The Slow Progression of Long-Term Mold Exposure

So I have somewhat touched on this topic previously. But the end of the day, the Chronic Inflammation Response Syndrome I’ve been experiencing since 2017, more towards the beginning of Fall. This was where we both were exposed to toxic mold for at least 6 years, between both apartments at Parc.

This was also a familiar feeling we had from 2011-2013 when we lived in Lisle, IL. The mold exposure most likely started in the summer of 2012, when they had our roof exposed as they were replacing it. Maybe a total of a years worth of exposure.

The strange rashes. The weird acne. Sinus issues. Just weird unexplainable symptoms. Which quickly went away when we moved to a completely new place. the sinus issues didn’t seem to go away for me at all, but the rest slowly went away.

But it’s all the same stuff. 7 years is a long term exposure vs 1 year, but being exposed to any kind of mold can cause a myriad of issues, not to under play any length of exposure.

In terms of exposure, there are 3 distinct stages the human body does go through, those being:

Stage 1:

The first stage of mycotoxin exposure can cause changes in the respiratory and immune systems, brain, mucus membranes, and even the gastrointestinal tract. Some symptoms may include burning sensations in the mouth, tongue, esophagus, throat, palate, and stomach can occur with exposure. Some other symptoms could include moist areas of your body like armpits and belt line. Patients have also reported burning within the eyes, ears, and nose. This stage’s symptoms are very uncomfortable or painful for patients. As the exposure and poisoning continue toward stage two, the sufferers could become accustomed to the presence of mycotoxins and have a period of dormancy in their symptoms. Depending on the levels of exposure, the first stage may last from three to nine days.

Stage 2:

Stage two is often called the latent stage or incubation period. During this stage, the patient feels apprehensive but is capable of normal activity at the beginning of this stage. With this stage, every organ in the body is affected by degeneration and necrosis with continued exposure to mold. While the symptoms are not the same for everyone, some people may experience disturbances in their central and autonomic nervous systems resulting in headaches, depression, loss of problem-solving abilities and short-term memory, fatigue, vertigo, loss of balance and speech, temperature control, and numbness to certain body areas. As poisoning continues, spinal cord degeneration may also occur.

Stage 3:

Stage three occurs when exposure to mycotoxins continue. The transition from stage two to three is quite sudden and can leave the patient’s resistance depleted. In this stage, vital organs and systems in the body can be damaged. The first sign of this stage is a heart attack, brain failure, and lung failure. These severe symptoms can be accompanied by a petechial hemorrhage, a tiny pinpoint-sized red mark on the skin. The patient could also suffer from aneurysms; hemorrhages on the mucous membranes of the mouth, tongue, and tonsils; and interstitial thickening or scarring of the lungs.

Going back to IL, when we lived in Lisle. We were exposed to mold for about a year. Between what was already there, and the mold growth that started the year before we left. It slowly started to impact us both. Anies hair was starting to fall out. I started to get unexplained rashes. My childhood asthma came back. Finally, the sinus infections, and chronic illnesses became more prevalent.

When we moved to a new place, the damage was done. Again, both of is had no idea what mold could do. My teeth/mouth continued to have issues. My allergies hit an all-time high. The frequency of my illnesses overall seemed to slow down, but they were more “intense”. Then began the strange blackout spells. I had 2.

1 minute I’m fine, boom. I wake up on the floor not knowing what had happened. Thankfully it happened at home.

As we moved to Denver, our first apartment had water issues in the shower. 3 months before we moved out, upstairs had a leak and the entire ceiling above the shower collapsed. Repairs were done, but at that point, we were already looking for a new place to live. Christmas of 2016, I blacked out over the toilet. I went down hard chest first into the toilet. I’m pretty sure at this point it’s the tumor starting to put pressure places that was causing this, along with the infection in my ear.

Again. I ignored the signs. We just need to get out of that place, to never look back. 2017 was rough. Comcast wanted me to move to Philly, Charter was hiring. We literally just moved, I’m not moving again. Across the states.

Near the end of 2017, that’s when I was out of energy. I was running on empty. But this was when all the familiar symptoms started to happen. My face on the left side was super swollen. Whatever infection that was rolling through me was clearly starting to win.

I get a call from my sister saying my Father is in the ICU. I’m the only family member to go see him. My sister at the time was immunocompromised due to cancer treatments, but also, so was I.

After the 3rd day in MN, I started to feel extremely sick. I’ve never felt this way before. As I drove to MN, I was squeezing the “acne” from my face. But that’s when I noticed I got a lot out, at the same time however, the foulest taste hit my mouth.

Great.

I left shortly after. On the drive back, I started to feel much worse.

I woke up feeling the sickest I’d ever been. My fave was hurting. The whole left side of my face was just raw. By the next day however, I was starting to forget important things. Like where my car is parked. Which floor do I work on.

The next day I woke up, fever blaring. My body just warning me that something was extremely not right. I started researching what it could have been in the acne. I started calling a few infectious disease places, but with out a positive culture, and a referral, I wasn’t going to be seen.

The swelling by the end of the day was getting much worse. So I called Anies and told her that I gotta go in. Something isn’t right. My anxiety is already maxed out. My heart continuously speeding up / slowing down. what triggered the ER visit, was from the left side of my face I could feel something burrowing its way through my face. It was so painful. Right before I left, the pus started to come out of the left side of my lip. It wouldn’t stop coming out. I knew this wasn’t normal. So I grabbed my keys, called Anies, and headed for the ER.

They immediately started me on antibiotics. I was septic. Between the swallowing problems, the crap under my tongue, and the whole left side of my face being swollen. This was admission #1. Spent 3 days at Swedish Medical Center.

Diagnosis was cellulitis on the face. As I walked out, I still didn’t feel right, but at this point, all I wanted to do was go home.

I woke up the next morning at home to more pus pushing out of my left earlobe. I knew this wasn’t over. The entire left side of my face felt like fire ants were biting me constantly. The cysts grew deeper and deeper. More pus daily.

I think I only lasted maybe a week, and boom, back to Swedish ER. I wasn’t happy that I was back again. I was miserable just like before. So the sent me down for an MRI and a CT scan. Yup. Septic again. All could do is just wait to see what it showed at this point. It was also at this same time, that rashes started to break out all over every body part.

The odd part about this stay, they didn’t comment much about he MRI or the CT. The whole stay at the hospital was just … off.

The cysts continued to come. Flare back up. So I wasn’t able to get into Schleve for 2 months, so I found another dermo willing to take them out. I had to wait 2 weeks, but the different part that’s starting to happen, were rashes. They were everywhere.

These rashes kept coming. And come and coming. Just out of nowhere. Sarid put me on topical steroids, but they just temporarily stopped the burning. It would just come back.

The cysts on my face were getting uncomfortable, so I had them all removed. 13 of them.

Of course, this kicked off one of the worst septic episodes of my life.

Of course this was just the beginning of the constant gaslighting I would get from doctors. I spent most of the summer/fall of 2018 just constantly sick. The common theme here (which I was too blind to at the time), was the toxic black mold I was surrounded by. When I would leave the apartment for my “vacations” at the hospitals, I would improve.

To just simply decline when I returned. The water damage at this point in the first apartment was consistent. Every 2-3 weeks it was something else. Water coming down from the neighbor constantly. “Maintenance” was always in our unit. Whether it was weather coming down through the walls of our upstairs neighbors kitchen, bathroom. You name it, water was always there. This just make the rashes worse.

This was found under our kitchen sink. I had a feeling something in that apartment was causing all my problems, but couldn’t find anything. But one day, Anies was deep cleaning the apartment, and found this. Of course the property did the minimum, just used killz paint over it.

As we started to look through the apartment, the utility room was full of it too. All the drywall was rotted. When the old neighbors water heater exploded,

After my implant debacle, things just went into overdrive. There’s definitely an allergic component to this. So Sarid ordered a full dermatological skin test. This is where they place small amounts of known allergens on your skin, and they stay on for about 5 days. Only crappy part, is you can’t shower while they are on. I had the tests placed on Friday, they covered my entire back. By day 2, I wanted to rip them off. I was reacting to something.

By the following Wednesday I just wanted them off. Sure enough, I was hyper reactive to gold, cobalt, and perfume. When the cobalt was found, I immediately started researching the abutments used for my implants, and wouldn’t know know it, they are full of cobalt.

I spent the next 3 months convincing the idiot who put my implants in, to take them all out. Leave the implants, but remove the abutments. Yeah. I’m gonna go toothless, but at the same time, I needed to start taking action.

After they were removed, things felt better. I didn’t feel like my mouth was on fire as much as it was. But something still wasn’t right. After the abutments were removed, my old friend came back.

HSV.

It began to run across my face and jaw. At the same time, I started to lose feeling in my right arm. Something wasn’t right. My right arm from my shoulder to my elbow started to swell up like I was lifting weights. I was so tired at this point. Between the allergic reactions, the swelling, and the HSV, I don’t know what was worse.

I started getting strange heart palpitations, but ones where I would climb a simple flight of stairs, and I was out of breath. Some jeep parts came, and I was working in the garage. It was extremely hot out. I started seeing stars. Like a meteor shower. I got extremely light headed. I just dropped everything I was doing, and drove home slowly.

Getting up the stairs was the worst challenge ever. I couldn’t breathe. I felt weak as hell. I made it to the couch and just slept it off.

I woke up, and immediately my right arm hurt. It felt like I had dislocated it. I was sweating constantly. That’s when it dawned on me. All the symptoms. The swelling legs, arms. What my head feels like.

I’ve got a clot. Great. Next week was surgery to remove my implants since the strange feelings in my mouth continued. I went to work that night. Was teaching my IPv6 class. And wham. It all hit me. I started to get extremely light headed. The meteor shower almost became blinding.

I sat down and finished the remaining of the class. Gathered myself, and called Anies. Told her what’s going on, and that I gotta go to the ER. Something isn’t right. I drove to Swedish. at this point my right arm is severely swollen, hot, and weak.

I was immediately seen. My heart rate and blood pressure were through the roof. My lactate was extremely high. My right leg was also super swollen.

The sonographer came in, put the jelly on my right arm, no more than 30 seconds into the exam his eyes got wider and wider. By a minute in, he got up off of the chair with an “oh fuck” expression on his face and said “I’ll be back”. Shortly after I heard on the intercom cardiac alert for my room number. Soon after that the door went open followed by about 10 people. The head attending Dr, 2 doctors, 2 PA’s, the sonographer, and 4 nurses. Impending doom came over me. As the sonographer resumed his exam with all 3 doctors conferring, the nurses and PA’s were in a mad scramble to get 3 IV’s into me. Heparin was the first thing, then fentanyl. This is where things get a bit fuzzy.

I can only recall a limited amount of things after they pushed a ton of heparin in me, the fentanyl, and most likely, a ton of ketamine, and versed. They then helped get all my clothes off, gown on, cap on. That’s when I realized that this is serious. I was told I was going to interventional radiology to surgery. As they pushed me through the doors the panic started to set in. I told them, and was immediately hit with more versed and fentanyl. I don’t remember the first procedure, but all I remember is having a coat hanger stuck in my right arm. The surgeon leaned over and told me I did great. I had no idea what the fuck was going on.

I had a clot that stretched between all veins in my right arm. It went from my elbow, all the way to my supena cava (entrance to the heart). As I sat in the ICU, I had a nervous breakdown. I couldn’t believe this was what was happening. I called Anies crying and told her what happened. She came to the hospital immediately. I was scared. I was in the ICU, surrounded by COVID patients on respirators. Patients in rooms with a negative pressure. Serious shit. One of the worst places you could put an immunocompromised patient.

Anies brought my SCIg, and everything needed to administer it. The charge nurse was super cool with it. But the overnight nurse threw a shit fit. I needed to get it in me. However having a coat hanger in my right arm, I couldn’t even draw back a syringe. Let alone pierce the vials. I put my call light on, she came in, and went nuclear. While she was refusing to perform these simple tasks, I complained to the charge nurse. That specific nurse was no longer allowed in my room. The charge nurse ended up helping me get it done.

The next day, was surgery round #2.