Locations Effect?

First off, we have decided to go ahead and start Stephen on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy! We are praying that this will show quick results and that it is what he needs to get over his mold exposure.

But now we have something new to think about. (If it's not one thing, it's another). This past weekend we made a trip over to Texas for a family wedding. We were there Wednesday through Thursday, and the entire time Stephen was there, he did not get itchy, his weird rash that usually stays pretty constant went away, and the red sore spot on the inside of his arm went almost completely away. He even went outside in the low 90 degree weather and threw the frisbee around with his siblings. He got a little bit warm, but never got itchy and didn't break out in hives. There were several things that happened during the weekend that would normally cause him to break out in hives, but it never happened. We're wondering if this is due to the locations effect, where if you go to a clean environment, things get better.

When we got back home Sunday afternoon, we watched a tv show on his computer while we ate supper, and shortly after we went to put Ruth to bed together. It was during this time that I noticed that he was starting to get itchy. Then as we went to bed about 30-45 minutes later, he got itchy again. We also noticed that a small remnant of his rash seemed to be spreading. By midday on Monday, he was getting the rash around his neck again and the sore spot inside his arm was back. So now we don't know what to think. It could be that his computer started throwing out mold spores once the fan inside started running. But it could also mean that there is mold inside of the camper trailer. This is definitely not good, because we still have three months left to live in the camper before we return it. We also don't know if living in a possibly moldy camper while doing HBOT treatments would be beneficial. We would hate to waste all of that time and money if having him return to a possibly moldy environment would negate all the good that HBOT does.

We're thinking about testing the camper with petri dishes, even though they aren't the most reliable way of testing. It won't do too much good if we can't go anywhere else to escape the mold, but it might give us some peace of mind to actually know.

Good news!!! There is actually progress in the tiny house area of our lives! The chicken house has been moved, and I can actually start to envision our tiny house being built at this exact spot!!

We also got our test results back from our house from the ERMI dust test that was taken a few weeks ago. Good news is that two of the four rooms that were tested came back within normal range. The other two rooms were in the range just above normal, with one of them barely even crossing that threshold. So we're waiting to find out if that means we do still ned to do some remediation, or if it's acceptable enough to start the process of putting it on the market. The bad news is what kinds of molds were found. Thankfully, no black mold showed up, so we should be safe keeping all of our clothes and glass and metal items. What was concerning was the Penicillium and Aspergillus.

These molds had shown up on the swab that we had done originally, but the swab sample was taken from Ruth's room and the front porch. So we had no idea of knowing where those molds actually were. These two molds are ranked as some of the more dangerous molds, causing serious health issues, mainly concerning skin, sleep, and other things. So apparently these were most likely the main culprits behind the health issues we've been dealing with. I hate that these were definitely showing up in Ruth's room, but we're so glad we aren't in that anymore. Lord willing, her body will be able to detox these mycotoxins and not hold on to them and create lasting damage.