Mold, Madness, or Misdiagnosis?

In the beginning...

When Christmases were merry and the chair was pink...


Who knew what lay beneath the floor where he stands?






A slow toilet seepage took a trail from the bathroom to the outer wall of his closet,
saturating joist beneath the floor and studs in the unfinished laundry room below.
After extensive cleanup in 1997/1998 and remodeling of problem bathroom, all did not
end well. Symptoms continued. In December 1999, an indoor air quality company from
Northern Virginia, was called in to see if mold was still a problem within our home.
After an extensive tour of property and home, I was asked what I intended to do if
there was mold. I told the gentleman there was no lawsuit to be had; the home was
approximately 15 years old, and my son and I were so ill, I just wanted to get out.
He decided to take one Anderson air sample of the downstairs (not our problem area)
and a culturette smear of the coils in the heating/cooling unit (which had been cleaned
two weeks earlier by a workman looking for a refrigerant leak). We received the firm's
report 12/20/99 with Anderson sample showing Geotrichum Clavatum and culturette revealed
Sporobolomyces Salmonicolor. We were told we had a pinpoint leak behind the paneling
downstairs. (Later, after heavy rains, we pulled our downstairs paneling to look for
our supposed leak. All was dry. No leak.) Shortly thereafter, we found that water was
leaking through the sliding glass door in the dining room upstairs. We called the
company to inform them we had found water incursion. The gentleman complained that it
was too far for him to drive and that he would mail culturettes at $200 apiece for us
to take samples and mail back to them. Right after the evaluation, I took these
pictures of our carpet and what they had seen:







(YEAST, RIGHT!!)


I was displeased with the company. I gathered carpet fibers from both upstairs
and downstairs and wood shavings from dining room floor and sent them to a
microbiologist out of state for evaluation. His February 2000 report found:
Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus Ocraceus; Alternaria alternata; Mucor fragilis;
Epicoccum purpurascens; Trichoderma viride; and Rhodotorula glutinis.

Everyday thereafter, I found ways to make living in a sick home more bearable.
We kept Marcus away from the house as much as possible on weekends and after school.
Finally, by October 2000, the house was almost unbearable for Marcus and me, and I
decided to rip up the tile in the previously treated bathroom, and it was obvious
that all attempts to correct the problems in 1997/8 had failed.








Upon finding this mess, I called the company very upset. The gentleman would not
speak to me, and had a receptionist call and explain that he had a hearing problem
and that I was to tell her my complaints and she would inform him as we spoke. I
carried on for awhile, and we were interrupted apparently by her baby's crying, and she
apologized for the interruption. Was she at home with the gentleman and her baby? Or
was the baby at the office? They sent someone out who was no help. He just monitored
the air and told us to take samples to a university for analysis to save money.
Unfortunately, I was due to have major surgery, so my husband and I once again bleached
all contaminated areas and caulked tub and enclosure and replaced the toilet with a new one.
Before bleaching, I did collect a few samples, including a piece of trim behind toilet and
quarter inch flooring as well as a small piece of carpet. We purchased new quarter inch
flooring for the dining room, kitchen and bathroom, and retiled those areas.

After surgery, I spoke with Marcus' pediatrician and told him what I had found. I asked
if he could have some of the samples tested. He said yes, to bring them in, and he would
send them to a medical laboratory. I told him that these samples did not include the
"bad stuff," as these materials had recently been treated with bleach. Later, he called
with the testing results and informed me that my little samples had contaminated his office
much to the nurses' dismay. Findings revealed 4,200,000 colony forming units per gram/90-99%
of Aspergillus species (not niger). The problem did not end here.


Remember the pink chair from above?


The garage is the final resting place for our contaminated sofa:



After finding sick bedroom and bathroom in 1997, we found numerous other areas of water
incursion and have spent thousands of dollars in an effort to correct these problems.
Seemingly, all attempts were successful, yet the bathroom was and remains the epicenter
of our distress.

January 2002
Yeast, I assume would indicate a moisture problem, and due to the quantity in our home,
we must have a moisture problem somewhere. Marcus and I were suffering from headaches,
dizziness, lack of concentration and nausea this fall, so once again I started checking
for mold, and sure enough, it was back in bathroom and kitchen (this is the visible mold,
I am sure there is plenty that cannot be seen all over this house). This was after I took
Marcus to his pediatrician with complaints of lingering sore throat and congestion, but
no infection was found. We pulled the tile and quarter inch in the bathroom, and I
applied plastic after bleaching the floor. Bleached the kitchen area and pulled tiles
along the cabinets and sink areas. I will not replace any of the flooring until I have
answers, once and for all.








I decided I would send items to a lab to reveal what molds are growing on the furniture
and carpet and in the bathroom and kitchen areas. The quarter inch tape lift from
bathroom revealed Aspergillus/penicillium. I decided since the bathroom's smell was
noxious and not like any of the other molds in the house, I would continue to try to
find out what is harboring within its walls. I smell the same smell downstairs in
certain areas and upstairs in a closet. I sent another tape lift, this time with wood
fragments from within the wall. I was surprised when the lab revealed stachybotrys and
informed me to call in experts for air testing.

Remediation Company
A gentleman visited our home on January 7, 2002. His moisture gauge revealed moisture
near the tub area only. I let him view photos taken at various times and made him
aware that my son has had symptoms since 1996, and an illness has yet to be found.
He said we do not have a mold problem, but if so desired we could call in an industrial
hygienist to sample air. I asked him if we do not have a moisture problem, why then
does mold continue to grow on our carpets and furniture. He said that the stains were
apparently spills (I did not bother to tell him that I had the so-called stains analyzed
in 2/00, and they were not 'just spills'). As he left he said that he thought we had a
yeast problem.

There is something in this home making Marcus and me ill. Maybe not mold, but obviously
mold IS a problem.

January 9 2002 Industrial Hygienist
The hygienist's moisture gauge revealed same findings as gentleman the day before.
He told me that WE DO NOT have a mold problem because when he walked in the door, he
did not smell mold (maybe he smelled the ham I was baking). I did admit that this time
of year with the heat running, the mold growth is inhibited somewhat. He informed me
that he felt that there was no need for air testing and that he would charge me his
flat fee of $300.00 as opposed to $900.00 discussed via phone conversation the day
before. I told him that stachybotrys had been identified in the bathroom area, and
he said every home has stachybotrys. He told me that if we suffer through a hurricane
or something of that nature, he'd be glad to come back and test it at that time, but
would have to charge me his flat fee of $300.00 once again. I asked could he only test
the problem areas, and he said no that full scale testing throughout the house or
nothing at all. I asked him about an underlying 'sewer smell', and he said water can
cause this odor. No mold problem and we were informed by him we could go ahead and sell
the house, probably best to do so in the wintertime. As he left, he said he thinks we
have a yeast problem.

I know that my home makes my son and me ill. Genetic predispositioning, I don't know.
I do know that he is now very sensitive to all molds and mold containing foods as well
as certain chemicals. I cannot simply relocate him, due to these sensitivities. "Paper
Houses" -homes built beginning in the mid seventies. Most of them are thrown together
in places where they should not be placed, by less than concerned contractors. Poor
workmanship and low quality building materials, and one can only wonder how many other
folks like us are suffering with vague and/or debilitating symptoms, and being
overmedicated with antibiotics and/or allergy drugs they do not need.

Marcus' story is a sad one, as he has suffered excruciating pain and many other
devastating symptoms. I will refer to my medical diary and write his story one day,
describing his symptoms in his own words, beginning at age six; he is now eleven.
Through all of this, he has never once given up, and complained only about having to go
to doctors who don't help him. He remains happy, and I admire him.

As of mid-January, yet another plumber had been called in to discuss the possibility of
sewer problems. By the way, All God's Children have Yeast.


Mold or not? What do you think?
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