Re:ILIKETREES (C)

[Guest guest]

I don't know about you, but I don't have any 8 legged loved ones!! And while I

know that every creature big and small is here for a reason, I truly hope my

next life will see a parting of our ways on a permanent basis...they to the rest

of their 8 legged loved ones and me to my two and four legged ones. In the

meantime, I picture my dad playing ball with his little Snappy dog from his

youth and my beautiful Duchess from mine. I hope my little dog Java will stay

with me a while longer.

Terry

> > >> >

> > >> > Terry,

> > >> >     Could it be this fungus?

> > >> >

> > >> > Cryptococcus is a lethal fungus that has a death rate of 25% and is

spreading in western US

> > >> > 0Email

> > >> > Marci Stone

> > >> > Salt Lake City Headlines Examiner+ Subscribe

> > >> > Cryptococcus gattii is a lethal fungus that has a death rate of 25% and

is spreading in western US. Cryptococcus is a lethal strain of an airborne

fungus that was discovered in the Pacicif Northwest and now may be spreading to

California; the strain has a death rate of 25%.

> > >> > In Oregon, several people have recently died after being infected with

VGIIc genotype of Cryptococcus gattii, according to Business Week. The fungus

appears to attack healthy people with no immune system problems. It is airborne

and is not spread person to person, according to the CDC.

> > >> > " This novel fungus is worrisome because it appears to be a threat to

otherwise healthy people. Typically, we see this fungal disease associated with

transplant recipients and HIV-infected patients, but that is not what we are

seeing, " said Edmond Byrnes III a graduate student at Duke University Medical

Center.

> > >> > Symptoms can take several months to appear after being exposed to the

fungus. Symptoms include  " a cough that lasts weeks, sharp chest pain,

shortness of breath, meningitis-related headache and weight loss. In animals,

symptoms include a runny nose, breathing problems, nervous system problems and

bumps under the skin,� Business Week reported.

> > >> >

> > >> >

> > >> > ________________________________

> > >> >  From: mitesbegone <no_reply >

> > >> > bird mites

> > >> > Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 7:03 AM

> > >> > Subject: My most sincere apologies to one and all and my

prayers are with you

> > >> >

> > >> >

> > >> >  

> > >> > Hello my dear dear friends here and bird mite sufferers around the

world.  It has been an unforgivably long time since I last posted.  I know

it has been a while, but I hope you will understand and forgive me.  I did

not ever wish to be that person who was here and then gone to the bafflement and

consternation of all those who remained. 

> > >> >

> > >> > First, this group is about one of the most enduring and persevering

groups out there.  To be so afflicted by bird mites and to not only be forced

to suffer miserably, but to suffer with so little help and belief from most

non-mite sufferers is just about the most soul wrenching sorrow one can

experience.  I know this.  You know this.  And only we select few will

ever truly understand.

> > >> >

> > >> > There are many wise people here who will offer solace, words of comfort

and hope and yes even that special brand of dark humor which only we at our most

hysterical can truly manifest.  We live those cliches of " what doesn't kill

you will make you stronger " and another favorite " might as well laugh as

cry " .  And while many of us have tread that fine boundary between life and

death, not sure which one we wish for, and shed those tears of laughter which

very often mimic those tears of tragedy, it may be only in retrospect that we

can truly tell how close we have come to the tragedy of life's terrible sense of

humor, aka, the bird mite.

> > >> >

> > >> > But, life does move on.  It does not rewind for us and it does not

fast forward, it just stubbornly moves on.  And while earlier this year I

believed my life was playing out in its last chapter, I realized that perhaps,

it had not. 

> > >> >

> > >> > You see, I found you all, this incredibly brave wonderful group of

people, who first let me know I was not alone in my suffering.  That I was

not alone in this perplexing battle against nature.  From first discovering

the red bird mite on my canary to the dizzying multitudes that descended upon

me, I felt adrift in the world gone mad.  Yes, I too tried the endless round

of vacuuming, cleaning, spraying, trying first one product only to discard that

and try another.  Each week found me buying a new hope in a bottle, a new PCO

with a cure.  From deadly to organic, nothing seemed to work.  Like many

here, I started out with a compromised immune system which seemed to ring the

dinner bell for the elusive micro sized mite.  Hard to catch sight of, but

doggone hard to ignore, these mites rained down a bloody hellish mess upon me,

then my dogs, and ultimately my son. 

> > >> >

> > >> > Like many of you, I washed and ultimately threw out many of my

clothes.  Like many of you, I found there was never a safe place to

sleep.  I burned my skin from numerous applications of vicks to my face, ears

and other very tender spots.  I burned menthol until my eyes streamed. 

Some of this worked for a while, some not at all.  Why some worked for me and

not for others I do not know.

> > >> >

> > >> > Ultimately, I simply broke down and turned to two things, science and

God.  I began to study the heck out of these mites.  I took pictures with

a digital microscope, studied slides under a more powerful microscope.  I

reached out to Professors in other countries and I began a series of

communications with Biologists, Micro-Biologists, Entomologists and mold

specialists.  I left no stone unturned.  And when I found no ready answers

nor any relief, I broke down and had a spiritual crises.  I found myself one

night on the bottom of my bath tub as shower water poured down upon the red skin

I had just scrubbed for the third time that day.  I collapsed and turned

myself over completely and 100% to God.  I knew in that moment, I had nothing

left.  And while I believe truly that it was at that moment that my life

turned around, I do not say this as a solution for you, as that is, for many, as

intangible a thing as there is. 

> This was my personal

> > >> >  journey.  But I wish to explain as completely as possible.  As

many of you know, I packed up my dogs and with only a few belongings, fled to a

local hotel.  I was so sick and tired, was so seriously sleep deprived and

sick that I thought I was crawling away to die.  My little dog was seriously

ill and I worried tremendously for my son.  But after a week of vomiting up

black dots and thinking my body was never going to be rid of the disease of the

mite, I did start to get well.  And as I got well, I became very fearful. 

Does that sound weird?  I knew that I would have to face what I had run

from.  My daughter was getting married this June and was going to be a mother

as well.  I knew that I could not afford to let this beat me.  I had to

find my courage.  Several here recommended I seek out an LLMD.  I did

that.  I was told that I had Lyme disease and Bartonella, most likely my son

did as well, as did my

> little dog.   I was able to

> > >>  start

> > >> >  my dog on antibiotics and very soon, the limp she had

disappeared.  I thought she had arthritis, but low and behold, it must have

been Bart.  My doctor was very concerned about starting me on antibiotics out

of fear of herxing, but he did start me on anti-fungals.  This seemed to help

some.  But nothing could shore up my total cowardice in facing a return to

home.  You see, I had tried to come home just to pick up things from time to

time and I would no sooner open the door to my house but would be assaulted by a

choking infestation which would then take me days to get rid of. 

> > >> >

> > >> > My scientific investigation continued remotely however, and after lots

of conversations with people here and in the " normal " community, I became

convinced that mites do not simply " disappear " .  They stay and stay.  And

they will feast upon humans and canines.  I had read or heard or someone hear

told me, can't say for sure...but that some small % of the population was

somehow especially attractive to mites.  In fact, possibly even to the extent

that mites could live for some time off of humans.  While I scoffed at this

notion, it did seem to have merit.  How else to explain the years of

affliction.  But like many others here, it just did not seem to be all about

mites.  You see, there is in fact a fungus which seems to feed off of

mites.  At first I thought there was some type of symbiosis between this

fungus and mites.  But I now know that this fungus is a parasite...and to be

more exact, a mite parasite. It actually

> kills mites.  I have

> >  not

> > >> >  been able to really work on my theory to the extent I wish.  But

my theory is that there are naturally occurring fungi that will destroy the bird

mite.  This fungi has been engineered by organizations and encouraged as a

natural harbinger for mite destruction, especially targeted for crops.  I

believe this was first developed to kill a tree mite which infested certain

fruit trees.  This fungi however appears to have been disbursed without

proper bio-controls put into place.  Meaning that this fungus may kill mites,

but when the mites are gone will turn to humans, releasing pathogenic spores

into the environment.  No mite could move as quickly to torment me as an

airborne spore could.  I have collected samples of this fungus.  So for

those of us who see these black spots on our counter tops, or cough up little

dots, or blow our nose and encounter this, it is probably actually fungi.  I

have had no luck in getting any of

> this confirmed, thus

> >  it

> > >> >  remains theory.  But I can say that anti-fungals would seem to be

a natural deterrent.  And I say the anti-fungals work because of an

interesting experience.

> > >> >

> > >> > After 6 weeks of hoteling it, I returned home.  I can tell you, I

was scared stiff, terrified in fact.  But armed with science in the one hand,

and God in my right, I did come home.  And I....opened.....the......door. 

And nothing happened to me.  I immediately set to spraying my home with Lysol

complete clean using a plant sprayer.  I sprayed my kitchen, my bathroom and

my laundry room.  I drenched my bedroom.  I then washed all of my

linens.  I waited and when nothing happened, I went to bed.  And I

miraculously slept.  The next day, I repeated the script.  By the third

day, I was feeling a bit optimistic.  So, I stopped spraying.  Still all

well.  So, I got brave enough to stop washing my linens in hot water with

ammonia and borax.  Then I stopped taking a scalding hot shower every

night.  And then I just broke down and cried.  I thanked God and I cried

some more.  One week after moving

> back home, I went out and tried to take

> >  some

> > >> >  clothes out of the bags of clothes which were outside on my

balcony.  I was immediately assaulted.  Started coughing and having bloody

noses.  I was terrified that all my nightmare was to start again.  But

after a day of hacking, I returned to normal.  I went outside to where my dog

bed was and saw black moldy stuff growing on the bottom.  Before I could wash

it, my larger dog slept on it and proceeded to scratch himself raw for about 3

days.  I washed it and ever since I have kept things bagged until they were

washed carefully.  Once washed, I have never had to rewash.  I have bit by

bit regained my life.  And I saw my daughter's wedding day approach.  The

weather in Washington state is always temperamental.  But the sun had been

out for this past week.  Then on Friday before the wedding, torrential rains

started.   We had planned for an outdoor garden wedding and I was

beginning to lose hope that we

> were going to have good

> >  weather. 

> > >>  We

> > >> >  struggled through a rehearsal that soaked us all and tried to

scrounge up tents. Saturday, wedding day, began decently enough but then not

only did the rain come down hard, but thunder storms started rolling in and

sheets of rain was blowing into our tent.  We decided to persevere though it

all.  I had learned that life will move forward, with or without us.  And

as the time came for the bridesmaids and groomsmen to come out of their dressing

rooms, the rain stopped and as my daughter moved into view, the sun broke

out.  And out it stayed for the entire day. 

> > >> >

> > >> > And although I am exhausted from that event, and from the months of

mitemare...I could not sleep until I had at last posted my story to you all. 

To not give up.  That the sun will shine through the gloom.  That no

matter what you put your faith in, do not lose it. 

> > >> >

> > >> > I have not started on antibiotics yet, but I am not scratching.  I

am sleeping good in my bed.  I have not thrown out my furniture, nor have I

moved, nor have I pulled up carpet.  I know that there is a power greater

than my own at play here.  I choose to keep fighting.  I hope you all

choose to keep fighting.  But stay in your home or leave it. No matter. 

But... Believe in yourself.  Believe in this group.  And I will keep

fighting for you in every way that I can.  I am sorry it has taken me so long

to regain communication.  But I have not let one day pass that I have not

thought of you or not prayed for you.  I know this story is long and not

filled with as many facts as I would like it to be.  But I hope I filled it

with....hope.

> > >> >

> > >> > Stay strong!  Terry

> > >> >

> > >>

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