Dangers of Mold on Senior Health

My Aunt Jay has been with us for a week today.  She is feeling sick, nausea, dizziness, fatigue and she can barely walk.  My mom jokes that Jay walks like Tim Conway from the days when he did a skit as an old man.  I don't think Jay likes being compared to an old man.

Jay's house has mold.  I think it's black mold but I'm not sure.  We're having the air tested so that we know what we are dealing with before we have the mold removed.  Mold is really dangerous, especially black mold.

Black mold can bring on dementia.  It can bring on heart disease.  Mold can get into ones body and keep you sick.  In my opinion, mold is the "mysterious" illness that brings on health issues which are difficult for doctors to diagnose.

Jay has 2 cats that are still living in the mold.  Jay misses her cats and wants to see them; I can't bring her back into her sick apartment.

The solution is to bring her cats to our vet for a check up.  We want to make sure that her cats don't have any illnesses that will pass on to our kittens.  We need to help her cats detox from the mold; more than likely they have it growing in their bodies.  Jay has had a few of her cats die.  I bet it was from the mold toxins.

I want Jay to stay with me until we can fix her apartment and remove the mold.  I will teach her how to prepare food for herself, real food.  I'll bring her to our doctors here at Lahey Clinic for a second opinion to her medical conditions.  She appears to be having side effects from Metoprol; she feels sick all the time with nausea and overall weakness.  It's hard to say if it's the drugs that she's on or side effects from the mold.

Jay was always healthy and could run around with the youngest of our family.  Today, she can barely walk, a side effect of Metoprol.  It's not a drug that one can just stop taking, the patient needs to be weened off of it or they could die.

My mom stopped taking her Toprol XL a few years ago and ended up in the ER.  She didn't want to take it anymore, she was tired of feeling so sick.  I couldn't force her to take her drugs because it was against her will.  She survived, they installed a pace maker and her life was renewed.  Unfortunately, it was around the time that she got her pace maker that she lost her mind to Lewy.

Jay has been helping me with my mom.  She sits with her so that I can do other things like run to the store to pick up a few items for dinner.  It's super. Jay helps me prepare dinner by cutting the tips off the string beans or peeling carrots.  She loves helping me.

My house is becoming an assisted living facility filled with senior family members.  Jay has someone around to talk to all day long, someone her age.  My mom has her best buddy living here with her.  Mom helps Jay, which gives my mom a sense of purpose.  My MIL helps Jay too, giving her a feeling of being needed.

We all need to feel needed.  Jay feels needed.  My mom feels needed.  MIL feels needed.  We're getting into a routine.  Jay is settling in and everyone is getting used to her being here with us.

My mission is to help Jay to feel better so that she can live in her apartment if she wants.  However, I doubt she's going to want to go back once her cats are here.  Living alone is lonely and in my house, she's never alone and always has someone her age around.

Jay has been an awesome Aunt to me while I was growing up and even into my adult years.  Jay was my role model, she contributed to the person that I've become and it feels really great to be able to help her now when she needs it the most.

I love my little Jay.  Who knew she'd be the answer to my respite?!  Thank God she called me for cat food a little more than a week ago, it gave me the opening that I was waiting for so that I could step in and help her like I helped my mother.

In my opinion, the dangers of mold on our health are often over looked.  I wonder how many seniors are living in mold?  I wonder how many illnesses could be reversed just by removing mold?

Stay tuned.  I will surely document what I observe as we help Jay restore her good health.