my story to Marcie

[Guest guest]

Hi Marcie,

This is my story. Pass it on to the lawmakers.

You may want to take my name out before posting it to everyone.

To Whom it may Concern

My name is Howerin, and I live in Tarboro, North Carolina. I am

a wife and mother, have a degree in business administration, and

worked as an office manager. Our area was flooded by Hurricane

Floyd. Although my home was not flooded, the office at Pretty Good

Sand Co. where I worked was. After the flood our office was never

properly cleaned or repaired. There was continually standing water

under the building. There was no inspection of the property except

for the electrical service. We went back to work immediately because

sand was essential in rebuilding after the flood.

I began to have flu like symptoms. I had problems with my vision,

and I had eye surgery. My blood pressure would rise and fall for no

apparent reason. I had headaches, dizzy spells, tremors, breathing

problems, pain in my joints, severe asthma, problems with my liver

panel, and various other symptoms. I noticed a radical change in my

ability to think and I made mistakes in my work. I had problems with

my memory. I was tired all the time and had virtually no life.

I won't bore you with the many doctors that I saw or the treatments

that didn't work or the methods used to determine that I was

suffering from mold exposure or the humiliation that I went thru

because no one believed me. I did a lot of research. I called

local health officials, state officials, the Dept. of Labor,

insurance companies, and environmental officials, only to be told

that there was nothing they could do and there was no regulation

about mold in the workplace. All of my medical claims were turned

down by Workers Comp. In desperation, in July, 2004, I left the

office and began work from home for a drastic cut in pay. My health

is improving slowly.

I firmly believe there should be regulations for working and living

in buildings that have mold. I believe there should be research on

the effects of mold on humans so they can be properly treated for

this illness..

Thank you for your time,

Sincerely,

Howerin

401 E. Hope Lodge Street

Tarboro, NC 27886

(252)823-2156