On our recently trip, I felt lighter and more energized than I have in years, even though I wore huge bags under my eyes in every picture. Upon our return, the state of my health quickly returned to status quo. My boyfriend immediately suspected something environmental was to blame, hypothesizing either an allergy in our Tempur-Pedic mattress or hidden mold.
Well, today he pulled out the kitchen baseboards and then cabinets, and what he found was disturbing. Everything was covered in black mold. The bottom and back of cabinets, the floor beneath the cabinets, and the wall behind them. It appears that there is leak originating in the walls, which has led to the abundance of mold. (If this sounds familiar, you’re correct. We had a major leak a year ago in an adjacent section of the house, though that revealed only harmless green mold.)
We’re in a tricky position now. If we report the leak and mold problem to insurance, we’ll be added to a list and the value of the property will decline by around 50% until we’ve gone five years without recurrence. We were hoping to sell within five years, so this is not a favorable choice.
On the other hand, we could privately hire a team to rip out and the walls and cabinets and replace everything. The problem here is the high out-of-pocket cost, as well as our lack of experience and expertise related to both mold and contract work.
So, the bad news is that we have substantial amounts of black mold and the task of finding someplace to stay until this problem is resolved. Regardless of how we move forward, I foresee high expenses, major inconvenience, and complex processes to sterile our home and repair my body.
However, I suppose, the good news is that a long-term black mold infestation is consistent with most of my symptoms and could very well have been the root cause all along. Thought I was recently diagnosed with mercury poisoning, the doctor suggested that the effects of black mold toxicity are similar.
I’ll be offline for awhile as we work to secure temporary housing and make decisions around how to clean out and renovate the moldy loaf of bread we call home. Hopefully, between the removal my IUD, elimination of toxic black mold, and a new dietary protocol to repair the extensive bodily damage, the second half of this year will offer me a fresh start–a healthy new beginning.
existential ergonomics 