Houston family solves health mystery with help from mold-sniffing dog
Cypress - A family of six from Cypress has been uprooted from their home because of toxic mold. It's a more common problem than you may realize. Texas has the highest mold counts in the country, and Houston has the most homes with mold! You may be surprised to find out that a four-legged friend is now helping sniff out serious problems.
The Matocha family is finally feeling better after suffering for almost a decade, but they had to move out of their home during remediation to have the toxic mold removed. It all started with the mom, Ashley, who was the first one to experience odd symptoms.
"I started having severe rashes on my face, on my neck. Our daughter started having like, bouts of rage. She started having OCD tendencies," says Ashley. It only worsened from there for all four of her children, from autistic-like behavior to autoimmune issues, seizures, verbal ticks, serious neurological symptoms, severe stomach pain, and the list goes on and on. They found out that what was growing between the walls of their dream home was to blame for all of that. "We built the house and moved in July of 2013 it was about two years after that that we started noticing symptoms. There were actually boards that were placed in the walls that were moldy. Our son's bedroom had the whole seal plate behind his wall actually covered in mold. I would say every bathroom in our house had mold in the wall cavities. The remediation company said that more than likely it was due to humidity levels too high in the home, which a lot of that had to do with the HVAC being just very poorly designed," explains Ashley.
They were suspicious that mold was to blame and started searching for the right answers. That's when Ashley learned about something that piqued her interest through an online support group: a certified mold-sniffing dog, named Xia.
"I saw the Mold Dog, and I was like, wow, what is this? I had seen other people say that they had a mold inspector come out, who said everything was fine, but they continued to be very ill, and so they then tried the Mold Dog. The dog flagged tons of areas that were not coming up in mold inspections, and then they had those areas tested and it came back as toxic mold in their home. If they had not done that, they would have just been living in their home and continue to be sick," states Ashley. It turned out to be a similar situation for her family. "The dog flagged seven areas. The mold inspector only found three of those areas and then the remediator thought only two of those areas were suspicious looking, but they trusted us and the dog. They opened all seven areas. Every single area that they opened tested positive, not only positive, but with active growth, high colonization. If we had not trusted the dog and used that service, we would never have found those areas," says Ashley.
So, now it's time to introduce you to Xia. She's a type of hunting dog called a Drahthaar, similar to a German Wirehaired Pointer.
"Fortunately for us, she's a little gun shy, so they took her out of the hunting realm, and now she's in the mold realm, because obviously, her nose is still really good, so she just hunts for something different," states Lane Simmons, Xia's Handler from "Mold Dog Knows'. We actually walked through a home with Xia, as she sniffed out the walls and windows for the first time. She was absolutely focused on her medical mission. "The easiest way for her to get it (pick up on the smell) is through the biggest hole in the wall, which is where the electrical outlet is, so if you take the plate off there, and just have an outlet, there's a big hole, so it's the biggest source and that's where she's trained to go to. The dog's accuracy is over 90% so any of us would go to Vegas, and if I said, hey, this machine pays out 90% of the time, give me my wallet, and I'm going to put money there. So, the dog's reliability is far superior to anything else," states Lane. They are working together to fight the crime of mold, not mildew, but toxic mold that can shred a person's health. Experts warn that the prevalence of mold in Houston is outrageous. "The main number you'll hear is 80%. I personally think it's higher than that - I think it's 90% +." explains Lane.
SUGGESTED: Survivor partners with doctor to promote cord blood donation
Xias's owner and founder of the company "Mold Dog Knows" is proud of Team Lane/Xia. It all started with a lot of dog training.
"Like 1000 hours of training. Our dog was certified at the Florida Canine Academy, and then we actually ended up, which was a blessing and a surprise, hiring a former law enforcement canine handler for narcotics (Lane), so he knows what he's doing! He has really honed her skill and brought her to the level of where she is now. We also took it a step further, getting him certified as a mold technician in the state of Texas, which is required. We have a really powerful team," says Susan. She battled mold toxicity herself for years. which is why she's helping others now.
Doctors visit for mold toxicity and moving out of the house for a while is hard on an entire family.
"It's affected me in many ways. I've had many problems from it, most of its internal, and you can't see," says 12-year-old Aubrey Matocha." All of her siblings have suffered in different ways from it as well, some symptoms much more serious than others. When there's serious mold illness, experts say most belongings have to be either tossed out or thoroughly cleaned with a specific protocol, because mold spores build up on them and can continue to harm sufferers. "In addition to losing all your material possessions, dealing with the mental aspect of it and the stress with the kids and disrupting their lives, then you know, the extreme financial burden, draining financial savings is tough," says Jason Matocha, Ashley's husband.
SUGGESTED: 'Misfits Mission' helps women out of jail get fit in many ways
They're definitely anxious for the day they're fully healed and can put toxic mold behind them. Many times, the growth of mold can be out of your hands, like with problems you don't realize are happening with your HVAC system, but Susan and Lane with 'Mold Dog Knows" share a few ideas for prevention.
"Homes are built and sealed very, very tightly. They don't breathe. It's important that you allow your home to breathe, open the doors, let the air flow through, says Susan.
She also says some studies show that EMFs (electric and magnetic fields) proliferate the growth of mold by 600 times. Some mold experts suggest turning off your WIFI at night to reduce EMF exposure.
"Make sure your backsplashes and your vanities in your bathroom are caulked properly. Make sure you're checking the tanks of your toilet to see if mold is growing around there, and that could be something to just clean and monitor it for a couple of weeks. If it doesn't come back, you're good. If you clean it and it comes back, it might be a bigger issue. So, I think preventative maintenance is key also," suggests Lane.
SUGGESTED: Houston seventh grader runs his own business, supports Honduran village with proceeds
Everyone we talked to while covering this story suggests that everyone find a doctor who specializes in mold or mycotoxin illness, if you have odd, unexplained symptoms that don't lead to a specific diagnosis. They tell us many people get misdiagnosed since symptoms can mimic many other problems.