Your House Might Be Making You Sick

Over the last dozen years, my children's pediatrician and I have forged a wonderfully open patient-doctor relationship. Sadly, it is because my kids are often sick. Amping up after my kids turned one, like clock-work, we are visiting his office on a very regular basis. Winter, spring, summer, fall. The time of year rarely affects how often my kids are sick.

Trading off and passing between them, my kids are often afflicted with upper respiratory issues. Sinus infections, bronchitis and strep throat for my daughter and strep throat and sinus infections for my son. Certainly not the 'sharing' I had in mind in teaching them to be generous. No sooner would they finish one course of antibiotics before the symptoms would reappear. In any given month, at least one of my kids is battling against symptoms, or in the midst of, an illness.

In fact, even if only one child is sick at the time of the office visit, my doctor will take a quick look at the other child knowing that symptomatic or not, they will often have the same ailment at the same time.  We joke that if Elise complains of sinus pain, it is surely strep throat. Same with Adam. The sad reality is that 9 times of out 10, I diagnose them before we step foot in his office, and he is never surprised to see us.

Originally, we thought it was allergens. In college I was diagnosed with just about every outdoor allergen known to man and presumed I had passed it along to my kids. But, no, they were free from any allergen, including cats, dogs and birds, which have lived in our home, either past or present.  Having their adenoids and tonsils removed did help a bit, but not drastically like it did for me when I had them removed as an adult.

School educators and administrators encouraged me that as they grew older, their immunities would increase and their illnesses would decrease. Sadly, that has not been the case; in fact, my son has missed 5 or 6 full days of school this school year alone with 3 separate strep throat infections.  If anything, I have seen an increase in Adam's infections. (Elise had an equally strep-throat filled year in the previous school year. This year, she seems a bit healthier.)

The most frustrating part of their illness is the 'why' behind their frequent infections. I am a fastidious, conscientious housekeeper--regularly changing their bedding, hand and body towels; keeping the dust and dirt to a minimum. My kids are regularly washing their hands and eating healthfully. So what gives?

The answer was as close as our master bathroom shower. Leaning one hand against the tile to steady myself as I adjusted the water temperature, I suddenly lost my balance and my hand went through the tile. Yes, through it.

After having just remodeled our master bedroom this past October, we had talked about remodeling the two full bathrooms in our second level during 2012. We knew they were outdated and poorly maintained. Even after power scrubbing, the bathrooms fail to have that truly clean appearance because of the dirty grout and peeling caulk.They were in need of a make-over.

After taking a closer look, my handy-man husband Tony could tell that the damage to the shower wall was far more than cosmetic. There was moisture that was trapped behind the shower that had caused severe mold and damage to the structure behind the tiles. While he was hoping to make a temporary fix until we could afford the remodel, it was quickly discovered we needed to act fast. Not only did we have a serious mold issue--we had a serious BLACK mold issue. Completely encased behind the entire wall was solid black mold.

Over about a two-week period, my talented husband removed the support beams and insulation and built an entirely new wall, while moving and improving upon the plumbing. Adding new faucets, drains and a seamless tub surround, we were able to remove all traces of the black mold in our master bathroom.

Black mold is a particularly dangerous fungus to be exposed to and is directly linked to chronic respiratory infections and, in some cases, neurological impairment. (To read more about black mold, click here.)

Could this be the answer to my question of 'why' my kids are sick so often? I sure hope so. Just from the few weeks that our property has been rid of the mold, my daughter is no longer congested on a daily basis. In fact, she is off all preventive non-allergic rhinitis medications. For Adam, he has been strep throat free for approximately 6 weeks, with no new onset of symptoms. Fingers crossed, I am hoping we have turned a serious corner.

Only time will tell if this was the cause of their chronic illnesses--and we are not 100 percent certain that the hallway bathroom the kids share is mold-free. From a visual and construction stand-point, Tony believes that their bathroom is in much better condition, with a sturdy wall behind the tiled shower.  Still, finishing the remodel of our master bathroom and replacing the shower in the hall bathroom is more a priority than ever before.

With this being cold and flu season I do not necessarily expect my kids to stay healthy until summer, but I am already encouraged by the lack of symptoms they have had since that fateful day my hand plummeted through our tile and the mold removed.

Rarely do we consider what we cannot see. But if you, a family member, a colleague or friend is chronically ill and cannot find the source, perhaps it is worth investigating the possibility of the hidden mold problem in your own home.