Yesterday morning, I realized that the van was pretty badly contaminated and that I felt better when I got away from it. I walked away from the van and then back towards it over and over to confirm this. There’s no denying it. I feel worse the closer I get to the van. My joints definitely hurt more.
So today, Brett cleared everything out of the van and set all of our stuff out in the sun to denature. The sun is really good at remediating contaminated items! We even laid our mattress out on the grass to get some of that powerful sunshine. Then Brett wiped down the front of the van and left all the doors open so the wind could blow through.
He also washed some new bedding that we got yesterday and all of our curtains. When he went into town this evening he vacuumed the floor of the van too! It’s already feeling much better!
My big job for the day was just to breathe the good air and recover from the relapse. I did make salad for lunch though! I haven’t been able to do much to help these last five days so it felt good to be able to make lunch. Maybe by tomorrow I’ll be feeling so much better that I can do laundry? Who knows! That would be wonderful! I can definitely feel the good air working it’s magic on me. 😉
By the way, Brett and I made a beautiful PDF of my favorite resources for suffering souls. I created the content and he made it look fancy with his superduper graphic design skills. It’s available for free to my email subscribers. Click here to sign up and receive 5 Resources for the Suffering Soul.
16 Comments
This is where a trailer is easier than a van.
The tow vehicle serves as “suspect item purgatory”
Another plus is the ability to leave trailer in a good place for those visits into town.
June 24, 2017 at 9:21 pmYeah… I can see what you’re saying.
June 25, 2017 at 4:00 pmYAY!!!!!!! Glad you were able to figure that out and know what caused it. Continuing to pray for you guys.
June 24, 2017 at 9:39 pmThank so much Natalie!
June 25, 2017 at 4:03 pmHI Ana, I have MCAS and am in Rapid. I wanted to tell you the same week you were reacting were after the rain storm, I was reacting also. I noticed mushrooms in our yard, which means the mold spores are active. And the wind is not helping. I was 75-80% bed bound until I was treated for MCAS. Let me know if I can do anything. But praying you feel well soon. You are so brave!!!
June 25, 2017 at 11:50 amHi Maiysa,
June 25, 2017 at 3:04 pmI couldn’t help but take note and feel encouraged with what you said about your MCAS treatment. I was wondering if I could connect with you via email? We are on a journey with Lyme, MCAS, among other health issues and continue looking in all directions to help our daughter. I am so grateful Ana is sharing her story…it gives us hope! My email is: [email protected] if you wo
So interesting we were reacting at the same time! I’m not suprised!
June 25, 2017 at 4:02 pmSo glad to hear you have a good place to stay! It’s so amazing what the clean air can do. I’m praying you can see your family again very soon!
June 25, 2017 at 11:51 amI know, right? 😊 Thank you so much for praying!
June 25, 2017 at 4:02 pmAlso, you have a pretty decent doctor in New York if or when you go back there. Here is her information. http://www.drannemaitland.net Also, there is Dr. Afrin, who just quit in Minnesota. There is Dr. Castells at Brigham and Women’s in Boston, but she usually needs tests or some type of confirmation for an appointment. There are a few others if you need. Just let me know. I think there is one in Colorado as well. Like I said I was 75-80% bed bound, and still struggle, but I have very good normal days now. It’s amazing. I can drive for the first time without seizures. Woohoo. I am being relentless because I ignored many warnings, and I was finally kicked off of a blog and told do not come back here till you see a doctor. I didn’t think I had it or thought it was that big of a deal until the moderator and several others said, you have a life threatening illness, and it can be dangerous. I thought wow, fine, so I went to the doctor, and he said you don’t have that! It’s very rare. Unfortunately, I had it. Not all patients test positive, actually most don’t- I tested positive on two tests. And it’s not that rare I am finding. I didn’t know that what I was experiencing was actually a grade of anaphylaxis. Please look into MCAS and a diagnosis ASAP if you can. Sorry, I am a mother bear at heart. I don’t want to see anyone suffer with this for a day longer than they have to. IT’s truly HELL on earth. But wow, you are so brave and love your strength. You are going to do well. You are one of those patients that is going to see results because you are so strong willed and will do anything to get better.
June 25, 2017 at 12:27 pmGod Bless your journey! Sincerely,
Tommi
Hi Tommi,
Thanks for sharing your story and for the recommendations. I’m so glad to hear you’re doing so much better! Yay for recovery! 😊💕
I did have MCAS complete with hives and near anaphylaxis almost daily. I was on several anti-histamines and mast cell stabilizers and an extremely low histamine diet but it was an uphill battle until I started mold avoidance. Now my MCAS is very well managed. I haven’t had hives in months and I used to have them multiple times daily. I’m no longer taking any drugs for my MCAS and I can eat high histamine foods without reacting. My chemical sensitivity is also almost gone. I truly believe that in my case the MCAS was triggered by mold toxicity and I’ve heard of other patients who experienced the same phenomenon.
June 25, 2017 at 4:01 pmAna-this is so encouraging. Wow!!! So you took the cromolyn sodium or gastrocrom I should say? It took me almost a year on it to help significantly, but of course I still react. I am sorry, I assumed from your story you were still reacting. But this is good news that you are feeling better. Wow! I am going to share your story on my Facebook page. I don’t think MCAS is 100% on what they think causes it. My mother did have an elevated tryptase. So for me they are thinking something new discovered by Dr. Milner at NIH called Familial Tryptasemia. Who knows. But the mold spores are alive and well in Rapid City today due to all the rain again, so I can feel it today, but nothing like in Vegas. You know what I am talking about. 🙂 Tommi
June 29, 2017 at 11:35 amSorry for the confusion! Mold and biotoxins are really the only things I still react to but not in a MCAS way. I’m not having the acute allergy-like symptoms anymore. What I do have when I’m exposed to mold is just a gradual increase in my Lyme Disease type symptoms– chronic pain, fatigue, brain fog, chest pain etc.
June 29, 2017 at 2:12 pmMaiysa,
I don’t know if you’ll see this comment, but it would be awesome if you did. What doctor in Colorado treats MCAS? I live in Colorado. 🙂
Thanks,
September 18, 2017 at 4:59 amAnn
Yippy for a clean van and for recovery from the relapse. It’s amazing what clean air, clean bedding, and clean surroundings can do. It makes me wonder how much better we all would feel if the world had less contaminants in it. Unfortunately, us humans have done a bad job filling it all up with toxins and chemicals. I’ve been a “natural” person now for over 20 years, but everyday it feels more and more like side stepping land mines. But as more and more people demand natural products etc, it seems to get easier to live that way. And I’m thankful for the ability to do so. I feel certain we’re all going to get a good report here soon, Ana, that you’re able to see your family again!! And I’ll praise the Lord alongside you!!
June 25, 2017 at 9:46 pmI definitely agree with you Chris! A lot of mold illness patients believe that it’s some of these chemicals we’re putting into the environment that are messing up the microbial balance in certain location and allowing these toxic molds to grow more rampantly and produce more dangerous toxins.
June 29, 2017 at 2:18 pm