What exactly should be requested.??????

[Guest guest]

My union is requesting testing of two buildings. One made me ill 28 years ago

and was the site of 5 cancer deaths. The teachers were in their 40's and early

50's. There was a pancreatic cancer, reproductive cancer, lung cancer, breast

cancer and throat cancer. Due to the high number of deaths, the union had the

building tested. Nothing showed up on the test results.

Three other teachers and myself have CFS symptoms and are still suffering

today from being in that building. At the time, I had 4 buildings and that was

the only one that made me ill when I stepped into it. I had ceiling tiles

removed in 1983 or 84 in my room because of water damage and was told by the

custodial staff that they cleaned the area with bleach. This was the early 80's,

so I didn't know what they were cleaning. Now I realize it was mold. I had to

leave my office and work in an old vacated bathroom because the beautiful office

made me ill, even though they removed the ceiling tiles. I doctored for years

and even had a complicated pregnancy in that building. It was a twin twin

transfusion pregnancy and the twins died and I nearly did too!!

In 1992, I left that building and worked elsewhere. My health was never great

after that initial mold exposure, but I managed. In 2003 my room in one of the

buildings was switched to a basement location and I started to slowly get ill

again. It was over the course of several years, but by the time I left in 2007,

I could barely walk because the fatigue was so debilitating. There were water

marks on the wall and peeling paint, but no evidence of mold. There was also a

pipe in the closet that was wrapped in some kind of protective covering.

Long story short...........I am very ill now and need the exact wording that my

union should use for testing of these buildings.

Any advice, suggestions, wisdom would be welcomed ,as I am very new to this

group. Due to my severe fatigue, I went to the Fibro and Fatigue Center in

Pittsburgh. Within three visits ( two months) they caused a heart attack and I

am now in severe cardiac heart failure.

My new doctor says it was blatant medical malpractice because they gave me 5

times the amount of medication that I should have been given. Things have gone

from bad to worse. In hindsight I see that the original building exposed me to

some kind of toxic mold, bacteria or ?????? The second building made another

teacher ill after I left it, so I know there was something in that room too. It

just happened on a much slower basis.

Kathi

[Guest guest]

If you don't mind, where was the building?

Thanks,

>

> My union is requesting testing of two buildings. One made me ill 28 years ago

and was the site of 5 cancer deaths. The teachers were in their 40's and early

50's. There was a pancreatic cancer, reproductive cancer, lung cancer, breast

cancer and throat cancer. Due to the high number of deaths, the union had the

building tested. Nothing showed up on the test results.

>

> Three other teachers and myself have CFS symptoms and are still suffering

today from being in that building. At the time, I had 4 buildings and that was

the only one that made me ill when I stepped into it. I had ceiling tiles

removed in 1983 or 84 in my room because of water damage and was told by the

custodial staff that they cleaned the area with bleach. This was the early 80's,

so I didn't know what they were cleaning. Now I realize it was mold. I had to

leave my office and work in an old vacated bathroom because the beautiful office

made me ill, even though they removed the ceiling tiles. I doctored for years

and even had a complicated pregnancy in that building. It was a twin twin

transfusion pregnancy and the twins died and I nearly did too!!

>

> In 1992, I left that building and worked elsewhere. My health was never great

after that initial mold exposure, but I managed. In 2003 my room in one of the

buildings was switched to a basement location and I started to slowly get ill

again. It was over the course of several years, but by the time I left in 2007,

I could barely walk because the fatigue was so debilitating. There were water

marks on the wall and peeling paint, but no evidence of mold. There was also a

pipe in the closet that was wrapped in some kind of protective covering.

>

> Long story short...........I am very ill now and need the exact wording that

my union should use for testing of these buildings.

> Any advice, suggestions, wisdom would be welcomed ,as I am very new to this

group. Due to my severe fatigue, I went to the Fibro and Fatigue Center in

Pittsburgh. Within three visits ( two months) they caused a heart attack and I

am now in severe cardiac heart failure.

> My new doctor says it was blatant medical malpractice because they gave me 5

times the amount of medication that I should have been given. Things have gone

from bad to worse. In hindsight I see that the original building exposed me to

some kind of toxic mold, bacteria or ?????? The second building made another

teacher ill after I left it, so I know there was something in that room too. It

just happened on a much slower basis.

>

> Kathi

>

[Guest guest]

Kathi,

What a horrible story! And all too common, unfortunately. First

priority is your current medical care. Once stabilized you can

begin to piece together actions to help others.

Your union should not ask for " testing. " They should ask for an

inspection and assessment of the buildings, which may or may

not include testing.

Inappropriate testing cannot find a cause and will immediately kill

your claim. Appropriate testing can only be determined after an

inspection and assessment, and the lab results will only answer

specific questions, not general ones like " is it safe, " " is it

dangerous, " " did it hurt me? "

Toward the end you made a very important statement: " the

original building exposed me to some kind of toxic mold, bacteria

or ?????? "

You suggest some possible causes without limiting your concerns

to just mold. Or even bacteria, but rather to an unknown. The

point is, something made you sick. Your lack of knowing exactly

what that was does not negate the fact that you got sick and are

still sick and others are too.

You need to find a professional who understands the biology of

damp-building organisms, building and material science, and who

can guide you to the appropriate medical experts who

acknowledge the impact of damp buildings on people. This is

easy to say but hard to execute.

That's as close to " exactly what should be requested " as I can

get. Said in a different way, your union needs to request an

accurate determination of the conditions, problem(s), and how it

impacted you. Not just testing and not just mold.

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

-----

My union is requesting testing of two buildings. One made me ill 28

years ago and was the site of 5 cancer deaths. The teachers were in their

40's and early 50's. There was a pancreatic cancer, reproductive cancer,

lung cancer, breast cancer and throat cancer. Due to the high number of

deaths, the union had the building tested. Nothing showed up on the test

results.

Three other teachers and myself have CFS symptoms and are still

suffering today from being in that building. At the time, I had 4 buildings

and that was the only one that made me ill when I stepped into it. I had

ceiling tiles removed in 1983 or 84 in my room because of water damage

and was told by the custodial staff that they cleaned the area with bleach.

This was the early 80's, so I didn't know what they were cleaning. Now I

realize it was mold. I had to leave my office and work in an old vacated

bathroom because the beautiful office made me ill, even though they

removed the ceiling tiles. I doctored for years and even had a

complicated pregnancy in that building. It was a twin twin transfusion

pregnancy and the twins died and I nearly did too!!

In 1992, I left that building and worked elsewhere. My health was never

great after that initial mold exposure, but I managed. In 2003 my room

in one of the buildings was switched to a basement location and I started

to slowly get ill again. It was over the course of several years, but by the

time I left in 2007, I could barely walk because the fatigue was so

debilitating. There were water marks on the wall and peeling paint, but

no evidence of mold. There was also a pipe in the closet that was

wrapped in some kind of protective covering.

Long story short...........I am very ill now and need the exact wording that

my union should use for testing of these buildings.

Any advice, suggestions, wisdom would be welcomed ,as I am very new

to this group. Due to my severe fatigue, I went to the Fibro and Fatigue

Center in Pittsburgh. Within three visits ( two months) they caused a

heart attack and I am now in severe cardiac heart failure.

My new doctor says it was blatant medical malpractice because they gave

me 5 times the amount of medication that I should have been given.

Things have gone from bad to worse. In hindsight I see that the original

building exposed me to some kind of toxic mold, bacteria or ?????? The

second building made another teacher ill after I left it, so I know there

was something in that room too. It just happened on a much slower

basis.

Kathi

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