Housing issue for son

[tastyjane]

Re: Housing issue for son

Well they went back yesterday and within hours of being back in the flat Josh's symptoms have begun to re-appear. We could actually see his mood lift whilst he was at home He also got the results from his carbon monoxide blood tests today and they are negative which brings us back again to a reaction to the mold.

My husband has now taken this into his hands - the landlords agents are saying that the mold is caused by something they are doing in the flat causing excessive condensation - they have suggested that they just wash it down. We are now getting the mold tested to establish the strain then the doctors will carry out a blood test but without the actual strain of the mold they cannot do anything. Dave is going to contact the agents tomorrow and demand to speak directly to the Landlord - I hope you don't mind PlanB he is going to share the link you posted re the actress dying last year. Tonight Josh and his girlfriend have gone back to her parents house as its only 1 1/2 hours from Wakefield and they will travel into work tomorrow from there.

This cannot go on, we are pulling our hair out and its awful to see your child be so affected by something and have no answers.

Jane x

[cymruambyth]

Re: Housing issue for son

Hi, sorry that you are no further forward, though at least you can see the symptoms developing when he goes back home, so that you know that there is an actual problem at the flat. How long will the tests take on the mould? It must be very difficult not being able to do anything when you can see your child suffering; they are never too old for you to worry about them!

[tastyjane]

Re: Housing issue for son

We have to decide whether to send for an online test (DIY get some immediate results and then send off for a lab report) or see if the EH man has come up with a local company that can go out and test for us. Dave is chasing tomorrow - the problem is this isn't high priority for anyone else - yes there is mold on the ceiling but it isn't horrific, just a complete line from one end of the bedroom to the other in splatters like someone has waved a paint brush around - I know that they will have seen much much worse damp/mold issues but I do not seem to be able to get anyone to understand that certain types of mold are toxic! They look at Josh and see someone feeling poorly but in control - as they now have the windows open and they have completely isolated the bedroom. I suppose the best thing we could do is open the bedroom door, shut the windows and then call them back 24 hours later - they would see a very different sight! But I cannot do that to him, he becomes so confused and almost drunk, totally unable to maintain a conversation and at the worst point last week could hardly string two words together!

Its like living a nightmare and as time goes on and we eliminate more things I think Josh thinks he is losing his marbles!

Thanks for asking, someone caring means a lot.

Jane x

[PlanB]

Re: Housing issue for son

I hope you don't mind PlanB he is going to share the link you posted re the actress dying last year.

Jane, I want you to ignore this link which I'm posting on this thread. I want you to show it to your Landlord and your Landlord's agent so that they will sit up and take notice. Toxic mould takes years and years to kill. I'm utterly convinced that your son will be OK. His girlfriend lives at the same property and she is not suffering any of the same symptoms as him which is a good sign, and possibly an indication that your son may have an allergy to the mould (or something else) and not a life threatening problem.

What I'm hoping is that this scary You Tube story will help you to get those who are responsible to focus and not sweep this problem under the carpet, but I'm sure your son will be OK.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC-gIi_GmEo

[tastyjane]

Re: Housing issue for son

PlanB you are a star..... Have this clip in the armoury now too - Dave waiting for a call back from the landlord.... property management company going out on Saturday to do an inspection of the gas boiler and cooker and check the mold.

Jane x

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Housing issue for son

Glad it's progressing a little, Jane.
Has anyone spoken to the upstairs tenants to see if they have any issues?
Sending hugs xxx

[tastyjane]

Re: Housing issue for son

Yes, Elsa josh has spoken to him, it's his bedroom and nothing unusual. Josh had another liver function test today, results due Tuesday. Landlord not happy to talk to us till management company does their report. So frustrating ....

Jane x

[PlanB]

Re: Housing issue for son

PlanB you are a star.....

I know


Seriously though, I hope no rent has been paid during this investigation phase. Or in the very least you've put the Landlord and/or Agent on notice that you will be seeking a rent refund. Or better still ask the Landlord and/or Agent to confirm that they will not be seeking any rent to be paid while the investigation continues.

[PlanB]

Re: Housing issue for son

it's his bedroom and nothing unusual. Josh had another liver function test today, results due Tuesday. Landlord not happy to talk to us till management company does their report

The tenant above may not think there is anything unusual but your son's ceiling will be the upstairs' floor. Water pipes run under the floorboards so if there were a leak from a small fracture causing this mould it would go unnoticed by the people above. Ditto gas pipework runs under the floorboards.

Today the gas system will be tested for flaws. On Tuesday Josh will get his liver function tests. The mystery is about to be solved. I've got your PM and I agree with you that the last thing you need on top of all this is a 'domestic'. Carry on paying the rent and then claim it back once the you have the official diagnosis of both your son and this 'sick building'. It'll all be sorted soon

[tastyjane]

Re: Housing issue for son

Thanks PlanB bad day today, Josh very down and lashing out at me! As his mum he expects me to solve his problems and I can't. Feel so useless my son is falling apart and I cannot make him better feeling very low, I know in my gut this building is slowly killing him but no one is taking us seriously

jane x

[cymruambyth]

Re: Housing issue for son

You are fighting and you will win. Environmental health are taking you seriously. Try not to be too despondent as you will have results and hopefully action in the next few days.

[PlanB]

Re: Housing issue for son

Josh very down and lashing out at me! As his mum he expects me to solve his problems and I can't. Feel so useless my son is falling apart and I cannot make him better feeling very low, I know in my gut this building is slowly killing him but no one is taking us seriously

Please don't think like that. Try and look at this logically. Your son has no reason to want to die. He's not going to stay in a situation which he thinks will kill him is he? He's lashing out at you because he's scared. All children do that be they four years old or twenty-four years old. He's as frustrated as you are by not knowing what's the matter with him.

There's still a possibility that it could be things other than the mould which are making him poorly. I'd be yelling at his doctor for letting it go on so long without a diagnosis and get those blood tests run quick smart. You could be barking up the wrong tree about mould. Just because you can actually see it you've latched on to that as a possible cause. But his girlfriend isn't suffering so maybe it's something completely different.

My daughter was desperately ill for two years with symptoms which pointed to cystitis and that's what the doctor treated her for unsuccessfully. When she finally collapsed the hospital discovered she had hundreds of parasite worms growing in her bladder following a trip to Africa years earlier You can imagine how I freaked out. I skipped a month's mortgage payment and took her to a private specialist and she immediately began to recover. I started a thread on the forum but I lost the plot under the stress, Niddy had to take the thread away and clean it up from all my hysterical posts before putting it back so I do know what you're going through, I really do. You're not the first mother to worry Here's me doing the same only this is the edited version

http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...the-GP-and-sue

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Housing issue for son

As PlanB says it's perfectly natural honey. My son and I never normally fall out, but while he was awaiting his diagnosis he had a right hissy fit at my birthday dinner and ruined the night for everyone. Never even got to eat my meal. He was abjectly apologetic and in tears afterwards, but we all understood it was the stress he was under.
This will be sorted, you can't do anymore than you're already doing and I'm sure Josh will understand that when he's feeling better.

[tastyjane]

Re: Housing issue for son

Thanks both, PlanB how awful for you and your daughter - to be honest I am beginning to wonder if I need to pay for Josh to see a private specialist. Well over the weekend Josh and Han bleached the mold, cleaned the flat from top to bottom and decided that they needed to move back into the bedroom. Fast forward to this lunchtime and I have a son sobbing on the phone as he feels so bad I have now taken it into my hands - they are once again booked into a hotel - I have had a long talk with Han's dad this evening and he too is going to contact the letting agent and tell them we are now stopping the rent until they arrange testing of the mold. Tomorrow we receive Josh's second lot of liver results and if they are worse then I am moving him back home, he will have to go on the sick from work and if the worst comes to the worst and he loses his job we will deal with it. We cannot go on like this; Josh is worried that it isn't the mold and he will look a fool but I cannot think of any other way to go.......

The only thing in my mind after reading your thread PlanB is that he returned from travelling in March - whilst in Asia he did sustain a spider bite but was treated while he was there and when he returned he was well, he worked on a local river boat and was doing 18 hour shifts 6 days a week and although a little grumpy was not poorly.

It is so hard just not knowing what is causing this; if it isn't environmental why does he feel so much better when he is away from the flat? Or is it, as my mum and family keep on saying, just that his mind thinks he feels better while he is away from there?

Jane x

[PlanB]

Re: Housing issue for son

Good to see you are now taking control of the situation

I hope my thread didn't spook you, but I wanted to subtly get across the point that in my daughter's case the doctor was assuming she had woman's problems when in fact she had 400+ worms running riot in her body because she swam naked in an African lake She was too scared to tell me or the GP the truth because she had been warned not to do it. She also didn't tell me about the third degree burn on her leg from the exhaust pipe of a Harley Davidson motor bike on which she was riding pillion in only a bikini because she thought I'd be cross since she wasn't wearing a helmet at the time On that occasion she was taken to hospital in the back of a pick-up truck and I only discovered the full horror of this story when her friend Lisa had one too many white wines at my place and dished the dirt.



If your son feels better when he's away from the flat that could be for the same reason that my daughter felt better when I took her to Top Shop to buy *stuff* despite the fact she had 400+ worms inside her. It's called 'distraction'