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Toxic Mold

One Family's Story

By Donna Smith

Mold is not an uncommon problem in most homes. We've all seen that icky black "stuff" growing between the tiles around the bathtub when we've put off cleaning for too long. But there's some mold that can hide inside your house and make your family sick: toxic mold.

Susan and Michael Chick from Round Rock, Texas, suffered from mild health problems since moving into their new home in 1998. Michael battled several cases of the flu, as well as sinus problems and migraines. Susan, who became pregnant right after moving into the house, suffered from the same, as well as some other aches and pains, but attributed them to pregnancy. In April 2001, after having a heat pump replaced, their symptoms got worse. Michael's headaches increased, he developed muscle aches, had a hard time concentrating, and suffered from short-term memory problems. Susan's problems increased as well.

"I started having a lot of muscle aches and very bad fatigue -- to the point of having trouble functioning," she says. "I had concentration problems and short-term memory problems." Susan could no longer concentrate enough to work on her Web development hobby, and had to carry a pen and pad of paper everywhere she went so she could write things down. Sometimes she would walk into a room and not know why she was there.

To what do the Chicks attribute the deterioration of their health? "When they pulled it (the heat pump) out, they showed us how it was clogged with mold," says Susan Chick. Later she would find out what type of mold was growing in her home: Stachybotrys, plus 11 other types of dangerous mold.

The Chicks weren't the only ones affected. Their two children, Seth, 4 1/2, and William, 15 months, also developed severe health problems. Seth was 2 1/2 when the Chicks moved into the new house. Not long after, he developed pneumonia; echolalia, an autistic trait of repeating words; and had an allergic reaction to penicillin where he broke out in hives, ran a fever, and had joint swelling in the legs and arms so bad in the arms and legs that he couldn't walk. Two weeks after the reactions, the Chicks had to rush Seth to the emergency room. By the age of 3, Seth started having speech problems.