Springtails, Morgellons, Fungi, Oh My!

Well, now I know why the last 18 months of my life have been shattered, destroyed, yanked out from underneath me, and shoved down my throat,  just when I was choking to death already.  Silence!  You can't speak out if you're six feet under.

I have known in my heart of hearts that there is a connection between fungi/mold, Springtails/Collembola, and Morgellons.

In March, 2011, I became ill with a serious eye infection which nearly took my life.  Surgeons, bent on chalking up the rare eye infection from which I suffered to something other than what it truly was, accused me of drug abuse, sexual promiscuity and worse.

Vials of blood later, and only after having my dignity taken from me, all the hospital tests for drugs, toxins, and HIV were returned negative.  What did return positive, however, was evidence of "gases" captured in my sinus cavity - gases noted on the CT scan report as possibly being that of living organisms and their bodily processes. Scary right?

When I returned home after nearly a week in the hospital, I was weak, tired, and desperately in need of rest.

Instead of rest, I was forced to battle an onslaught of Springtails (Collembola) that had made their way into the old house that I was renting in a small, marsh-filled, waterfront community with history dating back to 1873, and even further to an early-19th century Seminole chief.

Initially, I had no concept as to what the invaders were.  Fortunately, at the time, I was working on a dredging project as a Turbidity Technician, and the Senior Environmental Scientist, once I showed him photographs of the little creatures, quickly, and without even stopping to think, announced to me that they were Springtails.

Being a reporter, and always having had the "need to know," I quickly began researching Springtails which led me to Morgellons, Lyme Disease and more.

During my battle with Collembola, I also determined that a wall-mounted air conditioning unit in the house had been leaking down inside the exterior wall, rather than outside as it should have.  Apparently, whoever installed it, failed to do so with the appropriate gradient/slope, so rather than trickling out the back of the unit and onto the grass below, the water which the unit extracted from the air in the home had leached into the wall for over a year.  I still wouldn't have known were it not for my stepping into a pool of condensate that had gathered underneath the carpeting that lay directly underneath the unit itself.

What ensued wasn't merely a battle with the Springtails, but an onslaught of mold that quickly spread through the main sitting room of the house where the air unit was located.

After nearly two months, I finally conquered both the mold and the Collembola.  It was a 24/7 task.

As the eye infection nearly took my site, I am guessing that the invaders were already in my home due to the mold in the air unit and wall, but with only one eye to see with, coupled with the severe migraine headaches that it caused, I just didn't notice them.

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Now, nearly two years later, having lost everything I've spent my entire life building, I'm finally back in the saddle, and ready to find the final answers which I know are within reach.