Re: A fungus among us

[Guest guest]

Kate, I am so very sorry to read your story. My advice is to get out of the

house as soon as possible because the longer you stay the worse it will get.

Then get a copy of Dr. Shoemaker's book Mold Warriors to read. Also look

at his website _www.biotoxin.info_ (http://www.biotoxin.info) to learn all

you can so you will be prepared to have facts when you go to the Dr. in

Boston. Do your homework before you go!

Sue

[Guest guest]

Oh my god Kate. Your story made me want to cry. Find a lawyer in

Boston that will work on a contingint bases, counter sue and take it

ALL the way to a jury!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also have

small children that were exposed, not in our house but in an RV we

bought, and I know how much this can make your head spin...there

aren't any clear answers, only that what happened is NOT just.

Please feel free to email me if you just want to talk. I'm a 32 year

old mom of 6 in California.

Adrean

--- In , " Ask 4 Pic " <hazeleyes_19f@...>

wrote:

>

> Any one who has some input on this please help.(I appologize if

dates

> dont seem right, my mind is not remembering that far back anymore)

My

> family and I(2 adults and a 6yr old and 19mth old) have lived in a

> house we have rented for 4 years. We have never been late on rent,

> always had good relations with the landlord(family friend since

> before I was born). In the summer of 05(first year we moved in)the

> hot water tank in the finished basement went, pouring water into

the

> walls and carpet for WEEKS. The landlord finally replaced the tank

> after almost 2 weeks. It was our responsiblity to wet vac the water

> that would continuously soak through the carpet. He never bothered

to

> rip out the carpet or sheetrock. I did my best to vac all the

water,

> but it just saturated the carpet. I got pregnant in March of 06 and

> had a miscarriage at 9 weeks in may of 06. I got pregnant again in

> June of 06. The furnace then went the winter of 06. It again spewed

> water throughout the basement, into the carpet and walls again. I

> again was left to clean that, very pregnant and very tired. My

> daughter had become sick many times that winter and was diagnosed

> with Asthma, eczema and sinus/upper resp. infections. She also

> complained of her L leg hurting and would wake me up crying over

it.

> She ended up with the " stomach bug " more times then I can count

with

> the nasuea and vomiting, diarreha and not wanting to eat for days

at

> a time. The landlord took over a month this time to fix it(we had

a

> space heater for 6 weeks because of no heat). The carpet and

> sheetrock still sat. All along while this is happening, the roof on

> the house was leaking. It created black mold on the bathroom

celeing

> and my daughters ceiling because they are back to back. I kilzed

the

> bathroom 3 times on top of bleaching it. Same with my daughters

room.

> In Nov of 07 I filed a report with the board of health complaining

of

> mold growing. The came out and inspected and sent him a compliance

> letter. He has YET to comply with that original letter. He in turn

> was found out to not have this house registerd as a rental

property.

> The mold started on the sheetrock behind the tanks, and grew to a

> lovely green/black slime that COVERED the walls. My laundry is down

> there so of course not knowing I would bring the kids down to do

> laundry with me. My son was born healthy in march 07. Shortly after

> he was born we starting have problems with his formula and had to

> change him to soy because he would constantly cry, be very

aggitated

> and wake up numerous times at night crying for no reason(wasnt the

> usual hungry, wet cry, was a pain cry). Dr said that I needed to

not

> be so fast to respond to him and that he was fine and needed to

learn

> to cry??? Needless to say, he started getting sick. He was

diagnosed

> with Asthma at 9 months old, and then the respitory illnesses

> started. They were both in the Pediatric Dept of the hospital over

a

> handful of times each, and always diagnosed with respitory

> infections, ear infections or the " bug " . My sons nose would run out

> of nowhere and they both were put on nebulizers which did nothing

for

> them. I continued to complain for my daughters pain and weakness

and

> was told it was growing pains. A mother knows her child..that was

NOT

> the problem and I knew it. As for us adults the symptoms were the

> same, sinus infections, respitory, headaches, nausea, IBS, loss of

> appitie, hair loss, weight loss, depression, severe mood changes,

> irritability. My daughter has to have an IEP plan in her school

> becuase she cant sit still long enough to finish her work or focus

in

> school. My son has extreme outburts out of nowhere. I was recently

> diagnosed with Fibromyalgia at 28yrs old. I laughed at the Dr and

> said I was WAY to young to have that. She put me on meds to control

> the body aches and muscle spasms that I was having. After that I

> started to investigate more. We held back rent from the landlord

and

> again I filed another complaint with the board of health. They said

> to me that it was my burden to prove mold because if they couldnt

see

> it, it wasnt something they could sight him on. I hired Nauset

> Enviormental to come out and test my house. In my daughters room

> alone the settled spore count was 2,700 and the disturbed was over

> 23,000. It tested positive for Penicillum and Aspergillious(sorry

> about the spelling). That was an air test only in a room that the

> door stays closed all day and night.(Little one not allowed in

> there). The wall cavity samples are not back from the lab yet but

Im

> scared to see what they are. The sad thing is that the basement is

> what smells like mold, and where the slimy stuff was growing and

> upstairs is testing that high. My landlord has hired a lawyer and

is

> suing me for back rent and " damages " saying I live in a dump???

WTF.

> As of right now, my children have to go to Childrens hospital in

> Boston and see an enviormental specialist and also an allegry and

> asthma specialist. I have had a mold antibody test done that has

> taken over a week to get the results(still dont have them). So

thats

> the story so far, my questions are as follows: What documents do I

> need to prove in court that he was negligent and caused us to

become

> sick. What direction should I go with testing family? What type of

> lawyer should I hire to help me? What do I do with all my

belongings

> in the house(3 bedroom house full of stuff)? Any other info would

be

> wonderful! I am in despair and want to just give up but I dont want

> the landlord to have the satisfaction of being done with me and not

> having to fix what he has allowed to happen. I am very bitter as

> someone put it and am at a dead end and dont know which way to

turn.

> My mind cant concentrate and remembering what happend yesterday is

a

> challenge. I am sorry this is so long and hope that out of it comes

> some advice that I can take and run with. Thanks again everyone for

> reading this. Kate in MA

>