Friday, September 04, 2009

Absentee

I have been a little out of the blogging lately. I have a lot on my mind and a lot going on at home. I thought I might share some of it with you and maybe help myself through this process. If you have been following my blog for any length of time you know that I struggle with an unknown illness. Well over the last 2 weeks everything has come to a head and we now know why I am sick.

This is the run down of events that happened. Went to a friends house for some girl time late June. One of the ladies was talking about a radio show on Moody Radio. I don't really listen to talk radio so I would have never heard this. She was talking about a family called the Fabry's who were talking about mold illness and mold poisoning. That night I got on the computer and pulled up the program from that day and listened. It intrigued me and I went to Andrea's blog. I read through their story and some of her posts. I left her a comment but she wasn't able to respond to it so she gave me her email address. I started emailing her with questions I had. She was very encouraging and answered most of my questions the best she could. I was really scared to think this could be causing my illness especially with all the kids in the house. I finally got up the nerve to go to the doctor and ask for the blood work to be done. The first results came back within a week. Every blood test has a range. I was under the range for the Leptin. I was starting to think that the other tests weren't going to ever come or they got lost or whatever. On Aug 27, I will never forget this date, the doctor called with the other two lab results. The VEGF with a range of 31 to 86 was under 31 but it didn't give a number, this explains why I have been so tired, lack of oxygen. Then the big test specifically for mold, c4a, with a range of 0-2830 came back and showed my blood was 19,605. Yes, almost 7 times higher than the allotted range. I then started an anti-fungal diet and we went camping. That weekend I felt the best in 2 years. Came home and slept in the house one night. Next morning wasn't feeling very good. Decided that camping in the garage would probably be the best place for our whole family until we got more answers. On Wednesday we had our house tested for mold. Today we got part of the results back. We don't have the paperwork on the tests because there was something wrong but the guy said that there is definitely high levels of mold spores in our home. We also have the bad mold that is hard to get rid of so we might have to completely walk away from this house and everything in it. Though I will say that through all of this Jeff and I have communicated better and gotten closer as a couple and since our family is sleeping in the tent we have been bonding more as a family as well. So through all the bad that is going on God is showing his glory in all of this and helping us to take one step at a time. Praise the Lord we finally have an answer as to why I have been so sick.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW! That is huge. I hope all answers come back quickly. What a hard thing for you guys to have to deal with. I will keep you and your family in my prayers!!!

Amber said...

Oh my gosh, Tonya! Scary, but so glad you found out what was causing you the pain. Camping in the garage can be fun...for a while. :-) Good luck with everything!!

mikeanddebbie said...

Oh my! I'm sure you are very overwhelmed. Were you on antibiotics a lot as a kid or as an adult? They can also cause high levels of mold to build up in the body. I hope it gets worked out to where you can keep your home and your other possessions. That would be hard to just have to walk away. Thinking of you!!

Julie M. said...

Wow, Tonya! Glad you found the answer.

Kristin said...

It's hard to believe you're sleeping in a tent in your garage. Wild! Well, hope this IS the answer to your sickness. Best of luck:)

hestermom said...

AAH. That's all I can say. That is so much to take in. On the one hand, it is good to have some direction and some answers. On the other hand, that is a little overwhelming, to think that your house might not be safe. I will be praying for your health, and that of the whole family, and that God will bring a resolution to all this. =)

sarahgrace said...

I'm so glad you've found out what is causing this whole business! I'm glad that it totally sounds like something that is fixable too, even if you do have to walk away from your house. It's not worth staying if it drags down the quality of your life and eventually the rest of your family too. You guys will be in my prayers, but thankful you've had a big request answered!

Unknown said...

You always wanted a new house, I see it as an answer to prayer, of course an expensive one. I will pray for everything to work out quickly, especially with school starting next week!

KC said...

OH my.. I'm glad you found out what it was before it got even worse or one of the kids got sick.. I'll keep you all in my prayers, God is good and I know this will all work out.

Kel said...

Wow. That's a lot going on. I'm praying for you guys.

Cheffie-Mom said...

I'm so sorry, but I'm glad you know what the cause is and you can get better. And I'm glad you are enJOYing the family time!

Kenalee said...

I hope for your family youa are able to abate it and get to keep your things at least.... I told your dad yesterday to talk to you about some things... if you went FHA you should have had to have a mold inspection... if you did and they didn't locate it then you can recourse against them, if you had an atty at your closing then I would contact them.... especially if you had a mold inspection and it was found clean.... you can have recourse action. I wish you the best of luck and we will be thinking of you and all of your kids & Jeff!!!

corrie said...

wow, that's crazy! so glad you know! what a long and frustrating journey it has been... but God is good and will guide you through to the end! will be praying for you guys!!!

WML said...

Wow! I am glad I went back and read this! I told you I am an information junky!