More mold testing and some updates
- minisession
- Jun 24, 2020
- 4 min read
We retested our bedroom (which was the problem area the last time we tested) and waited with bated breath to see what the petri dishes would show. When we opened the dish on day 4, we were relieved to see that there were only 3 mold colonies!!! So fogging with Mold Control and running the dehumidifier seems to have helped. The only downside is that since we aren't at the house every day, we have no idea how long the dehumidifier is running, since it has an automatic shut off when the water level gets too high. We're assuming that the dehumidifier only last about a day or two before it collects too much water.
Soon after seeing the results from the last petri dish test, we were told that someone who owns multiple air purification and mold testing/remediation companies had heard about our story due to the GoFundMe page that had been set up by our friends, and they wanted to help us out. The owner (who has 20 years of experience in the field and even wrote a book on Mold Free Construction) talked to Stephen on the phone for about half an hour one day. He told us that they were going to test our house for free using the dust sample method, and before we decided to do anything else to our house, to let him know. He also gave Stephen his personal cell, and told him to call anytime. Everything he said on the phone matched up with what we had been finding out in our research for building mold free. We were floored. Now we have access to a professional who knows his stuff, and who has information that we can use not only for remediating our moldy house, but also for building our tiny house.
He sent out his son-in-law (who he personally trained) to our house to complete the dust sample test, and we should have the results from this by early next week. Apparently petri dish tests are usually not very accurate or reliable. For one, the Stachybotrys mold spore (the most dangerous toxic black mold) is one that is so heavy, that it falls right to the floor and mingles with the dust. The petri dishes hardly ever catch these, so they may give you a false sense of security.
The good news is that they didn't see any moisture issues. He actually even had a hard time finding enough dust to get an accurate sample. Which is pretty funny, considering that we haven't lived there or cleaned anything over the past two months.
The other exciting news is that the meat chickens will be butchered this weekend, so after that is done, we will be able to start leveling the ground for our tiny house!!! It's kind of crazy we're so close to actually starting on the "real" stuff. Stephen has been working so hard on the price/product list of all the items we will need for the tiny house. We're having to do a lot of research on how to build it with materials that will prevent mold from growing, and making sure that we stay within the weight limits to be able to take it on the road. If we didn't have to think about that, it would be a lot easier!! We could make it as heavy as we want! Plus, a lot of the materials that resist mold are quite pricey, so we're trying to decide what are the deal-breakers and what can be done without.
Stephen had a rough week recently, and we were getting a little concerned. We didn't know if he was reacting to a new mold in the camper or even something outside, or if he was just detoxing. Thankfully, once he received his new monthly supplements, and was able to start taking the ones he was out of, he saw a definite improvement. One of his supplements is a liquid oxyen, and it's supposed to help the mold not take over in his body and derail his normal functions. He's still dealing with random rashes that come up, hives that pop up anytime he gets overheated, plus feeling really itchy anytime this happens, but he is still rinsing off and changing clothes every time this happens, and these episodes are not effecting him as bad as they used to!
"Dr. Caitlin's" opinion is that when he gets warm, or spends enough time outside to start sweating (which isn't long, in Arkansas summers), his body starts pushing toxins out of his skin, and then he reacts to the toxins being on his skin. Since his body does have a hard time detoxing the normal way, it would make sense (to me) that his skin takes an extra load when it does try to detox. His general all-day fatigue and brain fog is still pretty bad, but he's definitely still sleeping better! I remember back when he was so sick, he said to me that all he wanted to do was to be able to play with Ruth. And guess what, that's happening on almost a daily basis now. They wrestle, run around, and get rowdy. :) So he can hardly do anything strenuous outside, but if he goes slow and doesn't push it, we've found out that he can do a little bit! I can't imagine what it's been like to have to go through all of the things Stephen has had to deal with, but it's so encouraging to see these small gains.
We also retested our car this past weekend after fogging it twice with both the Haven fog and Mold Control. It just seems that Stephen might have a slow acting reaction anytime he spends a time in our car. (We should be able to look at the petri dishes either tomorrow or Friday!) So we're currently borrowing my grandparent's extra car to see if that makes any difference. The hard thing is that it's not the only change we've made this week. Stephen has also started taking a teaspoon of raw honey right before he goes to bed and right when he wakes up in the morning to see if that helps his shakiness and weakness he's been dealing with first thing in the morning. I'm not sure if it's the combination of the car and honey, or just one of them, but starting with this week, he's made some small gains and has been doing a little better!
Comments