Have you been ignoring minor or major aches and pains? Is your body trying to tell you something? Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to my body and became deathly ill.
I have been a group fitness instructor since 1980. I’ve appeared in exercise videos and cable TV shows. I know my body, and I know when something doesn’t feel right. Around 2002, I began to have flu-like symptoms and debilitating migraines. I knew something was wrong. I went to several doctors. One of them told me I might be too healthy and I should try eating at McDonalds!
I was constantly tired and hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in years. Ten minutes into the exercise classes I was instructing, I couldn’t get enough air, and I was scared. I knew something was terribly wrong but I couldn’t figure it out.
My son, Rocco, was sick with constant allergies, anemia, and severe asthma. My husband had symptoms similar to mine. Neither of us could sleep. We had short-term memory loss, achy joints, and flu-like symptoms. Doctors told us we were just too busy, which was true, so we ignored the blatant message our bodies were sending and chalked it up to being overworked.
The light bulb moment for me came when we traveled to London. We slept like babies, and for once, we felt great! When we got home, however, sleep never came night after night. It felt as though our bodies were shaking and being slowly electrified. We would watch the minutes on our digital clock roll by, painfully wondering why we couldn’t rest.
We discovered our house (which was once featured on MTV Cribs), was making us sick. Although we never saw it, toxic mold had been growing between the walls. The air circulating through the house became a slow killer. A toxicologist concluded that Ted and I had four types of mold in our blood and diagnosed me with pre-emphysema. He took out his little prescription pad and wrote these words: “Get out of the house!” We did.
We left our beloved home, a beautiful, five-thousand-square-foot house that stood majestically overlooking a lake with ducks and geese – a place we had so many memories. We walked out with only the clothes on our backs, and then we got rid of those. It doesn’t matter if you live in Antarctica or Florida, if you have a porous substance, lack of ventilation, and water infiltration, you will have deadly, toxic mold contamination.
While a majority of the public understands mold contamination is a real, life-threatening scenario, there are still a few skeptics, which is why I’m telling my story. Twelve years ago, I was dying. I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs if my life depended on it. My days of teaching group fitness classes were over, I was certain.
Fortunately, the human body has an amazing ability to heal, and after a year of detoxifying my body, I regained my health. I am now an International Zumba® Fitness Presenter and Instructor and love to share my passion for healthy living with others.
If you have symptoms you’ve been ignoring, become a sleuth for better health. Do research on the Internet. Talk to multiple doctors. Your symptoms could be something serious.
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I love how straite forward down to earth you speak. You do so very well.
People like being spoken this way.
The sincere truth and honesty is clear in your words. Its in this which shines the you in you.
God bless you Shemane Nugent.
Your Beautiful !
Thank you!!
Thank you for sharing this very important info. Doctors certainly have their place, but we owe it to ourselves to do some research. Take heed readers!
Hi Shemane!
I was never one to go to a doctor, was over weight, history of diabetes, and like you, extremely busy. All of this caused my daughter great worry. I began having pain in my upper stomach area. Immediately thought “ulcer”. I figured I could self diagnose my pain through the Internet. To my surprise all indications pointed to an ulcer! But my inner gut feeling told me to have it checked by a doctor. The pain grew stronger, so I called my daughter who took me to the emergency room. And thank god we went. It was my appendix on the verge of rupturing. Emergency surgery was required.
Doing my stay, my daughter insisted I have my sugar tested as a precaution, again thank god! Borderline type 2 diabetes. Well needless to say, I wanted it gone! My doctor said life long medication, or lose weight. That’s all I needed. Not a believer in any fad diets, I chose logic over TV commercials. Changed my eating habits, watched my carb and sugar intake. Introduce more fruit and vegetable into my healthy eating menu. I’m glad to say, 2 years later and 80 lbs. lighter, I am a new and improved me!! More active, more confident, and just feeling healthy from head to toe!! And happy to say at 57 yrs old, I can still turn heads!!
Reading your site is so inspirational, and I thank you for it. We all need that extra push every now and again, and every Friday I can count on you to give it to me!
My boyfriend and I watch “Spirit of the Wild” every week. We love the lifestyle you and Ted surround yourself with. My BF was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Mi. he introduced me to fishing trout and salmon, and deer hunting. We’re currently living in Baltimore, Md. (Yuk) so every year we head to Baldwin, Mi. during the salmon run up the Pere Marquette river. We bring the peacefulness of the wilderness back with us to survive another year until we get back there!!
Keep up the good work you and Ted do, so many lives are made so much better for it!! Mine included!
Rock On!!
Sandy Biddison!
Congratulations Sandy!!! That’s awesome!
Thank you for the kind words. Glad to hear you watch Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild, too!!
Continued good health to you…
Rock on!
Thank you for all your inspiration as a healthy happy and informative person !! I share a great love of health and happiness inside and out with my friends and family! I truly admire a woman of not only our beauty
but intelligence and love for life!!
God Bless you and your family
Elaine
Denton, Texas
Thank you very much Elaine!! Awfully kind of you.
God bless you, from a fellow Texan. ; )
Hi! A friend steered me to this blog post. My elementary school aged daughter has a classmate whose house was identified with toxic mold this spring. We are out of ideas where to get help!! Their backstory is documented here: https://www.gofundme.com/burtonfam
So far, I have been unable to turn up any support from local churches or government agencies in Tampa/Hillsborough/Florida. Do you have any suggestions? I am desperate to help them.
CRobbinsUF at hotmail dot com
I’m so sorry. It is tragic. Keep trying with local business for funding. Hope they get help. God bless.