If you've been following me on social media, I've been lacking in the new content department for the past month or so. This was because of the custom order I was working on. And, it has an incredible origin story, which also happens to be a huge part of my past that I feel is worth sharing. This blog will not be very jewelry centric, but I think it's time to share my story and why I am so honored to have been able to create the above pendants for an incredible team of people.
To understand what this is all about, we have to go back in time about 8 years. I had just started a new job for a local school district. The office was located in what used to be the historical bank of the town. As an aside, something you might not know about me is that I am very in tune with the signals my body gives me and have always had a really deep understanding of when things feel off or when things are going well with my health. As I began to work in this fishbowl of an office, I would notice that as I would start my work day, my eyes would water, my throat would itch and my nose would tickle. I associated these symptoms to dust, considering this is a historical building.
As I got to know my coworkers better, I began asking questions and hearing rumors: there's asbestos in the ceiling tiles. "As long as we don't touch or move them, it won't harm us." Huh...So, every time the HVAC system kicked in and the ceiling shook, those little particles that fell from the ceiling tiles weren't a health concern (this is sarcasm, in case you weren't sure).
I also started noticing that whenever the HVAC system kicked on, people would start sneezing. It was like the wave at a professional sports game. It would start at one end of the office and work its way toward my end. All of these things were early red flags. When I would bring it up to the administration, the common response was, "there's nothing wrong. It's all in your head."
That’s me, on the right ☺️ This was shortly after I started working at said office
Fast forward a few years and things were no longer in my head. I had a plethora of health issues ranging from breaking out into hives randomly at work, developing vertigo that left me bed ridden for weeks, tonsil stones, losing my voices for weeks at a time, horrible candida overgrowth and much more... I went to various doctors (4 within a 3 year period) for different opinions and diagnoses, but they all came up with the same response, "your labs are fine. You must be stressed. Try to do some stress relieving activities to calm down." It might be a good time to bring up that my entire adult life consisted of my going to work during the day and the gym at night. I would train for 2-3 hours a day in MMA and was in the best shape of my life going into this job. But, the symptoms started cutting into my energy levels, ability to function and overall wellbeing.
I started noticing that my symptoms felt way worse when I was at work. I associated it with being stressed because I began to hate my job, not because the actual building I was working in was killing me. See, what I found out 2 years into working in this building was that every time it rained or there was a lot of snow melt, the basement of this building would flood. When I brought up concerns about this to my boss, she dismissed my complaints and said, "there's nothing wrong with this building."
And then, one day, I was giving a gift I will never forget. My boss, the CFO, had a meeting with a vendor. The man walked into her office, sat down, turned purple and started coughing his lungs up. She looked at him, appalled and asked why he would come to this meeting if he knew he was sick. He said, "I'm not sick! I was fine until I stepped foot in this building!" She came to me after he left and said, "maybe you're right... maybe there is something wrong with the building."
The administration held an air quality test over winter break (I was working for a school district so we had winter break off) and when we returned, I asked to see the results. I was told they weren't ready yet. That went on for weeks... Interestingly, shortly after this time, the administration put the building for sale and began renovating one of the schools to add an administrative office to it. It was January of 2019 and my symptoms were the worst they'd ever been. Finally, I took a week off of work and decided I needed to leave this job. (Please remember, at this point in time, I didn't know it was the building that was making me sick. I still thought it was the stress of the job.)
I came into work and my boss pulled me into a meeting with the director of HR. She was furious that I took a week off without reason (being sick wasn't good enough since I seemed to be sick pretty often) and started screaming at me. It took the good sense of the HR director to tell me not to scream back, for me to not unleash all the grief I felt for the past few years. I told them I was leaving and she said, "get your things and get out." I asked if I could say goodbye to my coworkers and she said, "absolutely not." She instructed the HR Director to escort me out of the building.
I made my rounds anyways, saying a quick goodbye to my coworkers and walked to the back door. I turned to say goodbye to Joel (he was the HR Director) and I swear he had tears in his eyes. We all did. No one could believe my boss treated me that way... But, what needed to happen, happened. I left, never went back and began to feel better...
Until I got a new job. I started working at a new school district. Many of my symptoms returned. Again, I associated this with the stress of a new job. I went to see an acupuncturist and herbologist, hoping eastern medicine would give me answers western medicine didn't. I spent thousands of dollars on herbs and nothing improved. At this time, I noticed different health issues occur: I started developing horrible skin rashes on my arms and legs. My skin was so dry and itchy, I would scratch it uncontrollably until it bled. I went to 4 different dermatologists hoping they could help. All I got was that I must have a hay fever allergy and I should take an antihistamine or steroid cream. I tried everything they told me to do. Nothing worked. There wasn't an ounce of improvement.
This is what my skin looked like. Sorry for the bad picture, it was hard to take
And then, the atrocities of 2020 happened. Everyone was forced to go home and I saw improvements in my health. But, as soon as we returned to work, my health worsened. I decided to take a job working remotely. The majority of my symptoms improved but not all of them. At this point, I had been to 6 doctors, 4 dermatologists, 2 acupuncturists and an herbologist. No one had an answer for me.
And then, one day, while scrolling through IG, one of the doctors I follow, Dr Gabrielle Lyon, had an offer for a free 30 minute phone consultation with her team to discuss any health issues you wanted. I honestly thought it was too good to be true but I wasn't going to let it pass me by. So, I applied, filled out the health questionnaire and scheduled my time for the phone call. It was for April of 2023 (two years ago...)
Here’s another look at my skin 😢
I'll never forget the day of my phone call. It was a rainy Saturday and I felt horrible. My body was aching and I was exhausted, like I had been most days in the past few years. My phone call was for 10:30am and I waited in the front office of our gym. I watched my phone change from 10:29 to 10:30, holding my breath... and then, from 10:30 to 10:31. I freaked out. Was I supposed to call them?? Frantically, I searched for a phone number to call from the emails I received. I found one, called it... and it just kept ringing. Realizing they might be trying to call me while I was calling them, I hung up. It was now 10:33. I knew it was too good to be true. I gave up and just as the clock hit 10:34, my phone rang. I answered and this sweet, bell of a voice said, "Hi Vanessa, my name is Kylie and I'm with Dr Lyon's team! I'm so sorry I'm a few minutes late but I know you wanted to discuss some health concerns! What's going on?"
And so, I told Kylie everything I just told you. Not in so many words but the basic gist. She listened to everything I had to say and when I was finished, her first comment was, "Vanessa, have you ever lived or worked in a moldy environment?" You guys... It was like a brick wall fell on me. MOLD? THE BASEMENT OF THE BUILDING USED TO FLOOD! FLOODING MUST CAUSE MOLD, RIGHT!?!? The only thing I could say was, "omg... the building I used to work in would flood..."
She said, "I'm willing to bet money that if you did a mold/mycotoxin test, you'd come back positive..." I began to cry... In 6 years, no one told me anything like this. Kylie went on to explain how I could work with Dr Lyon and her team to get better. And, honestly, if I would have been able to, I WOULD HAVE. I still would if I could. And, that made my cry even more. I had the answer to solve my problems but it was out of my reach...
Kylie was the sweetest, most caring person and told me there were ways to test from home but without the guidance of a health practitioner or doctor, the healing journey would be difficult (don't get me wrong, it's difficult either way but it's much better to have a doctor who understands what needs to be done to heal). She put me in touch with a company that let me do the testing from the comfort of my home. She was such a wealth of information and such a kind and caring person, it actually gave me hope.
I took the test and was positive for 2 different mycotoxins, one of which was off the charts high. We had our home checked out and it turned out that in 2022, someone came to work on our HVAC system and did something wrong, creating mold in our attic. The remediation specialist said it wouldn't be enough mold to cause someone to get sick but I was so sick and sensitive that if we didn't have it removed, I wouldn't get better. That was two years ago...
It's been a struggle ever since then to heal myself. Anyone who has had a health issue knows that healing isn't linear. And, unfortunately for me, many places like stores, theaters, office buildings and more have mold... I joke now that I'm a human mold detector. If I get sick after being somewhere, I know there was mold there.
So, what's with this really long story? A little over a month ago, Dr Gabrielle Lyon was given my contact info through my good friend (and her good friend) Dr Alexis Cowen. Dr Alexis told her about all the jewelry I make and showed her what I've made for her. So, Dr Lyon requested I make her a set of pendants of her logo for her team. Dr Lyon didn't know about my having had that phone call with Kylie and I didn't know that one of the pendants I would be making was for Kylie! A week before the Forever Strong summit, where Dr Lyon would present her team with the pendants, she told me who the pendants were for so we could put initials on the back. When she said Kylie's name, my heart skipped a beat.
It has literally been 2 years to the day that I spoke with Kylie. And now, I would be creating a pendant for her and the rest of Dr Lyon's incredible team that have helped so many people become their best, strongest, healthiest selves. This was like the universe giving me the opportunity to say thank you. I created the pendants and Dr Lyon presented them to her team on Sunday. Tuesday, I created the reel of me making them and Kylie messaged me on Instagram. I asked her if she remembered me and she said she never forgot me. She said Dr Lyon read the letter I wrote to her team when I sent the package of pendants and it made her cry because she never forgot our conversation. Dr Lyon didn't know the two of us had this connection...
It makes me cry just writing about it. How all this bad needed to happen to come to this good. So, now, I would like to say that mold sickness is no joke. And, based on the photos above, you're probably like, "what happened to you?" One of the symptoms of mold die off is for the mold to release mycotoxins inside your body as a last ditch effort to survive. And, literally, at the one year mark of being mold free, my body changed overnight. It was startling. I've aged rapidly and gained a ton of weight. Other mold sick people describe it as being kicked when you're down. Because, you can do everything right (sleep, nutrition, exercise, mental health...) but the mold has rewired your body to try and make you as weak as possible so you can't fight it.
Now, I continue to move forward, despite any setbacks. My goal is to be forever strong. To get back to the health and fitness levels that I had before I became sick.
If you know someone dealing with mold sickness (not mold allergies) or know you live or work in a moldy environment and have uncontrollable health issues, get yourself checked for mold and mycotoxins. It doesn't effect everyone; you have to have the specific genes that make you mold sick. I worked in that original office with 20 other people. No one else was sick like me. But, if you've been unable to determine what's causing your health concerns, don't stop looking. After 10 different doctors, I still didn't have an answer. After I got my answers, I called another 6 different doctor's offices asking if they treat mold sickness; no one knew what I was talking about.
Don't give up. If I can do it, you can, too. It's not an easy rode and you will definitely feel like giving up. But, don't. Your body is wired to heal.
If you've read all of this, thank you so much. This was really hard to do: to share my story and struggles, to be vulnerable... But I think, sometimes, when we share our struggles, it helps others who are struggling to know they aren't alone.
https://www.instagram.com/drgabriellelyon
https://www.instagram.com/kylie.dcnutrition
https://www.instagram.com/dralexisjazmyn