Settling in at my first "Safe House"

 

So, we're getting used to hotel life, having been driven to evacuate the apartment that was contaminated with mold.

The cats are acting normal again, now that they've gotten used to the place. Well, stripey cat is currently standing on his hind legs with his front paws pressed against a full-length mirror, admiring and pawing at his reflection. So, yes, "normal."  ;)

"home"

I've got everything sprayed with (or soaked in) vinegar and also a grapefruit seed extract (GSE) + tea tree oil + water spray. Everything I had to bring from home, that was therefore contaminated, is in clean, new baggies.

These are kind of "emergency" stopgap measures, until I can transition to all new things that were never contaminated by mold and/or mycotoxins. (mycotoxins are the biotoxins that mold releases into the air. some so potent that they have literally been used in biowarfare.)  I'm also storing things in little metal tins, since mycotoxins don't go through metal and can usually be cleaned off metal surfaces.

Erik Johnson says that "Moldies" (people who got seriously ill due to mold) do a lot of sniffing and washing, and I've quickly come to learn that that is the comical truth. I think of that statement and giggle every time I sniff or wash something. 

But I'm  a newly-recovering moldie, so I'm not entirely able to trust my mold-sniffing skills yet, and I'm not strong enough yet to do as much washing of things and showering as I should.

As a newbie I do some crying. ;)  And some "Are You Fucking Kidding Me?" exclaiming, like when I think I've created a safe zone, and lie down to rest my weary self, only to immediately get a terrible headache and/or heart palpitations from SOMETHING, in a spot that didn't bother me 15 minutes earlier.

I also do a lot of lighting of soy candles and spraying of things with supposedly helpful concoctions.  Things that I've read about, that others claim help them. This is my current version of metaphorically saying incantations over objects, hoping that I won't suddenly not be able to stand upright, which is one of my primary clues that either nearby mold or mycotoxins are affecting me.  I suddenly start to sway on unpredictable legs, like I'm standing on a tipping sailboat. Except that it happens on dry land. ;)

As I get better at this fun new lifestyle, there will be fewer incantations and more personal-evidence-based actions I can take. But for now I'm kind of flailing around aiming for a less miserable existence. And when things are calm and tolerable, I grin like an idiot. 

Since evacuating from the Sick Building I've had the strength to bathe 3 days in a row, so that's exciting. And I've been able to walk about a block a day. Without a cane. Totally fucking awesome. I have less pain, and my comically dramatic night-time leg jerks that fling my cat off my lap have calmed back down to totally liveable mini-jerks.   My vision hasn't noticeably improved yet, but it did while I was in the mold-free cabin at Mercey Springs, so I know I have that to look forward to.

I hope the cats' random health problems fade. It's hard to know if any of their problems are mold-related or not. My ERMI mold test showed no Stachy, and the total mold count wasn't horrifying. So I don't know how much it affected the furry boys. They've only puked once between them in three days, so that's a great sign. I know of one woman whose house got moldy from a small washing machine leak. She got very ill, and her dog puked all the time until the mold and mycotoxins were gone.

Black cat was ridiculously happy to get to the hotel. Like, immediately upon arrival. Which is the stone-cold opposite of his personality, so I'd love to think he was reacting to finally being in better-quality air. But stripey cat had an extended panic attack and acted like he was going to die. Which was the opposite of *his* personality... so who knows what the hell is going on in their little bodies. 

You can see here that stripey cat was still too scared to emerge from under the bed skirt, though he let his hind feet peek out so they could get some sun. <3 

sunbeam action

They're both in good moods now, so we're all settled in nicely. I have new, non-moldy mousies and catnip for them, and I put the hotel's  fleece blanket in the sunbeam for them to lounge on during the day. (You don't think it was an accident I got a South-facing room, did you? The boys need their sunbeams, and I need the fresh breeze coming in off the waterfront.)