When the Storm is Invisible
In more than three decades of work, I’ve led well over 10,000 events — calls, conferences, seminars, trainings, webinars, symposiums, and forums.
I’ve canceled fewer than twenty. Ever.
Last week, I canceled two.
It wasn’t due to burnout or indecision.
My commitment to deliver was as strong as ever.
So why would I cancel two events in a single week?
I was knocked sideways — briefly — by an invisible storm.
This wasn’t the kind of storm you see coming when the meteorologist points to a green screen and shows you radar-confirmed reports. This was a different kind of storm — one that enters quietly, hijacks systems, and leaves confusion in its wake.
Imagine the affected territory as a human body, and the storm made up of raging troops — armies of microscopic spores, living pathogenic toxins. Now imagine those invaders overwhelming the respiratory system, the nervous system, and the control and response centers of the brain.
No warning sirens.
No visible damage.
Just sudden disori...
Mold: An Insidious Invader and Destroyer of Health
Mold as a "Cause," the Insidious Culprit in Invisible Illness
by Phil Kaplan
In 2005 my life changed. I was thrust into the unfamiliar world of being “the patient.”
It started during the 2005 Hurricane Season, when a fierce storm named Wilma blew the roof off of my Corporate Headquarters. It was flooded and everything within the four walls was ruined.
Two weeks after the storm, contractors were busy in the building tearing out rotting drywall and carpet and a new roof was being constructed. Eight months later, the space looked phenomenal, everything brand new.
Well, almost everything.*
Weeks after the building was repaired, weird things started to happen. It started with an unusual cough. I wouldn’t feel it coming on, but when it hit it literally felt as if my lung wanted to come out of my mouth. It would sometimes knock me off of my feet. Literally.
I went to a pulmonologist. He told me I had emphysema. He prescribed an albuterol inhaler. The diagnosis was both distur...