Speaking of mold!

It is actually interesting that I did the mold experiment with the moldy pieces of bread considering my aversions to mold. 

 

I didn't always have such aversions to mold.  It started the 29th of December.  It actually started mid October, but I didn't know it then. 

 

Let's start in Mid October.  I started getting really sick.  My children also started getting sick.  One of the reasons we moved from TX is to escape allergens in hopes of my asthma getting better.  Our first nine months away were great.  My asthma started getting better and I didn't sneeze much at all.  I couldn't believe how nice it was to feel well.  Then came the change of seasons and everything started coming back into full force.  It started with me.  My sneezing returned but mostly my asthma held me back.  I was so bad that I couldn't walk from the kitchen to the living room without struggling.  After that short walk (15 steps) I would have to sit down and only focus on breathing.  I couldn't talk, look or focus on anything or anyone, just breathing.

 

A lot of people got after me, (because they knew that I didn't like medication) to just take it and I would feel better.  What they didn't know was that I was already on the high dose of inhaled steroids, and a rescues inhaler just to function.  And remember my function was sitting on the couch trying not to move. 

 

I went to the doctors trying to figure out what was wrong and no one could help me.  I was just getting worse and no one knew when or if I would get better. 

 

The asthma was only part of the problem.  I and the kids caught every flu, cold, stomach bug, hand food mouth disease, 5th disease, and everything else.  Cariña was the worst.  She was sick every other week with who know what.  She would get headaches, feel nauseous, and just not feel well.    She would just lay on the couch not wanting to read or watch TV.  I didn't know what to do for my little family and I felt hopeless!

 

I knew we struggled with mold but I had no idea how bad until I looked back.  For our last 6 months we were basically sleeping in a one bedroom.  We had the three oldest in one bedroom, Sam and I in the living room, and Zion in the hallway.  

 

Finally around May things started coming together. (I know I am a little slow).  But I finally realized that our health was connected to the mold.  I mean every time I turned around I was cleaning up massive mold trouble areas.  Interestingly enough, none of my mold clean up ever happened in the bathroom.  Below are just a few of my surprise mold finds.  The worst which is not pictured was black mold covering the entire bottom of my two cedar chests which connected to the wall.  The furniture was about two inches away from the wall and it was solid mold.  I also don't have a picture of the mold that was growing on a futon mattress that Helaman was sleeping on.  I had no idea.  No wonder Helaman was struggling with breathing. I also don't have pictures of our baseboards that would mold after a week after wiping them down with bleach water.  That is on Sam's phone. I also don't have the mold that was both inside and outside my cedar chest.  that is on my video camera.  But from these pictures you can get the idea of the surprise mold I would find at least every other week. 

 

 

Mold growing on the bottom of my desk.

Another angle of the mold growing

The under pad of our table topper.  It just kept coming back!!

Mold growing on my bed pieces. 

 

I could smell the mold when I would sit down on my bed.

Another board.

Pillows sitting in my cedar chest molding away.

I can't tell you how many loads of laundry I had to wash to get my blankets clean of mold. The pillows I just threw away.

A suitcase sitting inside a suitcase in the middle of a bedroom.

The inside of Cariña's dresser. 

Another view of C's drawer that shows all the mold spores inside.

We were planning on moving out at the end of June, but when I had to take all of the kids to the doctor in one week from being sick we had to leave sooner. I couldn't watch Helaman struggle for breath anymore with no answers from doctors.

  It was a hard move.  We had to take all the furniture out of house sit it in the sun to try and kill the mold.  Wipe everything down with bleach water. (That can't be good for my furniture!) Then spray it with mold inhibitor.  I had to  move the entire house within a week, between doctors visits because Sam was still was working.

No this is not a garage sale. This is us having to air out our
stuff before we packed it.   

It should have been a garage sale. Once I got here I couldn't bring myself to use the furniture again.  I am sure that sitting in a storage unit in the blazing sun in a semi dessert killed the mold but I just couldn't get over the fear.  So I got rid of it.  Oh well.

It was a hard move.  I didn't want to leave. I loved the area.  I miss my brother and his family.  I miss the schools.  I miss the ward.  I miss great friends we made there.  You would think I would get use to moving but it only seems to get harder for me.  And we still have more ahead.