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?