Help us heal from toxic mold

To my community and perhaps beyond,

 I am writing today to ask for support in beginning a process of healing and pursuing litigation in response to my home environment of the past three years that has been the source of many health issues resulting in quite a bit of emotional damage, loss of work, enjoyment of life, etc. Seemingly overnight I went from competing in my first triathlons, excelling in my work environment, to, at my worst point, not being able to work and struggling to walk in a straight line in the grocery store due to my blurred vision and sensitivity to light.  I’ll have a good week or two, and then come down with something that my immune system is not equipped to fight.  I have had to step down from a job that has given me so much light and love and purpose in order to focus on just doing one of my other jobs with full focus and energy, and even with that game plan, I have become so ill that now I am really at a loss and needing support.  

Update: 2/29/24
The other night I was showing symptoms of seizure, with fever, chills, and shooting pains all through my body.  Jorge rushed me to the ER where they were rather unhelpful but took labs which showed extremely out of range WBC and neutrophils (showing a compromised immune system).  I was diagnosed with cellulitis in my right leg which can be a life threatening bacterial infection.  The pain was unbelievable and I am unable to not have my leg elevated for any amount of time due to the intensity of the pain.  I have been unable to walk since Tuesday and will require most likely another week off of my feet to undergo antibiotic treatment.  The pain is incredibly intense and honestly the emotional pain is right up there, as I have to miss more work and cancel gigs I have been looking forward to to rebuild my life.  

Mold illness, though not frequently recognized by western medical professionals (more on that later...) is very real (and not at all related to a mold allergy) and has created a storm of inflammation and reactivity in my body that basically leaves each day up to the Gods in terms of how I'll feel, what I'll be able to do, and its one foot in front of the other.  It has affected every organ in my body and takes a knowledgeable doctor to treat properly.  Most notably it suppresses the immune system which is why I spent most of last year thinking I had developed an autoimmune disorder.  

Because of how short sighted I need to live my days right now, I am asking for financial support so that I can a) find the proper medical treatment, b) catch up on overdue bills that have been accumulating from lost work and c) be able to begin the litigation process by paying for all the proper inspections, documentation, and testing that will hold up in a court of law.

Proving causation is challenging logistically and financially, because you must have a "medical expert witness", meaning a doctor well-versed in CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome), who can diagnose via multiple expensive tests, and will then provide a written statement for the court. Luckily, Los Angeles has a few of these doctors with the caveat being that they are quite expensive. Also necessary for litigation is a detailed mold inspection of the affected apartment along with myco-toxin testing of our belongings, cars, etc. to see what is salvageable, and what is contaminated and needs to be tossed. Sadly, our handyman started to open up our drywalls exposing myself, Jorge, the dogs and our belongings to very dangerous black mold directly, without taking precautions.

Aggravating the mold in this way exposed us in the days before we were told to leave to an extremely toxic load and for me personally, kicked off weeks of physical symptomatic hell.

The last thing I want is to give any more energy to the situation and feel any more anger and resentment to being gaslit by our landlord,
having our health harmed by our completely irresponsible handyman—  but even in my attempts to move forward with my blinders on, I’ve found that my body is compromised to such an extent that a cold will turn into pneumonia and normal bacteria that’s everywhere will create an infection in me ‍♀️

Our dogs have also showed symptoms: Lola has had a cough as well as a fungal skin infection for literally forever, had seizures that were never explained, Panchito has had many random bouts of gastrointestinal distress, Cholita has had random growths on her body as well as gastrointestinal issues.  




Below are some photos of the mold found living in our apartment/laundry room: 


Growing in the door frame of our hallway 


There’s a lot more where that came from!  But for now we would appreciate any support you might be able to offer as we attempt to make our way through this.  Health is wealth to me and I can’t do what I love to do when I keep falling ill.  Any contribution is a huge gift to my heart so thank you in advance for your consideration