Los Angeles, CA | Surprises for Family Affected by Toxic Mold | Dr. Avi Ishaaya Centers

Travis Lane: We're back with Daniel and Stacy. Joining us in the audience is our team of experts, toxicologist Dr. Noreen Khan-Mayberry, cardiologist Dr. Khorsandi, mold expert Mitch Renberg and via Skype internist and Pulmonologist Dr. Avi Ishaaya.

Travis Lane: And Mitch, I want to start with you because obviously, to solve a problem you have to first figure out what the problem is. The air test in their home, what did you find?

Mitch Reberg: In terms of the stachybotrys, it was the highest counts I've seen. What was interesting about it, when you first walk in the house, you don't see that much mold. It wasn't until later when we got the lab results back and I was stunned. It lit up like a Christmas tree. It was so much.

Travis Lane: And with those findings Dr. Noreen, is this then not unexpected? All the health issues that we were seeing in the family?

Noreen: I mean it's absolutely related. When you have that active moisture environment and you've got it behind a wall and it's just growing and growing and proliferating, their health is just going to progressively get worse because it weakens their immune system and over time, they experience more and more symptoms and so it is absolutely related to what people refer to as sick building syndrome and stachybotrys is the one that they call the fatal mold or the black mold.

Noreen: It's not something you see common and that's why as you were saying, you don't really see those high counts very often. You've got to have an active water moisture situation and sheet rock is like candy to mold, so they just grow on it like crazy, which is why when you clean it up, you have to get rid of the sheet rock, not even just the visual sheet rock, the stuff past it so you can make sure it doesn't grow again after you fix the problem.

Travis Lane: Dr. Avi, I want to bring you into the conversation because you did mold skin test, pulmonary exam. What were your findings?

Avi Ishaaya: I'm happy to say that we did allergy skin testing on the whole family and all of them turn out to be negative. We test for... The other good news for us especially is that there was no evidence of any asthma, no evidence of restriction or lung volumes to suggest that they had any significant damage to the lungs based on these tests that were done and they shouldn't really have any longterm symptoms.

Travis Lane: Well, and that's such great news. Stacy, I do want to ask Dr. Khorsandi because I know you had concerns with palpitations. You were worried about your heart. Dr Khorsandi, what did you find when you evaluated Stacy?

Dr. Mehran Khorsandi: We did a full exam, including an electrocardiogram. We did blood test and we monitored her. From a cardiovascular standpoint, at this point, she's fine.

Travis Lane: Well, and so the blessing here is that you were able to identify the problem, you got out of that house, but I know that doesn't change the one thing which is you no longer have a home. You homeschool your kids, is that right?

Stacy: Yeah, my son. My daughter's only two, so she just plays along.

Daniel: Thank you.

Travis Lane: Well, we know all the books that you use to homeschool your kids had to be thrown out, so we contacted our friends at Harpers Collins. They're going to give you a new children's library of books as well as toys worth $1,000. And you've been through so much and Mitch, I know you have something you want to say to the family.

Mitch Reberg: I do indeed. Due to the severity of the mold problem in your house and the air quality, it really touched me and I want to provide you with a free mold abatement whereby we'll restore your air quality back to normal conditions and put you in a home that you feel safe being in.

Travis Lane: And with the help from Emerald Waste that remediation is valued at $10,000 and Mitch, we can't thank you enough and Emerald Waste as well.

Travis Lane: And ultimately, it's going to be your decision where you choose to make your home, but do you feel more hopeful here today?

Daniel: I do feel a little more hopeful. It's been a pretty bad string of luck over the last several months. So, this is some light at the end of the tunnel, I think.

Travis Lane: Well, send our best to the kids and the one blessing here today is overall, we're happy that your health is as good as it could be expected. I want to thank our team of medical experts. Thank you all so much. Dr. Ishaaya, thank you as well. More to come, stick around.