I don’t know if I can appropriately put into words the amount of stress that I went through shortly after we were out of the mold house. Our emotions were all over the place – relief, frustration, loss, grief, hope. It tested our ability to experience opposite emotions at the same time.
But after we got rid of 90% of our belongings, we left the house behind us without a thought of regret. It was a disease, and we wanted no part of it any longer.
If you remember from Parts 1 and 2, we continued to be highly reactive any time we came into contact with mold or even mold spores. And by reactive I mean dried out throat, ears popping, vertigo and dizziness, nausea, visual disturbances, severe headaches, tremors, muscle weakness, electric shocks, confusion, difficulty speaking – it’s a bit ridiculous. The extent of these symptoms depended on the length of exposure and whether or not we immediately showered and washed our clothes after exposure. Often the symptoms would not resolve for hours.
So it’s understandable why we actively work to avoid these places and items.
The first few weeks of September were great. I started walking and was so relieved that I could finally exercise – I had never treasured the ability to walk and exercise before, but I did during that time. I was going to get healthier than I’d ever been.
Everyone noticed a difference. My boss remarked on the improvement in my energy and mood. It was shocking how sick I had been and how drastically I changed just by being out of that environment.
And now looking back just a few months to those brief few weeks when I was getting my energy and vitality back, my heart actually feels like it could break because it was devastatingly short-lived.
Continue reading “The Mold Saga, Part 3: From Detox to Retox (and Floxxed)”