In college, I felt like something was wrong with my body. It was interesting, because it was the same \u201csomething\u201d that I had felt as a child…but in college it was worse. A health issue, but I didn\u2019t know what. I have this distinct memory of walking across the railroad tracks on the way back to my dorm room after class. I was wondering, \u201cwould I turn out like my uncle, who had a horrific death from Multiple Sclerosis?\u201d I felt like the answer was yes.
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I remember that walk vividly. I remember the trees, the smell of the ground after rain.
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But here\u2019s the thing: That kind of talk with myself was not an isolated incident. In fact, I had that talk with myself many many times. Thousands of times, as I grew up. Something was wrong. I didn\u2019t know what. How would it end for me.
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A human life is long. Maybe 70, 80, 90 years. A lot of great and important things happen during that lifespan\u2026 kids, grandkids, career achievements, ministry. In fact, God DESIGNED our lives to be full of blessings, service, and meaning.
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Most people on the outside looking in see chronic illness patients as just kind of \u201cweird.\u201d They say, \u201cOh, Bryan…he\u2019s kind of weird. He has those weird health problems. It is just part of who he is.\u201d
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And then the illness patient him or herself starts thinking the same thing. \u201cI am weird. I have weird health problems. I am limited. I won\u2019t have a very good life.\u201d
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The people around me, and me myself. We think that. We begin to accept that. It is just the way things are. The life that was supposed to be, is slowly lost. And everyone knows it and accepts it. Of course, the onlookers never really acknowledge the seriousness of it. They think it probably isn\u2019t that big of a deal. \u201cOh, some people just don\u2019t live full lives. That\u2019s how it is.\u201d But this truth NEVER feels normal to the patient him or herself. It is never normalized. Something is always terribly, horribly wrong, on a physical, spiritual and emotional level.
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So this is why mold avoidance makes no sense to onlookers. \u201cIs all that trouble really worth it, just to feel better?\u201d, they ask. \u201cHow is that worth it.\u201d
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Meanwhile, these normal people still do EVERYTHING within their own power to preserve the value of THEIR OWN lives. I watch my friends and family do all the important things. Get their cancer checkups. Go to the dentist, so even their teeth will last into old age.
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And boy oh boy, God forbid one of the normal people get sick. It is off to the doctor, to find out what is wrong. It is taken seriously. Cancer, or something similar, causes a complete interruption in life…go to the doctor! Do the tests! Get the chemo! Take time off work! A life is at stake! Hustle, hustle, hustle!
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But\u2026. Bryan is just different. He is just sick, and that\u2019s how it is. If there is a chance for HIM to get better, and have a normal life\u2026 who would do that? It\u2019s silly. (Sarcasm intended).
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Life is long. Human life is packed with value. We ALL deserve a chance at the most full life possible. And I don\u2019t mean a materialistic life. I mean a life full of health, vitality and purpose.
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Most people who pursue mold avoidance don\u2019t need to have the crazy disruptions of mold avoidance go on and on and last forever. From what I can see, most people return to a fairly normal life (with some restrictions of course) after something like, say, 5 years. More, or less, depending on how much mold avoidance they are able to practice, and how sick they were.
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It\u2019s worth it. A few years of hard work and adjustments for a lifetime of health. But you don\u2019t get to have an opinion, until your own life has been threatened and you have been through the decision-making crossroads yourself. Until then, you have no idea what you are talking about. And if you\u2019ve been through that crossroads, tell me: did you do everything possible to save your life? That\u2019s what I thought.
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In college, I felt like something was wrong with my body. It was interesting, because it was the same \u201csomething\u201d that I had felt as a child…but in college it was worse. A health issue, but I didn\u2019t know what. I have this distinct memory of walking across the railroad tracks on the way back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-mold-avoidance"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=974"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":975,"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974\/revisions\/975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lymebook.com\/bryan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}