
With mold remediation and healing journey
Donation protected
Hi,
if you’re reading this, thank you for taking the time to hear our story. It’s a long one, and it has not been easy.
after 9 months of being turned away at various dr’s I finally was diagnosed with late stage Lyme disease and Bartonellosis. I was bed ridden for about a year and a half while I endured a plethora of antibiotics and herbal supplements trying to find a treatment that would work for me. I cannot even describe the pain I would experience over this time, eventually getting my diseases into remission in 2022. While I was still treating my diseases, my 8 year old son Zaden developed a swollen ankle and could not walk at first we thought this was an injury. After a couple days of rest there were many red flag HE now had Lyme disease. After testing positive he would begin a 3 month course of antibiotics and herbal treatments. At the end of the three months he seemed to be in remission and on the road to recovery.
In august after his treatment Zaden began developing terrible hives all over his body for no apparent reason. He had no known allergies and there never seems to be a consistent factor that could be causing his breakouts. He then developed these terrible shiners under his eyes that some days his eyes were almost completely swollen shut. He started waking me up in the night saying he couldn’t breathe. We tried Benedryl, Claritin, air purifiers,crèmes for the hives nothing seemed to help. To the drs we went where they diagnosed him out of the blue with allergy induced asthma. This wasn’t good news by any means, but we thought… great! At least we know what’s wrong and can treat him. They sent us home with inhalers, nasal sprays, and instructions to treat him when he had bad reactions.
A few months after I put my tick infections in remission I began feeling fatigued. My menstrual cycles were off, I was lethargic, short of breath, running fevers, had severe sore throats, swollen lymph nodes, my hair was falling out, my voice was hoarse, I was short of breath, unbelievably moody, suicidal thoughts, headaches, unable to function, vitamin deficiencies,I lost my hearing. I visited the the dr 4 times over the course of three months and kept getting sent home told it was probably viral and would pass. With weeks passing between appointments I was getting sicker. At one of those appointments I was treated for sepsis from an unknown acute bacterial infection. It barely helped at all. I was feeling so hopeless.
I ended up in the ER unable to speak it was too painful and they did CT scans. They found 3 masses in my throat. I got yet a referral. 1 month later I had a $35k surgery to remove the masses in my throat one of which was infected. Thinking this is great! I will feel so much better after.
Unfortunately that was not the case. My throat was getting more sore after healing from surgery. I was struggling with silent reflux out of the blue. My hearing was coming and going and I laid in bed more and more unable to do anything. Before I was sick I was often working 2-3 jobs and now I can barely function. I was referred to Gastro to see what was causing my throat problems and silent reflux. They took biopsies and within days I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis which is sudden onset asthma of the esophagus and I now had tons of food intolerances. NONE of this made sense. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I’m not overweight, I eat healthy I sleep well… what was going on?!
A week after my endoscopy that led to this diagnosis we had a torrential down pour. I took a nap which was common and when I woke and went to use the bathroom, water had poured through the room and through the master bathroom ceiling fan onto the floor there was a massive puddle… then it hit me. A little over a year ago we had paid a roofer to look at the roof and do some patching. He wasn’t up there long but took the money said everything was all set. I thought nothing of it. We now believe he NEVER patched the roof, and all this time it has been slowly leaking over our bedroom and bathroom ceiling. Two days after the downpour we can now see all of the mold that has been festering. And making us sick. It was so obvious now why we can’t get better.
We are in the process of testing the molds to see what we’re up against. It will not be an easy road. As I write this I am sleeping on my front porch because I cannot tolerate the mold, and unfortunately we have spent most of our savings on medical bills, medicine, and now testing the house and our bodies to see what molds we have been exposed too. We do not have anywhere to stay while the house is repaired, and anticipate remediation to cost around $15,000 repairs around $60k, and another $5k for cleaning and supplies for after. We will also need to get rid of furniture mattresses and rugs in the house and start over. Even if we remediate, me and zaden have developed an allergy to mold, what would normally be an acceptable level to an average person may cause a reaction. My throat swells up almost immediately and my lungs feel like they’re bleeding just walking in the house. We may still need to move after all is said and done.
I would, and will give up everything I have, and do everything in my power to be healthy again, and for my son to be healthy. There is nothing in this world more important than my family.
I hate asking for help, but this was very unexpected and has turned our world upside down.
If there is anything you can do to help us on this journey to recovery, we would be forever thankful and plan on paying it forward when we are in a better place
Organizer
Sarah Merrill
Organizer
North Windham, ME