Day 42 | Driven Away by a Plume

April 20, 2017

Well… Today was a much better day… until 10:30pm! I had enough energy to do the laundry and take a short walk. Brett was able to get some work done and we even got to talk to my family over the phone.

Unfortunately, things took a dramatic turn for the worse as we started getting ready for bed. I got this stabbing pain in my heart. Oh dear! A classic biotoxin exposure symptom. Again a sharp pain in my heart. Then over and over. As many as five stabs in 30 seconds.

We decided to drive away from our campsite to see if changing locations would make it go away. We drove 10 miles up the road but the stabbing pains continued and I got scared. I started praying really hard!

Brett suggested I try getting out of the car to see if I was reacting the car itself. I didn’t have any new stabbing pains while I stood outside for a minute so we decided to get back in the car and start driving to our campsite. Maybe it was the car and we could sleep in the tent instead? But why did the car go bad all the sudden? That didn’t make any sense.

But as we drove in the direction of our campsite the stabbing chest pain returned followed by throat swelling. Then I started feeling like my brain was being squeezed over and over. Ouch! Another classic symptom. It seemed to be getting worse the closer we got to our campsite. Maybe it was the location? I took a Benadryl and we turned around again.

We didn’t get very far before we decided to stop and make sure it wasn’t the car after all. I got out of the car, walked 30 feet away, took a few deep breaths and waited. This time my symptoms did not improve. At this point, we had no idea what to do so we decided to keep driving away from our campsite. Then it struck me, today was a really windy day! Could it be a plume of mold spores and biotoxins from a bad city? Other mold avoiders have reported plumes traveling several hundred miles.

“What direction was the wind blowing today when you were sitting up on the bluff?” Brett asked.

“It was blowing into my face, but from the left side.” I said.

“I think that’s southwest.” Brett said. “But let’s stop and see what direction it’s blowing now.”

We stopped, pulled out our iPhone compass, and stuck our fingers up in the air. We both agreed, it was still blowing from the southwest. Were there any problematic cities within “pluming distance”? I pulled up a map. Sure enough Phoenix and Tucson, both reported to be problematic by mold avoiders, are directly southwest of El Malpais National Monument!

It seemed bizarre but we decided to try driving east, out of the wind’s path. Sure enough, my symptoms began to lessen! We found a spot by the side of the road, about 40 miles away from our campsite and settled down to sleep. I should have decontaminated like a good mold avoider but it was 2:00am. The whole ordeal had lasted over 3 hours and we were exhausted! We’d start being good mold avoiders again in the morning.

I send out a weekly digest with updates about my mold avoidance adventures. To receive these updates click here.

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4 Comments

  • Kirstie Rhys

    Still prayin’ for you guys!!

    April 21, 2017 at 11:06 pm Reply
  • Ruth Meyer

    Ow, that stabbing pain sounds like something I’ve had before, that didn’t last long, but hurt a lot and was quite disconcerting (a fancy word for scary that people use when they are trying to act brave). Seems you are facing a monster of a different kind out in the desert: dust plumes! At least you don’t have sand people and jawas… unless you count whoever robbed you 🙁 … glad we have the Lord on our side, and don’t have to rely on blasters or “the force”. 🙂 Star Wars can’t compete with the adventures you two have been having. Drive safe. Praying for you

    April 22, 2017 at 8:02 am Reply
  • Moriah

    Wow! That’s crazy. Glad y’all were able to figure out the cause.

    Ana, I wanted to share something a friend passed alone to my sisters and me. The rich comfort contained in this quote has lingered with me over the past few days, and I’ve had it on my heart to share it with you, too:

    “Dear friend, if both your circumstances and your spirits sink, all will be well if you lean on God alone. Never fear that you will become weary to Him, and never ask as little as possible. He says, ‘Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it’ (Ps. 81:10). Never trust Him just a little. Never give Him only a part of your cares. Never rest just a portion of your trials on Him. Lean on Him with all your weight. Bring on the tons, pounds, and ounces and throw them all on God. Do not carry an extra ounce yourself. God loves His children to place their entire confidence in Him.” -Excerpt from Beside Still Waters by C.H. Spurgeon

    He is so tenderly gracious. Nothing is left for us to carry. Not even an ounce.

    Praying for blessings and comfort in tribulation…
    Moriah

    April 22, 2017 at 10:56 am Reply
  • Natalie Julson

    Praying for you guys!

    April 22, 2017 at 8:13 pm Reply
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