Heather Bruch’s Story
I have been asked many times, how was my life prior to being exposed to environmental toxins and my response is, “I have no idea.” Since I was born, I have resided in homes with water damage. As a young child I suffered from chronic gut issues, lung issues, joint pain, headaches, brain fog, frequent health infections, etc. Looking back I had a decent childhood, but wonder what it would have been like if I lived in a safer environment.
Fast forward to college when I decided to go somewhere warm. I always felt better outside in the sun and lower humidity. While attending Arizona State University my body bounced back and symptoms began to subside. However, I now believe the relief was probably due to an increase in Vitamin D levels.
After college, I moved back to Illinois and began working in schools as a social worker. I would constantly pick up every illness going around the school. There were days my brain felt like it was on fire; therefore, I had to get creative in getting daily tasks done.
In October of 2009, my husband and I bought our first home that we could afford in our price range. We discovered that there had been water damage in the basement. My husband and I slowly began to develop health symptoms. Our dog, whom we got as a puppy, had health issues living in that home as well. We had our first child in 2012 who suffered from colic, gut issues and joint pain. He had trouble sleeping, eating, and as he got older, had trouble staying dry overnight. At the age of two and a half years old he developed bilateral bacterial pneumonia and was hospitalized. He had a very slow recovery. My husband began having more symptoms where his back would often go out. Our entire family had chronic allergies, fatigue, and our immune systems were in overdrive. In 2016, we had our second child who was constantly hungry and would often become emotional. A parasite overgrowth was discovered in many of us. Needless to say our families’ health declined.
My husband accepted a job in Wisconsin in the summer of 2017. After moving into our current home we all experienced an ‘unmasking’…all except for my husband. Unmasking is a term meaning health symptoms will increase for a period of time. Just before our move I was bitten by a tick. I tested negative for Lyme Disease and therefore was not given antibiotics. Eventually I found a center where my two children and I went through parasite cleansing, Lyme disease treatments, and other co-infection treatments. These treatments helped lesson our toxic load and intensity of our symptoms; however, we all still continue to have health issues.
In January of 2021, with the advise of a functional practitioner, I ran an ERMI (dust PCR test) on our current home. The test results came back positive for mold mycotoxins, recommending a full home inspection. My husband did not think an inspection was necessary, nor did he believe that our home could be the source of our health symptoms. A few years later, when our dog took a turn for the worse, I had the vet help me run a urine mycotoxin test through a company called, Real Time Labs. The test results matched what was in our home mold mycotoxin test. I showed my husband the results and explained the correlation of both tests. I spoke to him about the importance of the dog’s test in particular as she is the only one who does not leave the house. To this day, my husband and I do not agree on the next steps with our home. From both research and testing, I know that our current symptoms will improve if we fix the environment and start to address the major issues of mold, but my husband does not.
I could write a book about how environmental toxic exposures have impacted my family. We as a society need to start open discussions about the severe health effects of mold without judgement. The cost to improve air quality needs to be affordable to the public. Everyone deserves the right to breath cleaner air. Awareness and education on Mold Mycotoxin Illness need to be brought to doctors, inspectors, mold remediators, etc. Every day people are being misdiagnosed and/or gaslit by doctors. We as a society need to look at the school buildings that children are attending every day to ensure mold-free environments as well.
One of the major roadblocks to improving our health and indoor air quality is the cost! I know this first hand as financial strain is the main reason our family has not been able to address our home mold inspection or remediation.
If anyone would like further information or has questions about my story I would be more than happy to connect. I truly want to help people have their voice heard and not be judged. Given my social work background I can tell you that mental health is most definitely connected to toxic exposures. So please, let’s pull together as a society and start working together. Last thing I will say is, “It is not all in your head.”
Stay Strong,
Heather Bruch