Help for Holly
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Please allow me to introduce my friend, Holly Noonan. We met at the Empowerment Institute coaching program in 2011. Since that time her life has taken a challenging turn. Holly is a beautiful spirit who has helped so many in her life and now I would like to help her and ask if you might be able to lend a hand, as well. Please remember any amount will help and be appreciated. Below is her story in her own words. Thanks, Mel
Who I am?
I’m Holly Noonan, a 46 year old single mom who got sick with a cataclysmic illness. Before I got sick I was a nutrition counselor, life coach and had just gotten my Masters in Social Work (MSW.) I lived in Camden, Maine with my son.
What happened?
I was really exhausted after 2 years of grad school so my defenses were low. After graduation, I moved into a new house and got a new job at a social services agency. Both of these buildings were really moldy. Within 2 months, my immune system collapsed and I was hit with a virus that attacked my kidneys and adrenal glands.
It turned out that it was a new illness called CIRS-- Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome-- that was little known among my local doctors. I didn’t get an accurate diagnosis for 4 months, during which time I was often in tremendous pain, couldn’t sleep, and could barely take care of myself.
I had to move out of that house and I lost my job. While I was lucky enough to get connected with a practitioner who knew what was wrong with me and the treatment started working quickly, much of the treatment was not covered by insurance. Because this is a new illness, CIRS doesn’t have its own ICD 10 code yet.
The illness is new because it is as a result of mold mutating over the last 40 years in response to chemicals in our environment. About 24% of the population are vulnerable to the chemicals these new molds produce, and can’t clear them out of the body. When they build up, the immune system falters and a virus usually attacks.
The treatment for CIRS is grueling. Basically, the body is in a constant state of high alert and the only way to allow it to calm down is to be in a mold-free environment-- which does not exist. It’s like a hand injury that won’t heal because you use it all the time. That means the person has to live mostly outside and keep moving to different places that are just a little bit better than the last place-- or ideally, go to the desert and camp out until they are better. I moved 12 times in 2016 and ended up in New Mexico.
The Problem
I am now living in an isolated location in a wilderness area in New Mexico. I am sleeping in a hammock in my small cargo van (with the doors open) and have a small trailer for cooking and eating in (but I can’t sleep in it.) I don’t own the van outright and I can’t afford the payments. Plus it can barely handle towing a small trailer. I take bucket showers outside or go to a hot springs to get clean. I am getting better, but I’m not out of the woods yet. I still react strongly to mold and go downhill fast if I am exposed to it. I will have this sensitivity to some degree for the rest of my life.
I want to get back to Maine this summer so I can be near my son, but going back to Maine is dangerous for me. And I’m out of money. After 2 years of grad school followed by 15 months of serious illness, my well is dry.
The Goal
I need to figure out how to get a MECU-- a mobile environmental containment unit. This is a custom, converted cargo trailer. It is a 6’ x 12’ aluminum-covered trailer on a steel frame. It is insulated with Styrofoam, so there is nothing mold can grow on. Once it is fixed up, it would have a tiny kitchen, a fold away bed and a shower stall, so that when I get covered in spores, I can wash them off. This cargo trailer will cost $6000 and setting it up with a kitchen, bed and shower would cost another $3000. If I can buy the MECU, then I can sell the trailer and vehicle I have to purchase a vehicle with enough towing capacity to pull the MECU.
I need to have at least a tiny space that I can keep a mold-free zone so that I can finally have a place to go and sleep inside when it is cold. I already have all the camping stuff I need and I even have 2 solar panels. I will need to find a clean place to live in it in Maine, away from moldy buildings, but that’s a different challenge.
I will have this sensitivity to some degree for the rest of my life, but if I stay in this pristine location long enough, I can expect my immune system to calm down enough for me to be able to work in a clean environment. Right now I am sort of stranded here and can’t work.
Much gratitude for reading about me and my situation. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Resources
If you would like to know more about CIRS, go to http://www.survivingmold.com/
To read Holly’s blog, go to https://moldcanary.wordpress.com/
Who I am?
I’m Holly Noonan, a 46 year old single mom who got sick with a cataclysmic illness. Before I got sick I was a nutrition counselor, life coach and had just gotten my Masters in Social Work (MSW.) I lived in Camden, Maine with my son.
What happened?
I was really exhausted after 2 years of grad school so my defenses were low. After graduation, I moved into a new house and got a new job at a social services agency. Both of these buildings were really moldy. Within 2 months, my immune system collapsed and I was hit with a virus that attacked my kidneys and adrenal glands.
It turned out that it was a new illness called CIRS-- Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome-- that was little known among my local doctors. I didn’t get an accurate diagnosis for 4 months, during which time I was often in tremendous pain, couldn’t sleep, and could barely take care of myself.
I had to move out of that house and I lost my job. While I was lucky enough to get connected with a practitioner who knew what was wrong with me and the treatment started working quickly, much of the treatment was not covered by insurance. Because this is a new illness, CIRS doesn’t have its own ICD 10 code yet.
The illness is new because it is as a result of mold mutating over the last 40 years in response to chemicals in our environment. About 24% of the population are vulnerable to the chemicals these new molds produce, and can’t clear them out of the body. When they build up, the immune system falters and a virus usually attacks.
The treatment for CIRS is grueling. Basically, the body is in a constant state of high alert and the only way to allow it to calm down is to be in a mold-free environment-- which does not exist. It’s like a hand injury that won’t heal because you use it all the time. That means the person has to live mostly outside and keep moving to different places that are just a little bit better than the last place-- or ideally, go to the desert and camp out until they are better. I moved 12 times in 2016 and ended up in New Mexico.
The Problem
I am now living in an isolated location in a wilderness area in New Mexico. I am sleeping in a hammock in my small cargo van (with the doors open) and have a small trailer for cooking and eating in (but I can’t sleep in it.) I don’t own the van outright and I can’t afford the payments. Plus it can barely handle towing a small trailer. I take bucket showers outside or go to a hot springs to get clean. I am getting better, but I’m not out of the woods yet. I still react strongly to mold and go downhill fast if I am exposed to it. I will have this sensitivity to some degree for the rest of my life.
I want to get back to Maine this summer so I can be near my son, but going back to Maine is dangerous for me. And I’m out of money. After 2 years of grad school followed by 15 months of serious illness, my well is dry.
The Goal
I need to figure out how to get a MECU-- a mobile environmental containment unit. This is a custom, converted cargo trailer. It is a 6’ x 12’ aluminum-covered trailer on a steel frame. It is insulated with Styrofoam, so there is nothing mold can grow on. Once it is fixed up, it would have a tiny kitchen, a fold away bed and a shower stall, so that when I get covered in spores, I can wash them off. This cargo trailer will cost $6000 and setting it up with a kitchen, bed and shower would cost another $3000. If I can buy the MECU, then I can sell the trailer and vehicle I have to purchase a vehicle with enough towing capacity to pull the MECU.
I need to have at least a tiny space that I can keep a mold-free zone so that I can finally have a place to go and sleep inside when it is cold. I already have all the camping stuff I need and I even have 2 solar panels. I will need to find a clean place to live in it in Maine, away from moldy buildings, but that’s a different challenge.
I will have this sensitivity to some degree for the rest of my life, but if I stay in this pristine location long enough, I can expect my immune system to calm down enough for me to be able to work in a clean environment. Right now I am sort of stranded here and can’t work.
Much gratitude for reading about me and my situation. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.
Resources
If you would like to know more about CIRS, go to http://www.survivingmold.com/
To read Holly’s blog, go to https://moldcanary.wordpress.com/
Organizer and beneficiary
Mel Scholl
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
Holly Noonan
Beneficiary