Thanks for helping rebuild our lives

First off, to anyone taking the time to read this, I appreciate you, I am grateful for your time, and even if you just take a piece of information from here that can help your life in any way, please do.

My daughter was diagnosed with infantile spasms at 5 months old. She turns 3 on December 13th of this year, so it has been quite a journey. After all testing possible from EEGS, MRIs, Genetic testing, a long period of epilepsy medicine, and any other doctor recommended idea, we were left with the end result of no cause and no cure. My daughter still has epileptic episodes, multiple times a day. She is developmentally delayed, has no safety awareness, lost all speech, and needs to have eyes on her at all times.

I started questioning the healthcare system, and decided to spend the multiple thousands of dollars it costs to see holistic doctors. A major change in our diet and products we use in the home was one result. Once you start reading ingredients and understanding them, you will first go into a panic, but eventually your life will change for the better. It is expensive and exhausting, but knowledge is key. What we put in our body is important. Aside from that, I started questioning my environment. The doctor suggested a mold detection test for the current rental property I am in. Pennylane has lived here her whole life. I moved here in September 2020, a few months before she was born. The at home air quality test came back as a shock. Levels were so high; it was suggested to vacate the premises. I then hired a professional company to conduct the air quality test, just to make sure I was reading the results correctly, and to no surprise, the house was contaminated with Cladosporium, a very high allergen mold. The crawlspace needed to be remediated. It took a bit of back and forth, and extended hotel stays, but the landlord did remediate the crawlspace.

I asked for another air quality test and full mold inspection, to make sure the home was livable and clear, but was denied. My daughter was having seizures as soon as we entered the front door every day, so I knew it was in here. I did not have the money to afford another test, so I decided to deep clean my house with white wine vinegar instead. Bleach kills mold at the surface, white vinegar kills it at its root. It took me a week of scrubbing every inch of this house. I found mold inside all of the vents, but due to this house being older, was not able to get into the vents completely. I also found it on my couch, under my dresser (mold was coming up from the crawlspace and likes porous materials), on the walls, etc. How often do any of us check under our furniture? Mostly never!

Most of my life, and my two daughter's lives, ended up out on the curb for big garbage day pick up. I then continued to try and disinfect the house, washing every possible thing in this home in hot water and vinegar. Every blanket, clothing piece, if it was washable, it ended up in the washer in hot water. I steam cleaned the carpets and beds, purchased air purifiers and the filters for most rooms, and any other precautionary measure I could think of was taken.

When my landlord retested the inside of the house, after I sent her the pictures of everything found, she withheld the results, but sent me a message to schedule a deep cleaning and duct disinfection. Now, I already knew it was in here, so I knew the results were not going to be good, but as a mother, not seeing the results and only receiving that message, was gut wrenching. She canceled the appointment I made with a mold remediation company and hired a duct cleaning company instead. They were here Saturday. She again refused to retest the indoor air quality to make sure the job had been done properly. So, I paid for it out of pocket.

Fast forward, and we have decided to walk away from the home. Pennylane was still having seizures when we walked through the front door, and I have had enough. We are currently in limbo of where we are going to call home but we are surviving. Since we lost most of our belongings, your donations will help us rebuild our lives, one bed at a time.

So I say thank you now, for listening to our story, for the love and support you may offer, even if it is just keeping us in your prayers, and I ask for guidance and help in figuring out our next steps. Whether it's a new income based rental property coming across our paths, or enough fundraising to help rebuild our lives, I will leave it up to you and the higher power to decide where we go from here.

Have the best day, and all the love and gratitude, truly, from myself and my girls.