The only way is up...

Well 3 months into this anti-inflammatory diet, I have to say that I’m charging along. I’ve put on 3 kilos (though am still underweight). I feel much better and have lost the numbness in my left arm which has plagued me for a year.  Who would have thought that cutting out so much food, and eating no fat would help me gain weight??

Anyway yesterday was D Day. I got my results from my lumbar puncture. The fantabulous news is that I do not have a progressive nor deteriorating disease!! The damage to my body has stopped progressing and the inflammation is slowly but surely reducing. Even better news if you ask me.

The bad news is the nerve damage to my hands and feet is permanent. I now need to care my feet as if they are diamonds as the blood supply is severely compromised due to the nerve damage. Not exactly what every dancer wants to hear – but since dancing is so important to me, I have put this high on my self care agenda.

They feel though that my leg damage may be able to be improved. Or if not that I can build up all my other muscles to compensate for their limited use. It also helps that we are in a mold free environment which is giving my body a greater chance of detoxing.

But I feel so happy and positive!! I went home from this appointment on cloud nine, because a) it’s so nice for my body to be co-operating for a change and b) that there is light at the end of this mold saga.

Elimination Diet Update

Well the last month has brought more surprises than most. I abandoned my elimination diet with my allergists approval when my weight bottomed out at 45kg (the lightest I've ever been during this illness). I am however still dairy free as I can really feel the benefits.

But my mold battle took a turn for the worse so my neurologist has put me onto an anti-inflammation diet. Quite simply, I am now basically vegan with a certain amount of fish each week. The key thing is to avoid all dairy, meat, saturated fats and eat lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, fish and most of all omega 3's. I'm taking lots of flax seed oil as well as the fish as omega 3's reduce the inflammation response in your body.


I have to count my saturated fat intake each day and cannot exceed 10g. This is surprisingly easy once you take out dairy and meat. Having been vegetarian before Little B was born, it's not such a stretch to return to this way of eating and I've already been off dairy for 6 weeks so that's only annoying in the sense that I need to adapt recipes. I'm only sad that all my gorgeous vegetarian cookbooks had to be thrown out because of the house. Yay for the internet and family have said I can have a veggie cookbook birthday LOL.
 
Now here's the irony. Though it's early days, I'm gaining weight consistently day to day. Which could just be an anomaly or because my weight was so low. I'm keeping positive and think it might on the up and up. Only time will tell if this helps all my other problems but I have all my fingers and toes crossed :-)

Allergies here we come

I finally had my appointment with an allergist late last week (only took 5 months). With my battle with unwanted weight loss, and one of the side effects of mold exposure being the development of food allergies, the docs wanted to check out if this is contributing to my inability to gain weight. In keeping with that, I of course have developed some *sigh*. Over the last 6 months I kind of knew that nuts seemed to be a growing problem for me - burning and swollen tongue, coughing, hoarse voice.

So after a 2.5 hour appointment, skin prick tests, and general examination where has it left me?

I'm most definitely allergic to brazil nuts, penicillin, peanuts (but with peanuts it's from the aflatoxins - mold again). I already knew and have had it confirmed again, that I am allergic to soy. I'm also allergic to hazlenuts, pecans and sesame seeds. But wait there's more...a free set of steak knives. LOL. Seriously though, they think I might be allergic to dairy.

Yesterday I started the RPAH Strict Elimination Diet to try and see whether dairy is my evil archenemy (or if it's something else). I've always had dairy in my diet (except when breastfeeding Little B because of his allergies). Having said that I've never been able to eat yoghurt and dont eat cheese as it's a mold, so I only really drink about 2 cups of milk a day. These have now been replaced with oat milk (yum) and rice milk (blech - it is such an acquired taste).

The allergist was really interesting to speak to and seemed very knowledgeable (we've been in the allergy medical system for Little B for the last 3 years, so I consider this important, you'd be surprised how many dumb asses there are out there with medical degrees) but he said a few things that made me raise my eyebrows. 

I'm a huge advocate obviously of growing your own food and organics, but he was adamant that the leading allergists/coeliac specialists in Australia (Anne Swain, Sue Shepherd, Mimi Tang) believe that people with allergies should under no circumstances consume organic food. This is because the natural food chemicals in organic food are so high that it impacts dramatically on the body plus new research is showing this can impact on the gut.

But I cant find any research to back up the notion that people with allergies should never have organic, so at the moment I'm reserving judgement and just thinking hmmmmm?!?!?!? I kind of find it hard to believe that pesticides/BPA etc are better for you than whole food?? So we are just putting it in the wait and see basket.

Healing my body with my mind

The hardest thing about being sick and physically weak is the way it has prevented me from doing normal everyday things. I hate being limited in my gardening, prevented from my dancing (which is like telling me to stop breathing) and the way it has inhibited my day to day relationship with Little B.

I hate not being able to play soccer with him, or pick him up, or even having to lie down because I literally cant physically stand anymore that day. But I refuse to be defeated or brow beaten by this.

So how do I keep my spirits up? With friendship, love and positivity.

Friends have been amazingly supportive. One friend gave me all of her boy’s old size 3 & 4 clothes. Another lent me her small sized clothing till I could get a few things together. My closest friend has just let me talk and talk until I felt calm again as our boys played together.

Granny B has been a dream – letting us move in, being a sounding board and an amazing emotional support. Mr B has been my rock - he has loved, supported and cared for me through the start of getting sick until this diagnosis. Then when we moved house, he did all the back breaking physical labour so I could still have a vegie garden to tend.

I am surrounded by love, friendship and support. This allows me to charge on and stay positive. To fight the good fight even when I’d rather scream than see another doctor or have another blood test.

I focus on and enjoy the little things everyday – being out in the sunshine, reading a good book, learning to sew, cuddles with Little B, chatting with friends and listening to great tunes. I will get better. I simply refuse to contemplate any other option!!

Healing my body with exercise

Picture courtesy of http://www.pilatesforum.org

Exercise was always going to be part of the healing process after my mold exposure. Mainly because all the weight loss has caused massive muscle wastage and made me weak.

I am lucky though that I continued with my belly dancing for as long as I could. When I could no longer do the cardio, I still went along and did the warm up, cool down and focussed on technique. It has left me with a great core of abdominal muscles to work with as well as some upper body strength. Mind you, I think lifting a 16.5 kg 3.5 year old was the main contributor there :-)

My rehab guru, Dr Paul created an exercise program for me to halt the muscle wastage without burning calories. I do this religiously to keep my body awake and also to try and fix the holes that have been left behind. The majority of my muscle wastage has been in my legs, hips and buttocks.

I’ve also taken up Pilates again. It is great at stabilizing your core and strengthening your muscles. This builds on the muscles I still have from dancing, stops any further degeneration of other muscles and rebuilds the others. Interspersed with gentle water exercise, I hope that I will be fit enough to get back to dancing early next year.

And with consistent work, I should hopefully mend a lot of damage by Christmas time next year!!

Healing my body with food

Picture courtesy of http://mediocredeli.com

The last few weeks have been full of whirlwind visits to neurologists, dieticians and rehab specialists. The consensus is the mold has primarily damaged my central nervous system – I have mycotoxin poisoning. The best visual description I was given is that my body is like a moth eaten dress. Great in some bits and missing chunks in others (For example, TMI I have muscles in one bum cheek but absolutely none in the other).

Food has been an eye opener also. I now need to avoid foods that are made of mold or prone to mold. This means no cheese, mushroom, dried fruit or strawberries to name a few. I also can no longer eat organic bread flour – it just has a greater propensity for mold spores, even if you cant see them.

Just removing these foods has seen a big improvement in my health. I’m also OD’ing on green vegetables. Green vegies bind to and remove the mycotoxins (caused by mold) from your body. The more you eat the better. I’ve always been a big vegie eater but I have increased this three fold. Broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, asian vegetables, beans…you name it, it finds it’s way into every meal. I’ve also become a big fan of Green Smoothies.

I’m eating more berries due to their abundant antioxidants. I’m lucky my local biodynamic grocer carries frozen organic blueberries and raspberries. I’m also glad we are heading into summer as fresh berries are even yummier addition to porridge or yoghurt for breakfast. Berry Radical is another addition to my diet. Full of 10 super foods it is bursting with antioxidants which are again great for getting rid of mycotoxins.

But the best news is very slowly, I am on the improve. It’s only the start of my journey back to health but it is motivating to get the even smallest of improvements :-)

Moldy House Update

Well bad news was always in the offing. I’ve been told that I will never be able to live in our little house again. The type of mold there is so endemic and deep rooted, that while it can be mainly removed, it will probably return due to the nature of the block (it’s an aquifer). I also had such a massive exposure to toxic black mold, and such a bad reaction, that I will continue to react in the same way.

Unfortunately, I have had to throw all my clothes away as well as they cannot be cleaned. The type of mold, Stachybotrys, binds to the fibres and is unable to be washed out.

So we look forward. We will fix the house but look for a new House of B in the next 12 months. The Mold may reign supreme, but then again so do we. I now need to focus on getting healthy. They say my physical rehabilitation will take about 12 months and my health will take just as long to recover if not more, so it’s all good timing really.

When you think things are bad,

when you feel sour and blue,

when you start to get mad…

you should do what I do!

Just tell yourself, Duckie,

you’re really quite lucky!

some people are much more…

oh, every so much more…

oh, muchly much-much more

unlucky than you!

- Dr Suess, Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are

There will be more challenges as we get through this. We’ve been told that when we move we have to treat our belongings as if the house burned down. All the furniture will need to be disposed of, plus our clothes and books. If we take it with us, we run the risk of contaminating a new house.

We’ve had time over the last few weeks to reflect on this change, and we are completely at peace with the situation. Can we financially afford to do this? The answer is a big fat resounding NO! Ultimately though the health and survival of our family is more important than any old house. And as the Dr Suess story says, there are worse things that could have happened to us and we are lucky we caught it in time :-)

Moldy House Update

So what to do with our moldy house? We have been told what we do depends on the type of mold we have. Some samples have been taken but it will take a while to tell us exactly what kind of mold is the cause of my health problems.

It may require mass amounts of fungicide (toxic poisons) under the house, removing all the floorboards, removing all the topsoil under the house, and finally removal and replacement of the bearers. But we have also been told that there is one kind of mold that even burning down the house would not fix.

As for my health, I can happily say there has been a slight improvement at Granny B’s house, which has been a cause for much joy. I gained half a kilo people and felt like shouting it from the roof tops :-) The bad news is the mold has damaged my central nervous system. The extent of which is not quite clear just yet. But it is fairly extensive.

So for now I’m cooking nourishing soups, making gorgeous whole food muffins and meals and enjoying planning my spring veggie garden (which has been relocated to Granny B’s house). I also start a physical rehabilitation and hydrotherapy program in the next few weeks to build up my frail little body. Kiss that muscle wastage goodbye xxx

Is your house killing you???

Is your house killing you?...because it turns out that for the last 8 months our new house has been killing me…literally. As some of you would know, I have been battling unwanted weight loss since we moved into this house. Now I know for some this would be a good thing, but for me it’s been a progressively bad thing.

It started off as losing half a kilo every fortnight. Then I would manage to gain a little, then lose it and some more. Now it has accelerated to half a kilo a week, and the maintenance weight I strive for just gets lower and lower. It doesn’t matter that I currently consume 3000 calories per day, lots of proteins, fats, do zero exercise….the weight just falls off week after week.

I have also suffered ongoing bone numbing fatigue, headaches, numbness in my arms and hands (which has been getting more aggressive), severe postural hypertension including momentary blindness (hence my recent broken nose) and a general fogginess in my thoughts. There are days I feel like I’m swimming under water – slow and sluggish, and other days where I quite literally cant get off the floor.

My local GP’s were at a loss, so I was sent off to a series of specialists, who have also been at a loss. They all agreed that there was something seriously wrong with me, but could only rule out cancer, and problems with my endocrine system to name a few. Finally, someone recommended contacting a mold toxicologist to assess our house.

Little B has also been sick, quite literally, every 8-10 days since March. He, who has never had a cough, has had many coughs plus colds, plus major congestion. He is also always tired (unrelated to the amount of sleep he has had).

When we moved in we discovered the previous owners had hidden a substantial mold problem in two of the bedrooms. We removed all the said walls and ceilings and replaced them with new plasterboard. Had subfloor ventilation put in to dry out under the house as it seemed to be a bit damp. Problem solved or so we thought.  It turns out there is a major mold problem under our house.

The mold is in the bearers, in the earth, and we have water pooling in odd places under the house (not from leaking pipes). Anything we have under the house grew mold but that didn’t seem odd. But now we have mold growing in the house in weird places – smack bang in the middle of a glass window that get’s full sun. Our toilet brush rotted, our washing machine grew horrid black mold on the door seal that wouldn’t come off and microscopic mold was all over my clothes and I was breathing it in (the worst bearer was under my wardrobe).

Our lovely wooden floors are bringing these mold spores in via osmosis. No room is immune.

After speaking to a mold toxicologist, and a building biologist, Little B and I have moved out of the House of B for the time being. I’m currently undergoing round after round of tests to see how much damage this mold has done to my body. You see it turns out that mold can be so toxic that it can induce autoimmune or neurological diseases, damage your lungs, and even in some cases cause permanent damage to your body.

We still don’t know what the future holds for us or this little house.

Mold - 1, The B Family – 0

Toxic House

It looks like the new House of B is rapidly descending into a disaster ☹ Despite our best intentions, it would appear that we have bought a toxic house. The previous owners went to extraordinary lengths to hide a substantial mold problem. And the more we uncover the worst it seems to get.

So far we are unable to use the master bedroom. Initially we “only” found a bad mold patch on the ceiling in a wardrobe. But on pulling the wardrobe out to address the problem, we have discovered mold on the entire wall as well, and in the insulation. So all has been pulled out. And on pulling out a wooden wall in the same room, we have discovered substantial mold all over that wall too.

So all the walls in the room are going to be pulled out today (thanks Mr B!!).

The irony is when we went looking for a new house we were looking to avoid mold due to Mr B’s asthma and Little B’s allergies. We turned this house over from top to bottom but the owners had hidden the mold problem with wooden overlays, chest of drawers and other creative ways.

Another bedroom has another wardrobe riddled with mold as well. But this is from what we assume to be a leaking shower wall. Again this room cannot be used it smells so bad. But it will require a greater level of correction than the master bedroom and having not spoken to a plumber yet, our greatest fear is that the bathroom will need to be torn out as well.

So in the interim, we are:
• ripping out and correcting what we can afford to correct,
• a dear friend gave us a Kentia Palm as a house warming gift due to its ability to remove toxins from the air. This is currently in the worst room and we are looking at getting some more for other rooms,
• HEPA type filters in the ducted heating vents,
• Sealing up all gaps in the architraves etc to prevent toxic air entering our main living areas,

And as a last resort I am looking into getting a mold toxicologist in as I am quite scared that this amount of mold could be doing serious damage to our health ☹ It might be that we cant live here until it is fixed.