Alexis Babcock’s Daughter Started Losing Her Hair. Then the Family Found Mold Behind the Wallpaper by Her Son’s Bed.

Reese Babcock, a young girl in Wesley Chapel, Florida, began losing her hair. Her mother, Alexis, was already living with more than 20 symptoms a day, and her brother Silas kept getting sick. The family eventually found mold behind the wallpaper next to Silas’s bed, left the house in October 2024 and lost more than $100,000, according to a Newsweek account published Nov. 9.

Years of Symptoms, Then the Wallpaper

Alexis Babcock, 36, lives with her husband, Paul, 40, and their three children. By Newsweek’s telling, her list of daily symptoms grew to include vertigo, ringing in the ears, migraines, joint pain, extreme fatigue, anxiety, hair loss and trouble thinking clearly. She described the toll to the magazine as a loss of her own sense of self.

Her son Silas, now 7, had recurring fevers, headaches, joint pain, stomach trouble and frequent infections. By age 4 he had been to the doctor more than 40 times, and he was hospitalized with parotitis, an infection of a salivary gland, and cellulitis, a skin infection. Reese lost hair. Two other relatives developed serious breathing illnesses.

In 2024, Alexis found online material from a certified CIRS coach known as “The Biotoxin Lady.” The family also noticed musty smells, water staining near an HVAC closet and wallpaper that was lifting away from the wall.

Behind the wallpaper next to Silas’s bed, they found mold. They also found soaked materials behind the kitchen cabinets, along with moisture problems involving the roof, the stucco and the HVAC system. Later inspections found water intrusion and damaged building materials, Newsweek reported.

A Diagnosis Doctors Still Debate

Alexis and Silas were diagnosed with chronic inflammatory response syndrome, known as CIRS, using a framework developed by Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker. A brain MRI showed shrinkage in three regions of Alexis’s brain. Since leaving the house and starting treatment, her neurological symptoms have improved, and Silas has also made progress. Both remain in treatment under specialist monitoring.

CIRS is not widely accepted as an established medical diagnosis, and Newsweek said so in its report. UCLA Health’s “Ask the Doctors” column, written by physicians Eve Glazier and Elizabeth Ko, said molds “can pose serious health risks,” especially with extensive growth or long exposure, but called the Shoemaker treatment protocol “as disputed as the syndrome it is meant to treat.” The doctors warned that focusing on CIRS may delay other diagnoses, and listed conditions a conventional workup would check, including endocrine disorders, vitamin deficiencies, undiagnosed asthma, Lyme disease, sleep disorders and autoimmune conditions.

Their main advice was practical: removing the source of mold exposure is often the central step in managing mold-related illness, and anyone who does not improve should seek a broader medical evaluation.

What Health Agencies Say Mold Does

Federal and state health agencies describe a narrower set of mold effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists a stuffy nose, sore throat, coughing or wheezing, burning eyes and skin rash as common symptoms, and notes that damp, moldy places may cause effects in some people and none in others. People with asthma, mold allergies or weakened immune systems are the most sensitive.

The Florida Department of Health says babies, older adults and people with breathing conditions are among the most vulnerable, and that the health effects of so-called toxic molds are not well understood. Allergies, it says, are the most likely problem.

Fixing the Water Problem First

Both agencies put moisture at the center. Florida’s health department explains that mold needs moisture to grow indoors, with leaks, flooding, condensation, humidity and poor bathroom or kitchen ventilation as common sources, and that standing water can let common molds take hold within about a day. Wet materials and spills should be dried within 24 hours, it says. On prevention, the CDC advises keeping indoor humidity at or below 50%, using exhaust fans that vent outside, fixing roof, wall and plumbing leaks, and cleaning up and drying a flooded home within 24 to 48 hours. The agency says mold that is seen or smelled should be removed without trying to identify the type, and that the moisture problem has to be fixed as well or the mold will return. The CDC does not recommend mold testing, because health effects vary by person and no standards exist for acceptable mold levels.

Florida’s health department says an area of about 10 square feet or less can be cleaned by the homeowner with soapy water or a mold cleaner, and that drywall, carpet padding and insulation that cannot be cleaned should be replaced. Larger growth, water damage or contaminated water calls for an experienced professional. On testing, it agrees with the CDC and adds that sampling is expensive and should be done only by experienced professionals if it is needed.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences makes a point that applies to any family trying to sort out symptoms: effects of mold vary with the type, the amount and duration of exposure, and the person exposed.

Where the Family Is Now

The Babcocks estimate they lost more than $100,000 to remediation, discarded belongings and damage their insurance did not cover. They spent two years living with relatives and bought a new home in October 2026. Alexis now works as a CIRS coach and consultant. She says mold does not explain every unexplained symptom, a caution that echoes the UCLA doctors’ advice to keep the medical search broad.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Palm Beach Police Department – Public domain/Wikimedia Commons