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[Doris3175]

As I'm writing this I am quite confused, relieved and baffled....
I had written before about my brother passing away from blasto last year.
Since then my sister in law has gone on with her life and has had a new man in her life....but what a shock yesterday when we were told he now also has blastomycosis.....he is not as bad off as my brother was...he was sent home with Sporanox...but still having a fever and vomiting...
In a way I'm relieved...Is this the answer we couldn't get about where my brother had gotten it....It has to be the house....what other explanation could there be!!!
As of right now she is waiitng for another inspection of her house...which should of been done last year when I had called the Health Unit.
Now it's wait and see to as what is going happen.

[Lisa]

No way! That is a nightmare! I can't imagine what your sister in law and your family are going through.
I hope his treatment goes well. And that they can find the source!

[evayola]

I cant even imagine the shock you and your family have to be going through. I read your story back then and had actually stumbled upon your youtube post before I had read your post here. I am so sorry for your loss of you brother. I hope that your sister in law can get to the bottom of this and everyone will be okay.

[Wilson3]

this is just horrible!!! Thank goodness though that they new the signs and cought it eaily enough hopfull
keep us posted
your family will be in my prayers
wilson3

[Connie]

Why isn't he still in the hospital. Holy crap. What the girl must be going through. When I had blasto the criteria for me to come out of the hospital after 2 months in the first time was to be fever free for 2 days straight. When the fever came back I was readmitted in for another month. You tell him to insist on being properly taken care of and watched. And yes.. it could be the house . She may have a grood immune system as she never got it.

[walosi07]

I'm sorry to hear about your brother, and now it hit in your family again. Well I hope they find what it is thats causing it, it may something in the house or around the house. I myself have had blasto twice, the first time, it was in my lungs, I started getting a cold, and it got worse, then they said I had the flu, it got worse, then it was bronchitis, it just kept getting worse, I actually thought I was dying. I couldn't sleep, eat, had fevers at night, coughing nonstop, it was awful, no amount of antibiotics would help.  They finally put me in the hosp. for some test and they found blasto, I had to take treatment for a month, then the same time the following year, I got it again, this time in my brain, they found lesions on my brain, this time they put in the hosp. immediately, I underwent treatment for 6 months. The funny thing is they were never able to tell me where I got it. At that time, it was a rare disease, theres alot more information on it now than 10 yrs ago. All I know is they said that you could get it from old rotting wood, decomposed vegetation, and bat and rodent droppings, and probably from things like mold. I know at that time, I lived with my grandfather, and he had a old chicken house behind the house, and I was looking in it one day, he had alot of old stuff stored in it. Thats the only thing I could think of. But tell your sister to get her husband more treatment, if he's still having symptoms, if it gets worse its alot harder to treat, and to be careful because it can come back later, I know...

[Doris3175]

Finally got some news ... my brother's house was inspected by a company called Mouldclean....and learnt yesterday that most of the viable samples come back positive for blasto.  The house is full of it from the attic to the basement.

For a while now we had noticed things on our nephews skin and my sister in law had been to the doctor for it and they just gave cortizone cream. NOW, with her boyfriend having Blasto, they are looking a their skin....they have some kind of mushroom on their skin....they will be seing a specialist on April 28...They should be seen right away and cat scanned or whatever else needs to be done to make sure they don't have it too

She is now out of the house and we are waiting on a full microbiological report and an estimate to clean the house.  They should be sending me this along with pictures hopefully I can post them. They asked a couple times if she was attached to the house and they wouldn't give us a ball park figure as to how much it would cost to do the clean up so more than likely it will be very expensive.  Everything in the house from furniture to clothing is infected. We were told for her to wash her clothes at least 2 times with Borax but to leave the rest that is not necessary to keep.

Of course no insurance covers for mould problems and my sister in law is very afraid to have to lose her house...My brother was so proud of his first house and it killed him.  You can be assured that if I ever buy another house a mould inspection will be done before I move in and should be required by the banks or mortgage companies.

Funny thing is that I had called the Health Unit in our area the day after my brother died and instead of telling us they are not equiped for detecting mould they came to the house looked around and did nothing and again after the new boyfriend was diagnosed they sent over a company that deals with water damage but they are not equiped to test for moulds. They just said you don't live in a log house just get rid of your fireplace and the area where you keep the wood for the fireplace. That's when the Mouldclean company was called....my mother just happened to see an advertisement on TV...lucky coincidence....The Health Unit should at least have info for the people that call in....a second case of Blasto could have been avoided in the first place and who knows whats going on with my nephews health

All we can do is pray now that nothing else goes bad and that they are OK.

[evayola]

I wanted to cry when I was reading your story. I cant imagine what your sister in law is feeling. I really hope that everything will work out. As long as everyone is getting better and is healthy, the rest will fall into place. Take care of yourself and your family.
Best wishes,
Eva

[Lisa]

Wow - through the entire house. That's horrible. I can't imagine the clean-up that would be required - and without any insurance coverage for the mould.  Wow.

You hinted at the woodpile - is that how they think the blastomycosis got into the house? I hope your nephew can get some medication attention. Your sister in law must be mysteriously immune or have a rock solid immune system!

[Connie]

If someone in the house like your sister-in-law did not get the blasto it is because her amune system is really good and she is really healthy. When I got the blasto my daughter who was  6 yrs old at the time and mother were always with me at the camp. neither of them got the blasto. I was enemic at the time and didn't know it. The specialists in Toronto told me alot of people breath in the fungal gases and because they are healthy they never get sick. People who tend to get the blasto have something wrong(and can be something real minor) or body not strong enough to fight it. Luckily the doctors there are now aware of blasto and are able to diagnose it faster. Just tell him to keep a close eye since he is feverish. That is a sign its not going away. And if the fever spike.. To the hospital right away and don't let the doc send him home.

[Doris3175]

We got the reports and the amounts of "fungus"; blastomyces dermititidis, pennicilum, stachybotrys(toxic black mould) to name a few, are out of this world.  No one could have known...this house has been remodeled and looks great...they were so proud of this house because almost nothing had to be done when they moved in exept for the carpeting in the basement....which was moulded of course but how could they have known.....Well the house has to go....it would cost over 50 000$ to clean and in a small town like where we live in; that's pretty much what a house is worth. And in any case I don't think she would feel safe in it even after it's been cleaned.  She probably will be able to save the hard surfaces but everything else like matresses and sofa's and most of her clothes is a lost.  The mould clean company will come and clean the hard surfaces for her as soon as she can find a place to stay....we have applied for emergency shelter and we will be looking through the RedCross or any other organizations that could help for clothing and furniture.  What a mess....Doctor's appointments have been bumped up for the kids and they are all getting x-rayed and sputum samples are gonna be taken.   Hopefully the kids and her will be okay.

[Jen]

The whole ordeal is just beyond imagination.  Not only your brother's story, but that it should continue in this way, and then to be run out of their own home. 
My heart goes out to you and your family- please let us know what happens.
jen

[Doris3175]

I have added pictures of some of the mould that was found in the house...the clean up of some of the hard surfaces should be done this weekend....and it doesn't come cheap I tell you.  Since they have been out of the house the boys have been feeling better, thank God.