Well, it started last July 2001. We started getting migraine headaches, nose bleeds, coughing up bloody sputum, depression, swollen eyes, etc. We thought we had some terrible virus. We could not stay awake. we were depressed and sleeping all the time. We started wheezing and felt like we were choking.

Then in October lesions started appearing all over our bodies...they itched like crazy but we did not scratch them.  I come from a family of surgeons and know never to itch. Then the sores became painful and infected. We went to the emergency room early in the morning (around 1 a.m.) on November 3rd.  We had hot and cold chills, sweats, and granulomas (we know know the name) were oozing to the top of the lesions.

The granulomas—which at the time we thought were horrible bugs—would rise to the top of our lesion, we had to pull them out with tweezers. They were very hard to pull out...it was like a mite, vacuum or sucking would not even let us pull them out with great force. We yanked with the tweezers and a sound like a cork coming out of a wine bottle would break loose and a hard round thing would pop out...same with our eyes.

Crying and petrified we went to the emergency room with the samples from our skin and the above lesions. The emergency room doctor said he had no idea what we had; he could not explain our symptoms and sent us home, referring us to the health department. We called the CDC in Atlanta,  who told us to contact the CDC in our city and state. We did and they referred us back to a doctor.

To make a very long story brief....after several doctor visits, medications, lindane treatments, more emergency room visits and urgent care visits, consultations with the communicable disease department in Virginia Beach....after the quarantine of my four cats (they had same symptoms and looked like they were dying) at $50.00 a day, after moving out of my home to a hotel ...we finally called an air quality control specialist who charged me $625.00 for one visit to my home plus $75.00 for each sample taken. He took samples and noted in his report that our illness and lesions were due to mold and bacteria spores.

We then hired a moisture exterminator that came to the house, did tests, and said he could find no moisture in the walls. Our samples came back from the lab and air quality control as having Epicoccum, Alternaria, Gliocladium, Rhizopus, and Staphylococcus. Air quality control said that to solve our health problems we would need to replace our entire duct and ventilation system, and he also said that our ducts and vents were completely contaminated. We spent another $2200.00 replacing all the ducts and vents in our home, threw out all of our mattresses, blankets, pillows, most of our clothes, towels.  The, carpet and curtains were replaced and curtains.  We washed our entire house...walls, ceilings, molding, bathtubs, furniture, etc with a bleach and water solution and then painted the whole house. We then turned on our air.

After 5 days we were deathly sick and our lesions had doubled....cats would not even get up to use the litter boxes.  We called back air quality control and they said that I needed to call a air and duct cleaning company and have the entire system sanitized and cleaned and decontaminated.  I called a company, spent another $575.00 to have the duct company clean the ducts and vents. I turned back on  the air and we were still ill and we still had particles and dust and debris coming out of our vents and covering everything in the house.

The next day we were extremely ill and I could not breath so I was rushed to the emergency room by my daughter. The doctor told me I was sick and mutilating myself and called the Tidewater Psychiatric Hospital to come pick me up. I heard him in the hallway talking so I jumped up and ran out of the hospital. He never once examined me... neither did any other doctor. I begged each physician to take a skin biopsy or skin swab or scraping; everyone refused.

My sister and brother are highly respected surgeons at the Mayo clinic in Rochester and they told me not to leave the hospital without having a skin swab, scraping, or biopsy done. I also called my father who is a retired surgeon and professor and he gave me the same advice...still the hospital and physicians refused. The emergency room doctor did give me a metered dose inhaler saying I needed it because he could hear me wheezing...even without an exam or listening to my chest or lungs.

Anyway, I arrived back home after running out of the hospital and collapsed on my couch with my breathing machine. My father drove from North Carolina immediately to my home...fed up with all the doctors, hospitals, health department, air quality, air conditioning people, etc. He bought along with him his microscope. He took samples from all of our animals and each member of the household.  He took samples from our scalp, eyes, and skin. Within 30 seconds he diagnosed the samples as  FIBERGLASS.

I immediately called the supervisor of the Communicable Disease Department for our city and told her what my father had found. She said she would have someone from the city come out and test my home....she never called back and never had anyone come out to the house.  She has not returned my phone calls. My father's diagnosis was accepted as he was on staff at 4 hospitals in the area, and is still, today working at Eastern Virginia Medical Hospital one day a week.

As it stands...we cannot turn on our air, we are sweltering, our house is contaminated, we have no money, we are fighting our insurance company, we can't work, and we are not only watching our pets suffer but we feel like we are slowly dying. I need a really good lawyer and occupational or industrial lawyer. I have searched the phone books and cannot find any doctor in this area that is familiar with fiberglass. 

If you are an attorney in the mid-Atlantic region and are interested in this case, please contact FIN.