How it all began:

From my other blog, posted November 2006

I haven't been home in over a week. Neither have Raphael, Myron, or Gabriel. Ryan is only there for a couple hours a day, but does not sleep there.

Our house is very sick. Very sick indeed.

I remember the building inspector coming before we bought the house and looking everything over. I already hated the bathroom, but I had some kind of hope that the sellers would have to make it nicer for us. When he was done looking over the bathroom, I recall asking him how bad it was. And he just said it was cosmetically bad. Now I sometimes think, if only I'd had the guts to ask for mold testing.

Last fall I became very sick without explanation. I could not breathe without fresh air, so I slept in front of the drafty storm door every night. My mom and dad came in late October to help care for me for eight days because I was so debilitated. I could not eat; I vomited daily; I slept very little, because any time I lay down I would shake uncontrollably; I coughed constantly and felt like there was never enough air. The unspoken but apparent conclusion of the doctor was that I was nuts. Basic bloodwork looked normal. But I was actually being poisoned.

Yesterday we got the report from the mold inspector. Our top species of mold is Stachybotrys, AKA "toxic black". Some of my other symptoms were just plain strange. I didn't want to eat at home, and when I did eat at home, I could only do it without choking if I sat outside, no matter how cold it was. I also hated the bed. I only wanted to sleep in the living room, either by the door or just on the floor. I managed to recover somewhat in the wintertime on an incorrect but slightly helpful homeopathic remedy. Then in the spring it all hit again even worse and I had to go with my kids to live with my parents in Rochester, NY.

That's the background to our story... or the beginning of it.

Avoiding mold during construction

Mold-free model home

This is an interesting lead.

Mold grows on wood products when exposed to enough moisture, but many common building practices lead to moisture entering the building in a variety of ways. The paper that lines the drywall makes it a very likely mold site if there is enough moisture (as often there is). So what if it's a few extra bucks to spring for the paper-free drywall? The extra safety can make a big difference down the road.

Your body can tell you about deficiencies

Have a look at this write-up of taste tests drawn from work by Dr. Lendon Smith. Our cravings can tell us when we need more of something, and just as easily when we don't. We've had great results with the tests on this page. There are tests described in detail for:

• Sodium
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Calcium
• Acids

All this with the details of how the deficiencies affect us. Warms our hearts.