Jonathan Baxter – My life has been full of mild to moderate sickness, but never anything major or noticeable by doctors. The worst diagnoses were “nothing is wrong with you” and “you need to meditate more.” By age 25, I had invested a lot of money into a naturopath, who found 5 yeast infections in me. A year of strict diet and medicine to fix this lead me to no improved health. By age 30, in 2022, I did a Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT), which lead to my first ever improvement in two symptoms. For the first time ever, I had energy all day, as well as a lack of body aches. The first Saturday I noticed this, I cleaned the entire house like I had superpowers. Around this time, I also heard about CIRS for the first time. I saw my symptoms lined up with the symptoms associated with CIRS. I took the Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) eye test and was surprised that I failed it, even though I had good vision. All of my blood markers came back pointing to CIRS as well. My home proved to be highly toxic; I did a huge remediation day, dramatically lowering my home’s toxicity. I am currently taking binders to expel the toxins from my body, as well as following strict cleaning protocols to assure a safe environment. I am also leaving my classroom teaching job of 5 years to pursue a hybrid/remote teaching position. All of this work has been a huge financial burden, as none of this is recognized by health or home insurance. I’m looking forward to the day I heal and have zero health issues.

I couldn’t understand what was happening and after being passed from doctor to doctor and diagnosis to diagnosis of fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, myofascial syndrome, occipital neuralgia and only options given was pain medicine which I didn’t want or believe to be a solution I grew tired and began to believe that maybe stress was truly my problem and I was creating all this in myself. I succumbed to believing I would live like this forever. I honestly don’t know how I made it through the last 6 years or how anyone can live with mold Illness. It’s mind boggling and there is no support. From 2020-2022 I had 6 cases of oral thrush which I had never had in my life and all kinds of digestive issues. Doctors again said it was stress which I couldn’t understand. I also tried a special diet to lose weight and on the lowest calories my body weight would not budge! In August of 2022 a friend suggested I seek an Integrative medicine doctor. I was hesitant as the cost and I had already tried so much I didn’t want to deal with another doctor, I had mostly given up, but I thought maybe heavy metals was an issue so I borrowed the money to go. I found out I do not have heavy metals but I have extremely high mycotoxin mold levels and my MMP9 marker was off the chart high. My thyroid and testosterone are low which is very common in CIRS as well as mast cell activation which I have, leaky gut, sibo and Candida which mold also causes (hence the oral thrush phenomenon). I found out that mold imitates Lyme disease which I also have many similar symptoms; however cannot afford the Lyme test. I also have electric shocks in my rib cage that no one ever thought to look into and a growth on my abdomen which again were passed over after multiple attempts to be seen by doctors for.

I’ve learned that my symptoms are from longterm exposure and I have 1-5 years of detoxing ahead of me. There’s no way of knowing the exact timeframe as everyone’s process and colonization are different. I believe it’s possible the home I lived in hawaii for a decade (prior to CA for a year then here in AZ) had mold that I didn’t know about which stayed in me. Then when the stress of caring for my father’s brain tumors & living with my mother shut my nervous system down, the mold took over. I’ve also been exposed to another family member’s home with a water damaged roof over the last 2 years. My mother’s home where I’ve lived the last 6 years has no sight or smell of mold yet was tested positive for mold. We had it dry fogged but cannot afford to clean the hvac ducts or get the air purifiers I need. The home is still left half remodeled as there’s no money to complete it and my mom and I share one toilet as the other toilet pipe has corroded. It’s a very toxic environment both mentally and physically. All the pipes under the house have to be replaced as they are rusted and old but again there is no money which is why my mom needs to sell and downsize and will no longer have room for me. I was able to borrow money from a friend in September to start detox binders and medicine, but he can no longer help me. I have no other support from family members and no other friends to help. Most people grew tired of watching me in my pain and not understanding it. I’m on state Medicaid insurance but it does not cover any of my doctor fees or health care plan and there’s so many things I need to get well and it’s a long journey ahead. I applied for disability a second time but was told I do not qualify without the work credits needed. The state gives me $200 a month for food and no other assistance being single with no children. I’ve looked into grants, funding, charities even religious organizations and there is no help.

I am a person who gives 1,000% & believe if I had funding to get the medicine and healthcare I need then within 6 months I could hopefully be well enough to find work in some capacity to be self supporting again. I also need to find a way to get a safe mold free home to live in where I can focus on my healthcare, be free of mold, relieve the stress, and let my mother sell her home and not have me as an added burden. The base amount to have the medicine, saunas, colonics and doctor care needed is approximately $6000 monthly and that doesn’t include IV or ozone therapy or any other modalities or repeated testing that will be needed – nor does it include funds for gas, extra food and mold free housing. I’m overwhelmed with what this process takes physically as well as financially and not having money or being well enough to work is extremely frustrating. I’ve been praying for a solution and Olivia’s Malachi’s foundation is a light in the dark. I pray that whoever reads this & may have funds to help me, please know from the bottom of my heart I will be forever grateful and will repay the gesture to someone else in need when I am able. Thank you very much for your time in reading my story and consideration to help. God bless, Dana Richardson