Feature Testimonial: Mrs. Mary Evans from Easton, Pennsylvania was interviewed about her daughter, Dana, and their experiences with asthma:

A Child Breathes Easier Thanks to Andrew Pribzick

Easton, Pennsylvania

Because he genuinely wanted to help a little girl breathe easier, Andrew Pribzick, a Nature's Home Indoor Air Quality Consultant, has made a difference. Andy listened and observed, did his research and acted. The result is a dramatic difference in the quality of life for an asthmatic girl and her family.

Dana Evans was diagnosed with moderate to severe asthma at the age of three. These attacks, called "flairs", increased in intensity as Dana grew. Her mother, Mary Evans, explained to Andy that everyone in the family was affected during these episodes. Dana was becoming dependent on a nebulizer at night. Doctors were prescribing steroids, a drastic treatment for one so young.

In addition to learning about living with asthma, Mary began keeping a notebook on her daughter's flairs. It was not unusual to visit doctors several times a week. Steroid therapy helps reduce inflammation, but has to be managed carefully. One cannot simply take steroids as one does aspirin or antibiotics. You have to "wean" yourself off. Poor Dana was on steroids almost constantly, which caused numerous side effects.

Concerned for their daughter's health, Mary and Wayne took Dana to Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. As the doctors were testing and reevaluating Dana's asthma management, the Evans family moved into a new home. Unfortunately, the previous homeowners were smokers, owned a dog and the house was carpeted.

The results of Dana's allergy tests came in: she was allergic to dogs and cats. Dogs had been in both the new and old houses, and even the babysitter's house had a dog. She was also allergic to the usual suspects of dust mites, feathers, trees, grasses, ragweed and many common weeds.

Children's Hospital advised the Evans to remove the carpeting in the home, install hardwood floors, remove all the curtains and eliminate stuffed animals, put bed covers on the mattresses and install HEPA air cleaners. Mary and Wayne had done many of these procedures before. The hospital stressed that removing the allergens from the home would help, but steroids would still be a part of Dana's regime.

HEALTH PROBLEMS WORSEN

Dana's parents knew that the wood floor installation would cause problems with dust and debris in the air, so they moved out during the process. However, Dana's asthma caused her to be hospitalized later that year around Christmas. Her mother, Mary, was also hospitalized for pneumonia and missed an entire month of work. It didn't seem to matter if they had carpets or hard floors; the family grew sicker as the years passed. Dana's sister, Alyssa, contracted bronchitis, and Wayne also succumbed to pneumonia.

Mary Evans had enough. She was convinced that their new home, despite their precautions, was at the bottom of the entire family's respiratory problems.

Mary called the gas company, and a technician responded immediately. Carbon monoxide was ruled out, but the sharp-eyed technician pointed out the filthy condition of their HVAC ductwork. In addition to years of normal heating and cooling, dust from the installation of the hardwood floors had entered the ductwork. Leaks from a central vacuum system compounded the problem, and the original builders of the home had used the ductwork as a trash can. The technician referred Mary to Andrew Pribzick of Energetic Air Specialists in Easton, Pennsylvania.

On the kitchen counter, Andy observed the 15-20 medications that the family was taking. He listened as illnesses would become worse in the winter, when the home was stewing in its own recycled stale air. He met Dana, and his heart went out to the young girl who just wanted to breathe.

"I put money in front of him and said he can start tomorrow," Mary recounts. But Andy didn't take her money; he wanted to do his homework first. He knew that the Evans' home was ground zero in their battle to breathe easier.

The following month, December of 1998, Dana was hospitalized for the second time because of her asthma.

That spring, Andy first cleaned and sanitized the filthy ductwork. Then, he installed into the Evan's heating and cooling system a MicroGuardian Air Scrubber, an OxyPure and an OxyQuantum 254 Ultraviolet Energy system. A humidifier was also installed along with HEPA filters.

Andy explained the 90-day guarantee to Mary, who responded: "Andy, I am not going to notice a difference in ninety days. Wait a year and then I'll give you my endorsement." Andy was hoping to use this for a test case and to generate referrals so he was willing to wait a year for Mary to measure the improvement, even though he knew the air cleaning system would produce almost immediate results.

ONE YEAR LATER

Mary Evans was interviewed one year later. Her response:

"Dana has been steroid-free for one full year. She has not taken any steroids whatsoever. Dana is still having flairs but they are at a point where we can control them, and she does not need to take steroids. She does not have the violent coughing that usually accompanies an attack. Her coughs were mild and almost non-existent. She missed four days of school, down from 20-25 days a year. Dana is healthier, Alyssa has had no bronchial problems, and Wayne is definitely healthier."

Mary also believes that the system had protected the girls from contracting more illnesses at school and then bringing them home for the rest of the family. "This is the first time we've gone through a time when we're not getting each other sick."

Wayne thought he noticed a difference in the air quality. Mary, however, noticed the difference in Dana - more energy, doing exercise, even swimming. Doctor bills are down, prescriptions costs reduced, all of these benefits are nothing compared to the improvement in Dana's health and lifestyle.

Mrs. Pat Hamilton from St. Charles wrote:

I just wanted to let you know how pleased I am with my new air cleaner, UV light and by-pass humidifier that was installed in December, 2004. What a difference it has made! My allergies are significantly better and I find myself dusting much less. My husband and I would strongly recommend this system to others.

Mr. Lynn F. Laserman of DeKalb is willing to tell anyone about Service Now, Chris Carpenter and Indoor Air Quality:

It's finally time to tell you what I think about the "Quality-of-Life"-enhancing service your caring people performed for Donna and me. . . . It's now time for the really GOOD STUFF about our system. This is not just a heating/cooling system, it's a Health-Enhancement/Quality-of-Life-improving service.

I'm borderline asthmatic and have several warm-season allergy and irritant problems. My wife is just plain asthmatic. She was prescribed Advair® to prevent frequent attacks.

As your notes will verify, our system has the DC motor-powered blower, which runs constantly. This continually soft-moving air is moving through our ultraviolet light, which zaps bacteria and mold spores. Then the electronic filter removes just about anything floating in the air. Just as you told me, I changed the 4-month filter at the end of about 30 days. You said that it would really get an unbelievable amount of pollutants out of the air the first month. And did it ever. The filter was loaded!

My wife hasn't had to use her asthma prevention medication since that first month! As for me, I've been able to totally skip my spring and summer allergy tablets! No, I don't really believe that this system is going to cure everybody's asthma, but it sure has helped me and my wife. I'm so glad that I called you folks because no other furnace dealer even seemed to know about this "air-scrubber" type of system. What a loss it would have been to have replaced our old system with another one just like it that used 50-year-old technology!

The difference in air quality probably can't be described, it almost has to be experienced. Here is how it seems to us: When I wake up in the morning, the air smells like a beautiful, fresh spring morning, no pollutants, no irritants, just pure, soft-moving air. When we venture outside, frequently we are greeted with high humidity, moldy smells, drippy noses and asthma onset. Then we come back home. We're greeted with clean, fresh, healthy air, and within a few hours, we feel just great again. If we had not experienced this over and over, I wouldn't believe a system could do so much good.

That's about it, Chris. I felt it was only proper to let you know how much we LOVE our system. Thanks a whole, big, bunch! And PS, if ever you have any potential client who doubts your service and product, just show them this letter, or have them call me. I'll tell them how it really is.

Mrs. Lattie Small from Ohio suffered with allergies and her husband was a heavy smoker. Both Lattie and her husband noticed a huge difference only days after installing their air enrichment system.

I never thought anyone would invent something this good! It has completely eliminated the smoking odors that have always bothered me. Last week I cooked fish and you'd never know I did. It's truly amazing. The whole house smells so fresh now. I've always felt badly when guests came over and now I don't have to worry. I'm no longer stuffed up with all the stale odors that used to be in the house. I generally feel better now and I had no allergies all year. I'd like to tell everybody about this!

During a home remodeling project, Mr. Whitney Fisher and his family suffered negative effects from airborne pathogens. Following a UV light installation, here is what the Fishers of Indiana had to say:

We installed a UV germicidal unit and immediately recovered from our flu-like symptoms. We were able to remain in the house until the remodeling was complete. Generally, we've all been healthier and our kids even have better school attendance. We're less concerned with periodic influenza alerts because if one of the kids comes home with the sniffles, it won't affect the entire family.

Mr. and Mrs. John Camie of St. Louis decided to remodel their home. Mrs. Camie had just given birth to a son, Christopher. All three family members were experiencing itchy, watery eyes, when John decided to check the ductwork.

It was not a pretty sight! When I removed the grill, it looked like a hairy pit. I even called my wife. It almost looked like something was living in there! We decided to have the ducts cleaned and the difference was unbelievable. We feel better; the house smells better; and Amy doesn't have to dust the furniture as often. Now when little Chris rubs his eyes, we know he's only tired!

Mr. Don Wood from Utah suffers from cystic fibrosis, a pulmonary disease. Coupled with acute asthma, he was literally breathless for years. His condition was so severe that he was forced to enter the hospital on a regular basis just to keep going. When he learned from his heating and air conditioning contractor that improving the air in his home might help his condition, he took action. Wood had the ductwork in his home thoroughly cleaned and he installed a HEPA filter. Here is the result:

Before having my ducts cleaned and the installation of the HEPA filter, I had to be hospitalized regularly. Within 24 hours of entering the hospital, I always began to breathe more easily. And when I returned to my home, I would become ill again. It has been eight months since I installed this equipment and I haven't been back to the hospital once! I've got "hospital-quality air" in my home! Not only do I have overall improved health, but also sleep better at night. I perform better at my job because I sleep better now and have much more stamina to make it through the day. I'm amazed at how much cleaner the air in our home has been.