My connection to Morgan’s story is personal. I, too, suffer from chronic illness caused by toxic mold exposure. My journey also bears striking resemblance to what Morgan and many Americans face, often unknowingly.
As an extremely career-focused student, I always anticipated that my career would be my priority upon graduation from USC Annenberg in 2017. Yet, I was faced with an unexpected battle that has made healing the center of my focus for the last two years.
The summer after graduation, I moved into an apartment in West Los Angeles with three of my closest friends from school. We had been searching for a unit for months, and finally found a beautiful, clean, spacious four-bedroom apartment, in the area we wanted to live. It almost felt too good to be true.
After a few months, I started experiencing extreme fatigue. Some mornings, it felt impossible to get up for work. I remember constantly fighting the urge to fall asleep at my desk. After a workday, I would often collapse in bed closing my eyes for the night as early as 5 p.m. One of my roommates, Delaney Baute, was also battling newfound issues. She developed an insomnia so intense that she could go an entire week with just a few hours of sleep in total.
Fast forward eight months, I returned home from work on March 2, 2018, and noticed a few drops of water in the middle of my bedroom floor. I could see no leak from above or signs of spilled water. But when I stepped on the floorboard covered with droplets, it gave way, exposing water that had accumulated underneath.
Immediately, I called the property manager and told her there was water coming up through the floorboards. She told me to go to the living room to check for water under the floorboards on the right side. I found more water there and grew suspicious about why she knew exactly where to instruct me to look. Sure enough, we later learned this was an ongoing problem. And tenants before us had moved out of the unit because of repeated flooding.
Over the course of the next month, we had several more water flooding episodes. Our concern turned to the possibility of mold growth under the floorboards. We knew moisture had been accumulating for some time. We asked the property management company and building owners to conduct a mold test. They denied our request, saying they saw no “visible signs of mold” that would warrant a formal inspection.
Worried about our health and what they might be trying to cover up, we hired our own mold inspector. Though expensive, we knew it was necessary. Mold testing experts, Mold Inspection Sciences, completed a visual inspection, and collected surface samples and air samples from multiple places throughout the apartment.
The tests found mold growing underneath the floorboards and inside the walls of the apartment. These were the breeding grounds for the mold growth itself, but the toxins were not contained to these areas. Invisible to the naked eye, they were airborne, traveling throughout the apartment and unsuspectingly wreaking havoc on our health.
I saw a mold-literate doctor and learned that my body was accumulating the toxins released from the mold. My elevated mycotoxin levels correlated with the same strains of mold found in the apartment. I also had lab workups and genetic testing done. The genetic testing confirmed that I am among the 25 percent of people with a genetic predisposition to become ill from mold, and my lab markers were consistent with a diagnosis of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), a condition caused by mold exposure. My body was under attack from mold toxins, causing a constant state of internal inflammation. We moved out of the apartment, got rid of much of our belongings, and I started my long journey to recovery.
Fast forward to May 2020, and it’s been over two years since I learned of the mold exposure. Just a few of the symptoms I have experienced, some on an unrelenting everyday basis include migraines, headaches, fatigue, brain fog, tremors, light sensitivity, memory loss, muscle aches, and joint pain.
Since my initial diagnosis of CIRS, I have also tested positive for other conditions related to the toxic mold exposure including chronic Lyme disease and co-infections, virus activations, thyroid disorders, heavy metal toxicity, mast cell activation syndrome, among others. My doctors told me the mold exposure broke the backbone of my immune system, allowing other infections and conditions to take hold.
There’s no standardized method of treating my illnesses. What works for one patient, often does not work for another. Healing from the toxic mold exposure and all the related illnesses is complex. You often take one step forward followed by a few steps back. From Western Medicine, to Eastern Medicine, to integrative medicine, to functional medicine, I have tried a variety of treatment protocols, most of them not covered by insurance. Just a few of the treatments that I have gone through include pharmaceutical medications, supplement protocols, ozone blood infusions, stem cells, herbal regimens, IV and oral antibiotics, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. While certain symptoms and conditions have improved, others continue to be a problem, and I am still on my long road to recovery.
Turning to social media for answers
Very quickly after we found the mold in the apartment, I did what I do best, and what I am now trained to do as a journalist—investigate and search for answers. I started searching and consuming content related to mold exposure, mycotoxins, mold illness, and treatment protocols. I have spent seemingly endless hours soaking up as much information as I could to help my case, and in the process, I discovered a thirst and passion for this content.
Surprisingly, the places where I found the most answers and guidance from others happened to be Facebook groups where I learned from those who have gone through journeys like mine. The Toxic Mold, CIRS and Lyme Disease group on Facebook has over 25,000 members. Some posts get hundreds of answers and comments from others providing insight. Not only is it a place where people seek information, but also where they get comfort in the fact that they are not alone.
Throughout this journey, I have had the support of my family, but I also have had my best friend Delaney by my side, going through it with me, every single step of the way. Our health conditions, symptoms, diagnoses, and treatments have been strikingly similar, which is not surprising as we lived in the apartment together and we both have that unlucky genetic predisposition. She has been a sounding board for every question, thought, or treatment idea I have had. She’s the first person I call to discuss the details of a doctor’s appointment, or to breakdown in tears during a moment of distress. I am keenly aware of just how lucky I am to have her.
I’ve read plenty of stories of patients whose marriages ended because one spouse was sick and the other wasn’t, the sick spouse begging the other to sell the house and move, while the healthy spouse refused to accept that two people could be living under the same roof, one sick from toxic mold, the other completely fine. I truly cannot imagine how hard it would be to go through this alone, with no support from friends or family.
CHRONICLING OUR HEALTH JOURNEY THROUGH THE DETOXING DUO
Stories like those are what inspired me and Delaney to build our own community and platform so that no one who is going through a chronic health journey like ours feels lost or alone. Our brand, started on Instagram, is called The Detoxing Duo. Our mission is to empower others to be their own best health advocates through education, connection, and inspiration. We have an insatiable curiosity for learning, research, and all things detox. Our purpose through The Detoxing Duo is to share our story and our constantly evolving health journey, as well as inspire others to live a cleaner lifestyle, embracing wellness in all aspects of life.
Our account quickly gained traction, and a year later, we have grown to over 5,000 engaged followers. Through creating content that is rooted in evidence and facts, we have built a name for ourselves that people can turn to and trust. We’ve developed relationships and gotten support from some of the biggest doctors in the integrative medicine space who repost our content regularly.
The Detoxing Duo’s initial demographic was the mold and lyme communities, yet as we have grown we have expanded to include a more general-wellness geared audience in addition to our niche. We firmly believe that everyone must detox to a certain degree as our bodies are bombarded with chemicals on a daily basis. From the pesticides in our produce, to the chemicals in our skincare, to the contaminants in tap water, these toxins build up and can lead to illness.
Perhaps one of the best parts of building this brand and community is giving back to others through sharing our journey. Our inbox is flooded with messages from our followers reaching out for guidance, connection, and to express gratitude daily. We’ve received messages from strangers telling us how they no longer feel alone, and thanking us for opening up so that they can learn from what we’re going through. Having an outlet to share our knowledge, and our journey, in order to help others, makes Delaney and me feel like all our pain and suffering has not been in vain.
reflection on my journey
It’s hard for me to articulate just how difficult this journey has been. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, I have been pushed beyond my preconceived limits. My strength, my grit, my patience, and my resilience have all been challenged, and yet, I continue to persevere, ready to take on whatever might come my way.
Though I approach each day with determination and optimism, many moments of despair and uncertainty have filled my journey. I carry vivid memories of pounding headaches and full body pain so grueling that I couldn’t move from my bed for what felt like days on end. Or the brain fog so intense that I couldn’t figure out how to do something as basic as writing down someone’s phone number as they said it to me on the phone. When I enter my bathroom, I often flash back to the episode from last year when I was so weak that I fainted while home alone, landing on the hard, cold bathroom floor, and waking up to my sweet and scared puppy kissing me. I have pushed myself to make it to school and work each day, no matter how many physical symptoms I may be hiding from my coworkers.
Emotionally, I have hit some of the lowest moments. I still battle the loss, sadness and grief over the life I thought I would be living in my young 20s. I find myself longing for the life I once lived, and yet as time goes on, I start to forget what that life even felt like, wondering how much longer I will still be fighting this illness.
I experienced the financial burden and uncertainty of how I would pay for my treatments, draining savings accounts that I worked so hard to build. And perhaps the toughest of all, I have repeatedly learned what it means to take one step forward and two steps back, constantly bracing for my baby health wins to be ripped away. This makes it so difficult to remain confident and embrace new treatment plans.
And yet, I am aware of just how lucky I am, living each day with gratitude for what I have and how much I have accomplished under these circumstances. I deeply appreciate my friends and family who help me get through the toughest moments and celebrate the smallest wins. I am never alone in this fight, as I have a friend in Delaney, who is now more like a sister, battling alongside me, with as much determination for me to get better as she has for herself.
Now knowing that so many suffer for years on end, without doctors who believe them, I know how lucky I am to have received a diagnosis so quickly and to have a medical team that hears me, sees me, understands me, and is dedicated to getting me to the finish line.
This journey shaped me into the woman I am today. A woman who has grown in profound ways since graduation three years ago. I developed a strength and spirit that cannot be broken. I have a voice and a self-built platform to tell my story. I know that through sharing my story, I am making a difference in this world. And for that, I am grateful.