Re: Let my father's death save YOUR life

[Guest guest]

Joe, I am so very sorry and saddened to hear about your father's death. I

know exactly how you feel about warning others and their failure to listen. My

school didn't listen so another young teacher is very sick(confirmed from

mold) as well as others who choose to not believe. I was able to reach some

parents but most stayed, the school is still open and one of the janitors was

hospitalized for a week with a very high fever but Drs. could find nothing. He

went home and the next morning he died, ER says of a heart attack. Another

has multi health issues, goes from Dr. to Dr. getting treatment for all his

aliments including migraines, kidney & heart problems, rashes, joint pain,

etc. Refusing to believe it is from the building so there is no help for

them. My biggest fear is for the children who depend on the adults to take care

of them. I am scared to death that they will be sick if they aren't already.

5years ago I saw many of the symptoms( 2 kids in my class had lumps in their

lymph nodes) but no one wanted to listen.

If they would only try to understand people would not have to suffer. It is

so very frustrating itt makes me want to scream and most of all it is

hurtful when people don't want to listen. I, too, have family members that just

don't want to believe me.

Again, Joe, I am very sorry that you lost your father. My father died when I

was just 16 ..It is extremely difficult to lose a parent no matter our age. I

hope you find comfort knowing that you have friends that care and that your

many good memories will help you. I have wonderful memories and lots of

pictures that comfort me even after 40 yrs!!

With love your friend always,

Sue

[Guest guest]

Joe,

Our deepest and heart felt sympathy to you and your family at this

time. If others can learn from this than his passing will not be in

vain and help to ease your pain somewhat.

Sincerely,

KC & Sharon C.

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> My father died this past Saturday from direct and indirect

consequences of exposure to mold and mycotoxins. He was 92 years

old. My mourning and emotional pain are a thousand times more

intense than my brother's, or anyone else. Because I am the only one

who recognizes that my father's failure to heed my warnings, four

years ago, in essence turns his needless death into an act of

unintentional suicide.

>  

> By the time my father acted on my warning, he had already

experienced a two year long exposure to mold and mycotoxins, in a

car that we had both been using. My exposure, in that car, had

lasted only two months, until I figured out that the car was killing

both of us. My father never acknowledged the existence of mold or

mycotoxins, but, after two years of exposure, finally bought a new

car, that he planned to drive until he was 100 years old. He would

have done that, if the two years of mold and mycotoxin exposure, in

the old car, had not already begun the destruction of his health,

which eventually led to his death.

>  

> I mourn for my father. But I also mourn for the many Sickbuildings

board members, who, with the benefit of the knowledge that we are

ALL getting from this board, still feel that they should continue

their struggle for health, WHILE CONTINUING TO LIVE OR WORK IN THEIR

MOLDY ENVIRONMENT.

>  

> I have a dear friend, on this board, with whom I had to stop

emailing, over a year ago (you know who you are), because I could

not emotionally bear to " talk " with a person who, I felt, was

committing suicide, by continuing to live in a moldy home.

>  

> I beg and plead with all such board members, who I have come to

know and love, through reading their postings.  PLEASE, PLEASE,

PLEASE, get out of your moldy environment. Let my father's death

save YOUR life.

>  

> Love to all.

> Joe

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you Joe.

92 is a very good lifespan, though, I mean, he lived longer than

Newman, whose cigarette smoking earlier in life probably did him

in...and nobody can figure out everything and do everything

right...perhaps you can forgive your father for his mistakes...we all

make these mistakes of judgment, and we never know exactly how serious

the consequences will be.

I hope I will be able to move relatively soon. Ive put the wheels in

motion but I don't know how long the process will be here or whether

it will work out. However, I actually don't think my place is

unusually moldy and that's what worries me. In spite of all the leaks

I had during the demolition, I always aired them out to excess, I even

had them drill holes in my livingroom wall where it got a leak by

passive diffusion (from the apartment next door). I'd leave things

open for a month or two until dry as a crisp. There IS mold in my

place, I'm sure, but...how much? Enough to bother me, but...

In the last 2 months I've been in three much moldier environments: my

friend's home in Sag Harbor which was totally moldy so I slept on the

rooftop deck in the treetops(and the family that tried to rent it in

September spent 2 weeks trying to clean it up because of the mold

problems then gave up); a therapist's office in Carnegie Mews where I

could smell it the moment I walked in and my mouth was burning and

skin prickling the whole time; and a one bedroom apartment in a house,

in Nyack, that I looked at, and basically walked in and out because of

the mold.

So I fear mold is in many places and it worries me about moving. You

say you can walk into a place and know, but I'm not that keen, I wish

I were. Yes, I can tell if its obvious, certainly, but subtler mold

issues i might not. And Petrison says stachy doesn't even smell,

anyway. If I were to walk into my place now as a newcomer to " rent "

it, with the fans going and the floors always washed down and no

upholstery at all except one small couch, I would think I'd found a

safe place.

Moreover, leaks are common in most dwellings sooner or later. I'm sure

leaks were the source of mold in the above 3 places. My bf's bathroom

just had a MAJOR leak--which at first he sort of noticed and ignored

for a few weeks (I was very upset when I found out he'd sort of

ignored it, after all I've taught him about mold) and then yesterday

it got bad. The super opened up a 2 foot by 8 foot hole in the

ceiling, which is good, and spent the day repairing the pipes and is

in the process of replacing some wood slats that got very wet. Since

the hole is in my bf's bathroom ceiling he can control when it gets

closed up, which is good--it's airing out, with this huge gaping hole,

there's a fan going in the window pulling air through to the outside,

and he's buying a dehumidifier today. And its a bathroom, so it can be

closed off almost 100% of the time. He can err on the side of waiting

too long...and then finally close it up. Nonetheless--who, living in

an apartment or house, hasn't had a known or unknown leak, etc. And

who knows if mold was growing during the weeks of the off and on again

leak...probably was...

When Jeff May kindly informed the list yesterday that the

bioengineered enzymes in the all natural laundry detergent I use that

was bothering me and almost smelled like mold to me but not quite, is

the equivalent of a mold protein to my body, I felt both discouraged

and encouraged. Encouraged because my body is telling me the " truth " .

Discouraged because there are so many hazards around and I'm just not

capable of figuring them all out in advance. And it's so hard to be

this sensitive. I used to be less sensitive. As I said, lyme has made

me more sensitive.

You took very good care of your parents. Your grief is natural.

[Guest guest]

It turns out that my ability to detect that indoor mold is making me

sick, is not as " keen " as I thought it was. I don't think that I

will ever be certain that mold is responsible for my breathing

problems, or whether it is an environmental allergy, such as dust or

pollen, that is causing the problems. My current breathing problems

do not feel like those of any past exposure to toxic mold.

But, my brother has been with me, during the day, in our father's

apartment, for five days, to receive people making condolence calls.

During that time, he mentioned to me that his asthma was bothering

him, for the first time this year. My asthma has also been worse

than usual, for the past few months, but I had attributed that to

the stress, and sleep deprivation, from taking care of my father,

in, and out of, the hospital. When very elderly people are

hospitalized, they are basically " ignored to death " , unless the

family double-checks everything the doctors and nurses are doing. I

have no sense of smell. I have never had one. My brother, his wife,

my son, and others, have told me that the apartment has a " MUSTY "

odor. Even the friend who spotted the musty odor in my father's car,

four years ago, smells the musty odor in my apartment. Even after

they all tell me this, I still do not smell anything.

So, I asked my brother if he STILL wants to buy out my half of my

father's co-op apartment, and move into the apartment. And he

said " yes " . Since he believes that I am " crazy " in my belief that

mold can kill, he feels that he can clean up the apartment to remove

the musty odor. His main concern is getting more value for his

money, by moving out of his present rental, and into the co-op

apartment. It makes good sense, money-wise. If he is able to obtain

financing, I will probably use his money as the down payment for a

smaller apartment in this same co-op.

My wonderful son has offered to purchase a co-op apartment for me to

live in, since his better earnings record and credit rating, would

qualify for a bank mortgage. We would use my brother's buy-out money

for the down payment, and my social security (I'm 65) for the

monthly maintenance charges. He would make the mortgage payments, as

the apartment would legally be " his " . I am blessed to have such a

wonderful son, as I do not have any money to make mortgage payments

with. I know that many of you will be concerned with the " ethics " of

letting my brother live here, but any further efforts, on my part,

to convince him of the danger of mold, will only make him feel that

I REALLY don't want to let him have the apartment, or that I am even

mold-crazier than he already thinks I am. It is ironic that, if my

father had not passed away, it might have taken me months, or years,

to realize that the apartment had mold in it. My current asthma

symptoms do not feel like the toxic mold symptoms that I have

experienced at any time in the past.

We ALL will never know the answer to two very important questions:

(1) How much mold does it take to make each of us sick.

(2) How long a time period of mold exposure does it take to destroy

our body's ability to " bounce back " to normalcy AFTER we remove

ourselves from the moldy environment.

In my father's case, the answer to question #1 was: " the space of

the inside of a car. " The answer to question #2 was: One hour a day,

seven days a week, for two years.

Do you feel luckier than my father? Only you can make that decision,

for yourself. But, never lose sight of the reality that it is a LIFE

OR DEATH decision.

Joe

[Guest guest]

Joe, that is scary.

If your brother starts to get sicker...that's no good. Can't he buy

you out, then sell that apartment and buy a different one in the

building, too?

There must be a way.

So maybe it wasn't the car only--but also the apartment.

I am totally confused myself. I have tried to just put both window

fans on, while putting books in f ront of them so that only a small

amount blows. For my wheezing is worse without blowing the fans. But I

can't smell m uch in my apartment and have no idea if I'm just

wheezing (I've been wheezing basically for 18 months ever since some

very strong " homeopathic " remedies. Believe it or not but they really

did affect me and cause me severe asthma, perhaps by weakening my

" vital force " . It really did happen and I never figured out how to

antidote it). I assume there is mold. Maybe there are tons of molds

here and there, like " who " posts.

Since mold is part of nature...it is everywhere...since it grows well

on building materials...it is a matter of lesser of evils, I guess.

LiveSimply has been backchanneling me about the heat regulators, which

are a complete mystery to me as to how they function but wherever I

move to I guess I should get one. It seems clear that you can do a lot

to heal an environment by getting aggressive air circulation all year

long. I can feel the quality of difference with the Holmes fans. Maybe

at the very least you can get your brother to buy one of those for the

apartment. But really, I think the ethical win-win would be to let him

buy you out, and then have him sell THAT apartment and buy another one.

It's nice you have such a great son.

[Guest guest]

My wife and I suffered through almost TWO winters, basically, without

being able to use the gas heater in our apartment because the heater

cavity was acting as a channel for mold.. It was terrible..

Thats when I started thinking about this problem.. Ive done a lot of

thinking about it...

Aggressive sealing and an HRV is about as best as you can address it

without a REAL remediation...

[Guest guest]

Are there any laws about loud noise or smells? Things they will fix

for the next tenant?

On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 11:09 PM, jill1313 <jenbooks13@...> wrote:

> PS air quality in my place: the disgusting Bounce dryer sheets from

> the laundry room now venting into the courtyard two floors below does

> not help.

>

> But sometimes everything gangs up on you (pipe noise in the walls

> starting up again in cold weather too) to force you to leave. Force me

> to leave, I should say.

>

[Guest guest]

Sue,

You have pointed out the ultimate irony of OUR understanding of how

mold can cause suffering and death. While we feel terror and nausea

at watching how others are destroying their health, and shortening

their lives, THEY go about their lives blissfully unaware that they

are killing themselves. Their blissfull ignorance is further

promoted by the misdiagnoses of the medical profession, which only

acknowledges the truth when telling the patient how many months or

weeks that they have to live.

Yes, I was blessed with my dad's longevity. I am saddened to hear

that you were deprived of your father's love for so much of your

life. He was surely a wonderful person, to have had a daughter so

full of compassion, as yourself.

Your words are a great comfort to me.

Joe

.............................................

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> Joe, I am so very sorry and saddened to hear about your father's

death. I know exactly how you feel about warning others and their

failure to listen. My school didn't listen so another young teacher

is very sick(confirmed from mold) as well as others who choose to

not believe. I was able to reach some parents but most stayed, the

school is still open and one of the janitors was hospitalized for a

week with a very high fever but Drs. could find nothing. He went

home and the next morning he died, ER says of a heart attack.

Another has multi health issues, goes from Dr. to Dr. getting

treatment for all his aliments including migraines, kidney & heart

problems, rashes, joint pain, etc. Refusing to believe it is from

the building so there is no help for them. My biggest fear is for

the children who depend on the adults to take care of them. I am

scared to death that they will be sick if they aren't already.

> 5years ago I saw many of the symptoms( 2 kids in my class had

lumps in their lymph nodes) but no one wanted to listen.

> If they would only try to understand people would not have to

suffer. It is so very frustrating itt makes me want to scream and

most of all it is hurtful when people don't want to listen. I,

too, have family members that just don't want to believe me.

> Again, Joe, I am very sorry that you lost your father. My father

died when I was just 16 ..It is extremely difficult to lose a

parent no matter our age. I hope you find comfort knowing that you

have friends that care and that your many good memories will help

you. I have wonderful memories and lots of pictures that comfort me

even after 40 yrs!!

> With love your friend always,

> Sue

>