In today’s post, I’m walking you through our mold journey — how we unknowingly moved into a toxic mold-infested home, the health symptoms we experienced, what happened next (including losing 90% of our belongings), and why I now consider it one of the biggest blessings in disguise. I’m also answering some of your most-asked questions about how to know if mold is making you sick and what we did to get out.
You can watch the full story in video form below if you prefer that!
LINKS MENTIONED:
• Facebook Group: Toxic Mold Answers – https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1AhhMdrUs6/
• ERMI+ – https://farmacy.com/products/ermi-mold-test-kit
When We First Moved In (And What We Missed)
Back in December 2023, just one month after finding out I was pregnant with our third baby girl, we moved into a rental home near Greenville, South Carolina. We had no idea what we were walking into.
Looking back, the very first red flag was a weird smell in the master bedroom — something I now recognize as a moldy, musty scent. At the time, I just thought it was from the previous tenants. We figured opening some windows and airing it out would fix it.
Spoiler: it didn’t.
That smell only got worse. Within a couple of weeks, I was incredibly nauseous (even more than with my twins), and both of our girls developed a cough that wouldn’t go away. But when we took a 10-day trip to visit family in Ohio? It all vanished. No coughs, no extreme nausea.
That was the first real sign something was wrong.
The Moment We Knew It Was Mold
When we got back home, those symptoms came back almost immediately. The smell was stronger than ever — like vinegar, urine, and rotting fruit. I started Googling, and sure enough, those are classic toxic mold smells.
We decided to do a little investigating. My husband opened the vent covers in the master bedroom, and there it was: visible mold all inside the ductwork. I had a gut reaction like, “There is absolutely no way I’m staying here with a baby on the way and two toddlers.”
Within hours, I packed up the essentials and drove with the girls to my parents’ house in Tennessee while Michael stayed back to start the process of testing and documenting everything.
Fighting to Get Out of Our Lease
We didn’t know if our landlord would let us out of our lease — it’s actually really rare for them to do so without a fight. But after we had air sample results showing mold and I visited urgent care to document our symptoms, we submitted everything through the rental agency with a clear ask: let us out of our lease and refund our deposit.
Miraculously, they agreed.
We moved all our stuff into storage and found a short-term Airbnb through a mutual connection on Instagram while we started house hunting. Looking back, I’m so grateful we were in a position to buy a home quickly — because the rental market made it nearly impossible to guarantee we wouldn’t end up in the same situation again.
What We Didn’t Know About Mold (That We Do Now)
When we moved into our new build in March 2024, we thought we had left all the problems behind. But that’s actually when the unmasking symptoms began.
Unmasking is what happens when your body finally gets into a clean, low-toxin environment and then reacts strongly to even the smallest amount of mold or toxins. Suddenly, I could smell mold on everything we had in storage. I would get rashes, headaches, and even lightheadedness when we brought those things into our new home.
Turns out, a lot of our belongings were contaminated — and we didn’t even realize it at first.
We learned that mold creates something called mycotoxins, which are what actually cause symptoms in our bodies. And while men tend to be more resilient due to testosterone, women and children are typically more sensitive. That’s exactly what we saw in our family.
Why We Got Rid of 90% of Our Belongings
At one point, I remember going out to the garage and opening totes of our things from the moldy home. I could smell it instantly — the same musty, rotting fruit smell. My symptoms came back immediately.
That’s when we knew: keeping all this stuff was going to keep me sick. And it wasn’t worth it.
We got rid of almost everything — literally 95% of what we owned. We kept about 12 plastic totes of sentimental items and donated or tossed the rest. Clothes, furniture, kids’ toys, books, home decor… gone.
It was heartbreaking and overwhelming, but necessary for healing.
The Health Symptoms That Stuck Around
Ten months later, I’m still dealing with lingering health symptoms from mold exposure, including MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome). It makes me hyper-reactive to mold, chemicals, and even fragrances.
Even now, when I walk into public buildings or stores that have mold (or where other people carry mold on their clothes), I get itchy, puffy eyes, lightheaded, and start to feel sick.
The symptoms are real — and they didn’t fully show up until after we left the moldy home.
That’s why this experience has made me so passionate about sharing our story. If I can help even one more person connect the dots, it’s worth it.
What I Wish I Knew Before This Happened
If there’s one thing I wish I had known sooner, it’s this:
If you ever have a water leak in your home, you HAVE to open it up and let it dry out fully.
We realized that our very first rental in South Carolina had mold too — from both an ongoing roof leak and a toilet overflow that was just painted over. It was a slow buildup, and we didn’t know how toxic it had become until it was too late.
Now, I always tell people: don’t wait. If something smells off, if you’re getting sick in your home and better when you leave — check for mold. There are better tests than air samples (like ERMI+), and there are incredible resources like the Facebook group by Matt Kelly that helped us understand everything we were going through.
Moving Forward and Finding Healing
While this journey has been hard — from health issues to losing almost everything — I truly believe it’s been a hidden blessing.
It gave us the knowledge we needed to protect our health moving forward.
It forced us to start fresh and build a home environment where we could actually heal.
It helped us trust God in a deeper way — through uncertainty, fear, and big decisions.
And it’s given me a message to share that I hope encourages someone else walking through a similar situation.
If you’re dealing with mold or suspect it might be part of your health symptoms, please know you’re not alone. There is a way out, and there is healing on the other side of it.
I’ll link some of the resources we found helpful below this post, including mold testing info and the Facebook group I mentioned earlier. You can also reach out on Instagram if you have questions — I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction.
Thanks for reading our story. I hope it helps you feel more empowered, more aware, and more hopeful that healing is possible.
P.S. If you’re on a mold recovery journey and have any specific questions, I’m only a DM away on Instagram.
