesses. He came said nope wasn’t the house. Even though one could visibly see black mold. I trusted him. He was our previous landlord. So he wasn’t a stranger.
We didn’t know anything about mold, especially black mold!
Now, on the seventh week of living in the house; Alixandrea was as sick as I could bear to see. I took her back to the doctor. I had mentioned mold, lead, something, anything to him; that would be the cause of her illness so that we could fix it. He, like some of the other doctor’s, that we’ve come to know, said I don’t know anything about mold lets run some blood work.
Well fine, just not good enough though. I was 100% sure that what ever it was, it was in the house. (Because I was scared that Alixandrea was gonna catch something from a person; her and I never left that house the whole time we lived there.) My hubby did all the shopping.
When we got home from the doctor’s office I told my husband who was about to leave for work that we’d be in a hotel when he got home, for him to join us. He wasn’t happy, we just moved in!
That was Friday March 28, 2008. I had to see for myself if it was our new home of eighty years old, that’s sits across from a levee right on it’s owners property– Falling Spring Rock Quarries. This is why we kept the windows closed too, because of all the dust.
Monday April 1, 2008 we called the landlord again told him we were in a hotel that he needed to bring a professional, in front of us, to prove the houses innocence. So we all meet at the house. The landlords professional Rick Ortiz said the mold WAS what made us all ill, and was covered up; get rid of what we had taken with us, and to leave everything we own. After hearing that I wanted to know what my family had really been breathing so I payed my own professional. (THANK GOD)
There’s over 50,000 toxic spores; not to mention the 60% asbestos they found my son playing in. Yes enough toxic mold to cause permanent damage.
So, let Hell begin. Now one might say we weren’t there long enough to even get sick; let alone to be permanently be effected by the mold. The proof is in the pudding. Now we’re praying that the asbestos wont affect us especially our son and daughter.
I have become highly educated through out this journey. We have been through some things; things that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but this is by far the hardest thing I’ve been through and I’ve been through a hell of a lot of trauma.
Mold is expensive. That’s why home owners and landlords are so stealthy. Insurance companies wont cover it!!!!
Finding a home were we’d like at our price range with our credit now, with no water damage is virtually impossible. Still trying to be optimistic.
Now Sunday, August 21, 2011. It’s been almost 3 1/2 years and my family is still living in optimistic hell do to water damaged buildings (S.B.S.) sick building syndrome. We’re so sensitive to mold that now, less than 50 spores will make us ill—-
It starts with the sneezing and sore throat then following that is mostly flu like symptoms, stomach pains, then vomiting, our hair smelled like wet dog, we were clammy, dry skin, we felt a closed in feeling, not wanting to leave; like being hypnotized; gums around my teeth was loose, twitching, cold sweats. Alixandrea’s ears smelled bad, her body would go limp; and she’d become very pale, and her cheeks would be rash red; hardly ever did her nose run, however her ears had yellow; green; and dark brown slime oozing all the time. Our joints would throb and always be in pain. Guts hurt. Still to this day I have phantom like pains that run up and down my leg all day and night. My limbs will go numb. Soft touches hurt. Nose and eyes will burn. Cramps around the rib cage, and in other areas of the body. Skin changed color with a yellowish tint; Dakota had a mole appear on his face that changed from blue to black to brown, we’re unable to concentrate; staying focused wasn’t happening, just brushing and blow drying our hair was now a task, our memory was getting worse, we can taste and smell chemicals in food and water, we react badly to heat, smells and odors in the environment, and we felt high like being on something; dizziness, clumsy, was unable to cough up flem – dry cough. Our bodies were always tense and tight. And my husband had vertigo. These are to name a few.
Our cats were showing their own signs of ex-poser from the mold too. They acted like they were tripping, freaked out and were scared to leave the house. I remember them also being overly hyper too.
Then right as we begin to get well and that comes quickly; when we remove ourselves from the mold, we’d come down with pneumonia like symptoms for about a week. Alixandrea and I would always fall ill in a patteren like way; first week she’d be ill, would always fall one week before my menstrual. Then without failure I’d fall ill the week of my menstrual. Normally we stayed sick for three weeks out of the month.
Anyway…..We stayed in the first set of hotels for about three months. Some of them re-exposed us, so we had to be careful. Coast of a nicer place was now in order. Then we got desperate and moved into a little two bedroom hollow walled apartment, 20 minutes out of our way. This meant up rooting our family in the middle of a school year. Needless to say that worked for 6 months. We were too loud. Then we moved into a bigger place around the corner in November 2008 I CHECKED THIS PLACE OUT REALLY GOOD, I saw NO mold.
However as soon as we’d turn on the heater Alixandrea fell ill again, following her was Dakota and me. It took me 5 months to prove there was mold there making us sick, and it wasn’t much; (duct work) while finding out we’re sensitive to gas now too! There was another kind of symptom when the gas heater was on. Like our noses would run; immediate headaches, and nausea. A new doctor advised, we get out of there too!
A month later we moved across the river. All the while moving to be close to my only family; helping to take care of my dying mother and to take over helping my great aunt Anita care for her son; my mom’s cousin Paul who had Muscular Dystrophy.
Finally finding a trailer with no mold…No really, no mold!!! This time we used an ozone machine before we moved in. To make 100% sure!
Alixandrea was pale when we moved in from being ill for so long, and looked like she was on the brink of death. She quickly got well. That was in June, 2009. That whole summer we were all well.
Anyway, that new car of mine. Well apparently we were transporting the mold. Alix was getting sick from my new car now. Alix got sick too when my mom was dying; that was in September 2009. She stayed sick until I got a car rental in March 2010 and took both my kids to see Rich Shoemaker, a doctor who wrote the book on black mold; he diagnosed Dakota and myself with biotoxin poisoning from water damaged buildings. He said he would see Alix when she was old enough.
My mom passed away that September, she was already in bad health with C.O.P.D and worked around asbestos when I was a kid. She was 57 years old and wouldn’t allow an autopsy. I miss her.
October 2009, following her was her cousin Paul dying from pneumonia. Now the only support and witness I have left to the inside world of our moldy life is my feisty elderly great aunt Anita; Paul’s mom, and my mothers aunt who’s cared for Paul his whole life. I love her.
Anita, Paul, my mother and I all believe that the mold spores traveled making them all deadly ill from the Stolle house as well. My mother visited me in the Stolle house for two days in a row. Anita was there for an hour. Paul had never stopped by.
Now back to my mold free trailer. Right before Christmas there were drive by shootings in the park where we lived, we found out almost all of our neighbors where doing, dealing, growing, and cooking drugs. Needless to say we didn’t stay long after that.
March 2011, we moved again not far but out of that park. This time in an all concrete duplex. Yes there’s water damage, but at this time we’re being told the mold couldn’t be our problem and just maybe we’ll be okay, after all; it had been almost a year now, and Alix was not showing any sign of being ill. She was also not being subjected to mold at this time.
We were ready to do some catching up with trying to reboot her development, after all she’d been ill and in severe pain for so long. She was only required to concentrate on getting well and staying alive.
The first week we moved in I rushed Alix to her now homeopathic doctor so he could see she was still well. The following week like clock work she’s fallen ill once again. I call Rick Ortiz, asked him to come check this place out. Sure enough now this place has made her sick too. Not to mention we’d be leaving all our belongings again due to re-exposure.
April 2011 here we stand stuck in hotels again.
Today my Alixandrea is now 4 years old, won’t eat any food and has a developmental delay in speech among others, she endured neurological damage from this nightmare, and many other imbalances will follow.
My Dakota is going on 17 years old and is suffering tooth decay, kidney problems, and he too will have many more imbalances to come. I fear for him. I know Alixandrea is bad off, don’t get me wrong, but there is something really wrong with Dakota. We might have all been living in that moldy house, but he was living in the mold.
My husband is now 41 years old and wasn’t in the house as long as us; so he’s not so bad off. However, he was the first to get ill, so something got a hold of him.
Myself, 33 years old now, grew up with childhood asthma that hardly ever bothered me. I was burned with 1, 2, 3, and 4th degree burns when I was 4 years old. I am tough old cat with my own set of illnesses now; due to the black mold, like peripheral nerve damage, Sinusitis, fibromyalgia, and skin defects; we’re allergic to gluten now, my kids now have asthma, when they didn’t before. I have O- blood and Dakota has O+ blood and now it’s stagnated.
We’re unable to break down proteins and we have organ problems now. Just to name a few of our current symptoms, and trust me when I say these are only a few of them.
We’ve been to over 20 doctors, 3 three of them scientists; some with me on my fight against mold; some not.
We reside in a hotel now; that has no mold in our room.
Again this is due to another careless, uneducated stealthy landlord/homeowner. We are tired and over whelmed. Still hoping that for what ever reason we’re going through this; lets us move on with life.
Now, because we’re living outside the materialistic world, with no assistance and are working poor. People stare at us, wondering our situation, to scared or are not yet evolved to understand why we’re living the way we are, and are clueless about (S.B.S) let alone biotoxin poisoning. It makes it extremely hard to fit in. We run into a lot of people with negative vibrations, and are judged by everyone.
To day is Thursday, August 26, 2011. We are still in hotels.
New on Sunday September 4, 2011 I pack up my family and we get out for the day. We went to the Magic House in Kirkwood, Mo. and they too have black mold there in their ventilation system. As soon as I noticed there’s black mold, and you can clearly see it; is about the same time I start to have a reaction. I start trembling (shaking), so I go to the manager he tells me their aware of it, but do not think it is as bad as it is.
Now today Tuesday September 6, 2011. Alixandrea’s sick once again from black mold.
Questions:
How can we protect ourselves from re-exposure?
How can I undo the damage to my children, what kind of treatment do we need?
What kind of doctors do we need? What is the best way to cleanse my 4 year-old who doesn’t trust me? Thanks to antibiotics.
Most of the doctors we see don’t believe us and wont treat us.
What else do I need to proceed with a lawsuit?
What do I need to be watching out for as far as mold is concerned?
8 comments
Hi there, we are a family of 4 in the uk experiencing similar to you. we lived in our flat for 3 years and didn’t realise we were ill at the time. It was only when my partner started working away he realised his asthma cleared up. When he came back to the property he was immediately ill with runny nose and asthma attacks. We all went on holiday and realised we all felt better not being there, we came back and all felt ill, we had to get out so rented a small cotage. we own the flat that was making us ill so we kept going back to try and find out what was making us ill. We recently moved again and brought all our old furniture that was in our old flat to our new flat, imediately i was off my head, this is when we inspected the furniture and realised it was covered in mould. We had to get rid of all our furniture and most of our belongings and now we can’t even stay in the new flat even though its got none of our stuff in it. Mould is mental stuff!!! where we moved some of our mouldy stuff in our car we now think we feel ill in our car. we are now living at my mums. When we look back on our lives when we were living with the mould it sent us mad. it was like being a drug addict for 3 years feeling high as a kite all the time, i can’t hardly remember those 3 years i was so off my head. now we suffer with breathing problems, extreme tiredness and our brains are just not quite right. mould is evil and it has temporarily ruined our lives. we will soon be looking for somewhere to live and its such a worry that it will make us ill. good luck and remember your not the only one, everyone thinks were mad too!! This is a world wide problem!! : ) keep your chin up! Lisa
i’m in a few mold groups that are very helpful, join uson FACE BOOK……..Toxic Mold Supertrams. you will have to be part of this group in order to find me. thanks for reading our story, and im very sorry your enduring this nightmare w us:O(
I relate to all of this. My family is living in a home with mold. We cant afford to leave,we have nowhere to go. I am so sick, have been in hospitals over and over and drs have a hard time diagnosing me. I have “unspecified autoimmune disorder”, and fibromyalgia, and GERD and gastritis and migraines and all kinds of things.. before living in this house I had asthma in childhood but was otherwise healthy. My husband is ill, he has a sleep disorder no one can figure out and memory issues and mental fogginess. My first daughter was one when we moved here and perfect and smart and healthy. She is now 8 and starting to suffer from rheumatological and autoimmune issues, she has allergies, eczema and a lot of behavioral and sensory issues. My son was born while we lived here, he is now diagnosed on the autism spectrum. My third child was born 5 months ago, in this home. I am terrified of what its doing to her. We are all so sick. I feel like I’m going to die half the time I am SO sick. Its a nightmare. I want OUT of here. But we have no money and nowhere to go. If anyone can help me, please email at [email protected]. I will pray for your family and mine. This mold is HELL.
BLACK MOLD HAS BROKEN MY SPIRT AND TREATHENS MY WILL TO LIVE
BOISE, IDAHO
I feel for you both, I live in Boise Idaho in a brick cottage house that was built in the 1950`s or 1960`s. I was a healthy woman until I move into this house. We have now lived here for 12 years and I loved the landlord. He treated my children like grand kids and he watched over us, I felt love, and we adored him. However, time went on and I started getting sick all the time, I started itching to the point I made myself bleed, Not on purpose !!, anyway, About 10 years ago, I found this discolored color on the wall in the bathroom and went to talk to the landlord about this issue. He told me, that it was a small amount of mold and to use bleach water and scrub it down. I did just that. Well, time went on and on and it never went away, it just got bigger and bigger. I was sick all the time; I suffered memory loss, losing patches of my hair the size of a half dollar. I was angry all the time. Total personality change, depressed, and my skin has been so marked up for scratching all over that I am scared for life. Today I just learned that my house was infested with Black Mold. I turned to Ed and said you told me that it was nothing” and just use Bleach water!!! For 10 years I felt sometime on my skin, I would find little red and blue and black things on my skin. I went to the doctors, dermatologist and ER, for 11 years now. I thought it was something entirely different. My skin felt like it was crawling, and I felt a sensation of being bit by something. The doctors thought it was mites or something. I was going crazy! I mean CRAZEY. I have been to a least 8 doctors 4 skin doctors and they said I have symptoms such as stomach pains, then vomiting, our hair smelled like, we were clammy, very dry skin, we felt a closed in feeling, I wanted to just die, if this is life I do not want to live it.” I never wanted to leave my house, or get dressed, I even quit my job because I had some many anxiety attaches due, depression, a developed fears, I mean fears that I never ever had before I moved into this house. My mental health was 1 step in being committed to a mental hospital, and the funny thing is that I wanted to check into the mental hospital myself. I loosed my short term memory, scars all over my body, I am a Paralegal, and I use to have a great memory, I started to realize I could not remember things, such as forgetting to brush my hair, teeth, walking out of the house and not know where I was going or what I was doing for a few minutes. I found a doctor that said he won’t stop until he figures out what is wrong with me, I felt released, and thanked god for giving me a break. “I must tell what just happened, just now” “I forget what I what I was just doing, and why I was typing this Blog. I never write on anyone’s blogs, because I forget how to spell words because, of the long term effects I have been having.” this is just not right!! I should do something about this problem; maybe sue the landlord for suffering for the last 12 years… Living in HELL is a better chose of word, don’t you think? I have pushed my friends away because I look like a crack- head with sores all over my body. I felt no one would understand what I was going through my life with no friends; I just have my 2 children who are having reactions just like me. I am sitting here would wondering what to think of all this through and how am I going to move out of this house and I do not know if I am able to take my clothes, furniture, or belongings, because of the mold spurs. I started looking up Black Molds and the effects it can have on the human body.” I found out that all my illnesses and mental issues, and physical issues. I have done the first steps already. Now that aim trying to move and be proactive about this serious issue I must deal with the symptoms, and removed the visible Black mold, the next is to alert someone about this problem, and why do I have to suffer the effects of exposure to the Black Mold, and if the landlord will pay for my belongings to replace my 4500.00 mattress that I just gotten it. How do I find a lawyer who will sue this asshole that did not believe me when I told him something in the house is making me really sick, I never had mental illness, and physically ill? I do not have the money to replace beds, couch, clothes shoes act. I spent it all on this god damn house cleaning it and it never looks clean when I am done. I do not understand why Black Mold is so toxic to me. I feel like there is no hope or help for me. Does anyone have any solutions for me; on what to start first or what to do when it comes to my land lord (suing him) how do I get this landlord to pay for all those things? I have renters insurance, but they do not cover Mold period!!!! I am just plan pisted off the problem that caused mold growth in the first place As far as my bed goes, it my bed was heavily infected with mold. The mattresses are very porous and soak up water easily. If your mattress was soaked with water and visible mold is seen on the surface, I think it would be a safe assumption that there is a bigger mold infestation within my mattress. If someone can help me Please, Help me with my problem!!! I am so sorry, I am acting so crazy, I just had enough of this crap and I want to feel better. I want to live again, and go out and make new friends; I am tired of feeling so sad, hopeless and withdrawn.
Michele Hannah
[email protected]
Boise, Idaho 83703
I have the twitching, itchy eyes, sharp needle like pains every now and again, the runs sometimes, tight throat, late night cough and sweats – Landlords need collective punishment, no one should have to live like this!!!!
I recently bought a mobile home….its on 1 acre in the woods backing to a wildlife preserve…I dreampt about the simpler life…I fell in love with the property…
I thought I would remodel…I unleashed the devil of what I am thinking is toxic black mold….because of my symptoms…
I have been sick twice while working on the mobile home with the trademark mental fogginess…headaches…stomach pains and diareaha….the mental fogginess is what gets me….happened twice…
I was going to get the roof redone…and a new heating system put in today….
but I am not going to have the work done…
I still own the property which is nice…but am having the mobile home demolished…
It seems next to impossible to fight the toxins and mold that are so small…
The only way the mobile home would be livable would be to strip it to its frame and start over and for a mobile home it just isnt worth the money or time to do so…
I never knew anything about toxic mold…it was in the floor…I was a carpenter by trade so figured I would just cut out the mold and fix it.I did wear a respirator thank god when I did it but I guess it got through my skin and eyes as it does and I got that mind fogginess where I basically with a banging headache ran out of the place…
My heat and air guy thinks mold is a scam to make money…and wants the mobile home…but I know its not safe for even the storage he wants it for…or thats what he tells me…
He probably thinks I am some kook throwing away a nice mobile home but he has no idea so its best to have it demolished…
The symptoms toxic mold creates are so similar to other diseases or sicknesses….people need to know about the symptoms of this stuff….including the mental fogginess,migraines etc….symptoms that could be considered psychiatric…
I am surprised reading posts about staying in a toxic mold infested home…you are better off homeless on the street than in a home with toxic mold.
There is a treatment with Chlorine Dioxide I can share with you. Contact me at: [email protected]. It works. Hug
I am currently a resident in a condo unit that I rent from my landlord. I am currently in the process of obtaining estimates for someone to come take air and swab samples of a black mold that I discovered Friday night when painting the walls in the bathroom / dressing room area. It also houses the ac/heater unit in the ceiling of that room and has flooded my unit twice since I have lived here. First, by coolant. Second by water. I was also told this weekend by my friend that lives in the same building that my unit was flooded with intention by the scorned lover of the previous owner before being sold by way of flooding the bathtub. It was two days before that incident was discovered.
My dog and I have had mysterious ailments and they are getting more serious with each new woe. When researching my symptoms, “caused by a weak immune system” is always a commonality. My dog has been to the vet several times for testing to determine the cause of his constant scratching and ever-present rashes to no avail. I also plan to go this week for a health examination to determine for sure if this has been the culprit to our health’s demise. I started out with rashes, overly dry skin, at one time I thought I had shingles. My latest and most painful trauma was experiencing a plethora of anal fissures in one night. That was the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life. Though I am male, I would compare it to one fissure=one child birth.
(Side Note) The president to the building’s board association (fancy word for nosy busy-bodies) lives in the unit above me and is aware of the situation and suspect that the buildings new property managers will have the building tested soon especially after my latest discovery the next day on Saturday of the black mold blowing into my bedroom through the duct unit and now creeping itself out through the vent sides onto the walls. The backside of the frame that hung right under the vent is covered in a black and green powdery mold. This vent is on the other side of the wall where I found it in the other room. I had just spent the last five days bedridden trying to get better to now know it was the worst place for me to be.
So my main goal now is to get my unit tested for my own personal documentation and records so there is a untampered record of the results that I can put with my hospital tests before I notify my landlord or the swindler guy that lives above me. I am personal friends with my landlord, ironically, so I am aware there is home owners insurance that pays for this sort of thing, but if this shows with good possibility to be the reason for my health problems, I would like to get it done before notifying him or the insurance to protect myself. I am afraid that they will come steamrolling in and clean away the evidence. I am now trying to get checked medically but have no health insurance as I was just laid off from my job in October. So that is my story. I will update you with the results. Keep your heads up.
Thanks for your time.
Audie