Hello. I need help.

[Guest guest]

I just joined this group today. The brief reading I've done of

some posts has told me that I've found a group of concerned,

interested, smart people who have a personal, non-financial stake in

promoting awareness and advancing the cause of " Biotoxin Induced

Illness " , CFS, MCS, and other related syndromes.

As familiar as I would guess most of you are with the specifics, I

will try to convey the highlights of our story.

We moved into rental home in '95. Mid-20s, both smokers.

Fiance diagnosed with RA in '96 (just before her 25th bday).

My recently acquired asthma got worse; I chalked it up to my smoking

habit.

I was a bartender, then had a computer consulting firm with an office

in a 100 year old warehouse.

The wife went to a holistic practitioner who helped her manage her RA

into remission for about a year.

In '98 I began working at an aircraft plant, bought the house I am

currently in, and we were married. Later the next year, the wife's

RA came back, she worked through the pain and recieved her BFA in

sculpture in 2001.

She also conceived and bore our first and only child in 2001. We

both quit smoking when we learned she was pregnant..

Fast forward 5 years:

We've had massive water leaks in our unfinished basement due

to 'hydrostatic pressure' (paid an engineer to tell us that) causing

the cinder blocks to shift. (At one point it looked like a naturally

occurring stream flowing from one wall, about 2x2 ft).

We replaced the old iron pipe from the kitchen sink drain (think

garbage disposal) with PVC, but got some of the gunk in the pipe

into the laundry room in the process.

We've patched several holes in our roof over the years, and have

water stains in the ceiling to show for it.

New naive homeowners, we didn't do a lot of maintenance on the

house. After 7 years, about 1 year ago, we committed to fixing

everything that was wrong with the house. By May of this year, we

had two new basement walls, new siding, and a new roof. (Oh, and a

new mortgage).

Also, just about 1 year ago, my wife started having some sinus

trouble. We chalked it up to the dust from the first part of the

basement work.

Throughout the process of rebuilding the foundation, redoing the

entire roof (including decking but not support members), and putting

new solid-core vinyl siding over old cedar shake, my wife's sinus

trouble was low-level but unrelenting, and we thought the fatigue was

accounted for by the RA.

As my career has progressed, I have been fortunate enough to be able

to work almost exclusively from my home; Enabling me to help with the

baby, the house, etc. However, in a recent career move, I became

largely unavailable.

By June, she was convinced that something else was wrong with her,

and was having an extreme amount of difficulty in finding a doctor

who would pay attention to her concerns.

Before long, we paid for a 'mold consultant' to come investigate our

home. Early in this process, we were gunshy about paying the

$60/sample for the 8 samples he wanted to take, so he relied solely

on his eyes and experience. All he really wound up telling us was

where the hot-spots were. Not too long after that, we committed our

nest egg to 'remediating our home'. I'm very allergic, so I

suggested she visit an allergist. The scratch tests all came out

with very low allergic reaction to just about everything. So what

was causing the chronic sinusitis?

Her new allergist took her tape-lifts and identified Stachybotris in

a sample from the laundry room. Just recently, Alternaria was

identified in a sample from her sinuses.

This allergist made her aware of Dr. Shoemaker and the " Mold

Warriors " book.

By now, regular readers in this forum are nodding knowingly.

Almost $9000 later, my wife cannot re-enter this house. Ever. She

can't be around me after I've been in the house. Right now, I cannot

leave it because of my career. Our family is torn apart. Just today

we are going to be hooking up a webcam at my sister's house where

they are staying so we can see each other. We talk on the phone

every day, but I really miss my family.

I feel like I'm stuck here living in this house for a number of

reasons, not the least of which is financial. We've committed to

selling the house. I've contacted a handyman to repair the damage

done by the mold-remediators, an estate executor to manage the

disposition of the house after the last time I leave, a real-estate

agent to handle the sale, and a lawyer to advise about potential

legal issues.

So, here's my plea:

Is there ANY hope of saving/cleaning any items from this house?

Is there any hope of selling this house at a fair-market value?

Are there any protocols known to remove/neutralize biotoxin

from 'stuff'? (I imagine the protocols would vary by type - metal,

textiles, plastics, etc.)

Does anyone else see an ethical concern with selling items from this

house to others?

Is there any financial support anywhere? We're broke, and I don't

see an end to the bills.

Now, I'm willing to engage in a reasoned discussion of priorities,

but please don't judge. I'm not a material person, but I do lament

the fact that all the work we've put into planning for our future (5

year, 10 year, retirement) is now all gone. As the sole breadwinner

of my family, with a disabled wife and a 5 year old, I feel a keen

need to make sure that their financial futures are secured. If we

have to follow-through with selling _everything_, plus having to take

a loss on the house, we'll lose at least 10 years from our

retirement. It is a sacrifice I'm willing to make, but not willy-

nilly.

Thank you for taking the time to read this far. Any help, thoughts,

advice, would be appreciated. Please keep it positive, but do know

that I'm open to constructive criticism.