2016 – The Move to California

In 2016, we left one state behind and moved back to my roots, California. With two friends, I unloaded an entire moving pod into our new apartment. It was supposed to be a fresh start. I didn’t yet realize I had stepped into an invisible trap, an apartment with pre-existing mold damage that would alter the course of my already changing life.

By then, the names of my conditions had already started circling in whispers:

• Mast Cell Disease

• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

• Dysautonomia

• P.O.T.S. (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)

Doctors called them rare. The truth? They’re rarely diagnosed. Misunderstood, under treated, starving for research. Mold is a known trigger for all three.

You think the names are hard to pronounce? Imagine living them.

There is no cure for any of them. Some may find remission or symptom control.  Avoiding  triggers, or pay the price.

They say it takes trauma to the body to awaken mast cells. Once activated, immediate treatment is crucial. Delay allows damage to spread like wildfire.

Life expectancy may remain “normal,” but the life lived is anything but. Mast cells are our first line of defense, white blood cells that guard the body. In me, they had become something else entirely.

I became the real-life “Bubble Girl.” Allergic to nearly everything. The reason I’m nicknamed  “Girl In A Bubble”

Chapter Two: Crossing States, Crossing Fates (2016)

The year was 2016, a year I thought would bring new beginnings.With hope in my heart, I left one state behind and journeyed to California, seeking fresh opportunities and a brighter future for my family.

I remember the day we arrived. The moving truck pulled up, its weight heavy with the belongings that carried pieces of my life, my memories, and my children’s childhood. With only two friends beside me, I unloaded an entire pod of possessions into what was meant to be our new home, a modest apartment where I believed stability awaited.

But what I didn’t know, what I couldn’t see, was that the walls themselves carried a hidden enemy. A silent threat already woven into the very air: mold.Mold that would trigger a chain of events I could never have imagined.

At that time Mast Cell Disease, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Dysautonomia, or P.O.T.S.(Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). Words that twist on the tongue, difficult to pronounce, but far more difficult to live with.

Doctors often call them “rare.” The truth is they are not so much rare as they are rarely recognized. Misunderstood. Under-researched. Too often dismissed.Yet for me, these names would soon become my reality, my shadow, my constant battle.

And the mold? It was no small detail. Mold is a known trigger for all three conditions. And by stepping into that apartment, I had unknowingly walked straight into a trap.

At the time, I was still strong, still the woman who gardened, cooked, laughed, and lived fully. But my body was already being betrayed.The storm I had sensed was no longer on the horizon.It was already here.

Written By

The Original "Girl In A Bubble"