When we last spoke to Mary Vanden Bosch, she and her family were living in a hotel, displaced from their West Chester Township home by a toxic mold infestation. The Vanden Bosches — Mary and Tom and their son, Peter, 8, — are home again after spending four months in a hotel and an estimated $50,000 ridding their home of toxic mold.

        For the most part, the runny noses, the mysterious headaches and other shadowy ailments have ended, Mrs. Vanden Bosch says. But every now and then, somebody starts sneezing or sniffling or feeling ill, and she starts wondering whether the black fuzz that started all their problems is back.

        “It's still not knowing. If we all get runny noses, is it mold problems?” she says. “Just every once in a while, there's this nagging feeling that something's still wrong.”

        It all started when Mrs. Vanden Bosch and her son tore some wallpaper out of one of the home's three bathrooms and found black fuzz — mold, really — growing all over the wall.

        When it was over, all three bathrooms had been gutted “down to studs and joists” and completely rebuilt, and the entire house had to be repainted. The workers who came in to clean up the mold and rehabilitate the home had to build walls inside walls to contain the toxic mold. They built a changing room in the garage where they could change in and out of their environmental suits.

        In October, Mrs. Vanden Bosch under went surgery to repair a hernia and other stomach damage caused when she started throwing up blood early in 2000. None of her doctors will say mold exposure was the culprit, but, she points out, vomiting blood is one of the signs of exposure to Stachybotrys, one of the toxic species of mold found in the Vanden Bosch home. They trace the problem back to a leaky pipe found and repaired in 1997.

        When the repairs were finally finished, the Vanden Bosches invited all their neighbors over for a party. On the day of the party, the doorbell rang and Mrs. Vanden Bosch opened the door to find the residents of her cul-de-sac wearing respiratory masks.

        “I laughed so hard,” she says.

        The family is settling back into the trilevel home. On New Year's Eve, they went back to the Woodfield Suites in Sharonville, their temporary home, to wish the staff happy holidays.

        The other day, Peter told his mother, “Mom, I'm finally getting used to this house again.”

        Mrs. Vanden Bosch especially worries about her son, who has missed many days of school because of health problems related to mold. “If he starts getting sick, I start to worry,” she says.

        The Vanden Bosches have installed “super-huge” air cleaners on the furnace and in the home. “I have noticed that, compared to last year, we all have a lot more energy.”

KIESEWETTER: Film brings Twain to life
Things Twain didn't say
Some memorable Twain quotes
Holiday audiences break records
Get to it
Hatebreed is a metal contender
Stand-in conductor inspires CSO
Dance had busy year onstage and off
DEMALINE: Future of American musical
Arts groups braced for economy
City alters art grants; offers free workshop
DAUGHERTY: Big boat dreams break winter doldrums
Family home again after mold removed
Giraffes stand tallest in nun's world
Photographer puts diversity in focus
'Survivor' winner revels in celebrity
Three with Hollywood pedigree in 'Orange County'
German observance mirrors Mardi Gras
MARTIN: This could be year you become a better cook
Serve it this week: Oysters
KENDRICK: Disabled children can sue doctors
Put on your palindrome cap