People often ask me why I'm so adamant about clean air inside their homes.
The answer is simple: I've been afflicted by an inhaled mold spore since 1950 and I don't want it to happen to them or their children.
When I was a toddler, growing up in West Texas, I inhaled a Cocci Mold Spore and caught "Valley Fever."
Valley Fever is a common ailment in the area and people who get it normally feel bad for a few days and get over it, kind of like the flu or a bad cold.
A few of us however are "special" so it's more severe.
In my case the spore circulated through my body until it found a place to grow - in my right wrist.
And it grew and it grew. It became so large that it appeared like half of a tennis ball had been implanted under the skin of my right wrist.
Treatment over the years had been unsuccessful and the cause undetermined until a biopsy in 1994 came back with the diagnosis of "Coccidiomycosis."
WOW! What an ominous name.
Unfortunately this surgery was unsuccessful (as were the next two) and the growth kept coming back.
The doctor said, "You won't die from it but you will die with it." I think that's a little Doctor humor.
Anyway, the doctor prescribed a daily dose of a very expensive antifungal medication that was so strong that he checked my liver function monthly for a while then every 6-months. . . for 14-years!
I had so much anti-fungus medicine in me that when I walked past mushrooms in the grocery store, they wilted.
Altogether I had 5 operations over 56 years and took 200 to 400 mg of Diflucan for 14 years.
The last operation seems to have gotten it under control and I look forward to a life without swelling wrists or Antifungals.
I tell this story not to illicit sympathy, but to make you aware of the vulnerability of the human immune system. Items commonly found inside our homes can affect us.
We should all do everything we can to keep healthy, but special provisions should be made for children, elderly and anyone with an immune deficiency.
Everyone should be able to breath clean air inside their home and it is my objective to provide for you, in your home, the cleanest air possible.
