Monday, July 6, 2009

Back from the Doc's

I went to the doctor today. Well, I saw a physician's assistant anyway. She told me that the effect of black mold only lasts as long as a person is in the situation and goes away when you are out of it. That the spores may stay in the lungs and cause pneumonia, but she doubts that my problems have to do with the mold. She thinks it has more to do with stress.

While I agree with the stress thing, I'm not sure what to think about the mold issue. I want to know what happens to the spores that enter your body through your lungs. Where do they go? They don't just disappear. Do they get cycled through the body and filtered out by kidneys and liver? Do they create havoc? Or do they really just not cause a problem, like I'm being told?

She did a CBC (complete blood count). The results will show if my white blood cell production is elevated, and in the results there will be a breakdown of white blood cells from bacteria and viruses. But she doubted that the body would produce white blood cells to fight off fungus, which is what mold is.

On the other hand, perhaps it *is* a virus. I feel crappy. My head hurts, my muscles are weak, my brain is foggy, and I feel dizzy. A virus would go away in 10-14 days, so perhaps I'll feel better by the Thursday before the wedding, since last Thursday was the day when my symptoms became full blown.

There is no real down time in my near future. I have to get the kids' dental work done, finish preparing for the wedding, and get ready for and attend a family reunion for 4 days.

The dental work thing is crazy! So many cavities this time to take care of! And I have to get Josh's dental work all done before he is no longer covered...so before the wedding. Josh and Jared have both had to have root canals this go round. Josh has a cavity in about every tooth. He hasn't gone to the dentist for at least 2 years because he hates going and resisted. He is regretting his choices right about now...and so am I!

Betty, tell me what you know about black mold. Why was John's friend in the hospital for a month? Is my physician's assistant wrong, and the mold really can cause other problems besides pneumonia? Is there a way to detox from it?

I'm going to go lie down for awhile..before I make dinner and get the kids ready for bed. The life of a mother has no time for sick days!

3 comments:

  1. You are right. No sick days on this job. I pray this is a virus and you will work thru it soon and not have any long-term problems from that mold.

    Build up your immune system as best you can.
    I'll pray for you.

    Joy

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  2. The black mold was in the apartment that he had rented. So he was living and breathing it in everyday!!

    I do believe his pneumonia was severe.

    So I would trust your doctor....it probably is a virus!

    I'll keep you in my prayers!!

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  3. Melody, I think you're okay to leave out the mold. Your body will just break down and eliminate most fungi - there are a few exceptions, but the body's pretty versatile.

    As for being in that horrid waste water, my in-laws basement flooded with sewer water as a result of some city errors. They CONDEMNED the entire thing and warned them that they would be removing everything in the basement - carpet, shelving, everything. They had all their food storage down there, and because it was the city's fault, they reimbursed them for it and had a hazardous waste crew come in and clean it up. But they had to stay out of the house until the waste was gone ( in a hotel) because the fumes (such as methane) can be so dangerous that it isn't a safe environment. Metal cans, thick plastic are no match for the kind of things that grow or sit and veg out in waste. Do you remember that news story a bit ago about the pig farming family? The pump in their waste pit stopped working and the dad went out to fix it. A few steps into the pit, the methane fumes overwhelmed him and he collapsed. His wife ran in after him and collapsed. Then a daughter. All three died almost instantly.

    Now, that's a big pile of muck. But you get the idea. I am APPALLED that anyone wanted you to go into that mess without knowing what it was and without proper protective gear and breathing apparatus. I will be praying for you all, but be aware that this can be like overexposure to cleaning chemicals. You may be sick and tired for a very long time as your body metabolizes and processes substances and chemicals that were never meant to be in your body. Since nothing more drastic has happened (and it would have been almost immediate - like respiratory distress or a coma or whatever), you can count yourself fortunate and thank heaven someone's watching out for you. I would immediately destroy all the items contaminated by the water and that were even in the same room with it. You can spend a lot of time keeping it around, hoping to eventually get to it all and sort through and copy the stuff that's irreplaceable, but the truth is, it's not worth the risk to your health and your family's to keep it around. I've lost everything I've owned, down to my entire family, and if there's anything I've learned it's that I can start over with no record of my past and it won't kill me. Your mother may disagree, but don't let her guilt you into scanning, cleaning, copying, and worst of all, storing contaminated paraphenalia. It's not worth the risk of picking up something worse than what you've already got. MRSA, anyone? (shudders) Please, PLEASE get rid of it!

    My diatribe is over. I really hope you get better soon! I really hope you can get rid of all that junk!

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