Catalina Tywoniuk, my mother, is in the Assisted Nursing Home new residence of Lifestyle Options. It was very toxic at first, but not their fault. The company that supplies the scented laundry soap has this on their label:

“This is a phosphate free, bio-degradable and environmentally responsible product formulated using the newest polymer technology. It is ideally suited for the use in domestic high efficiency washing machines and will brighten whites as well as provide effective cleaning of all synthetics and natural fibers such as polyester, cotton, wool and silk.” There is NO list of ingredients.

This info is very misleading and unfair, so here we go again. My Darling Sister (NOT) is my mother’s power of attorney, not sure how that happened. In the beginning my sister was doing our mother’s laundry and if she did not want to, I would have been more than happy to do it.

But no, unknown to me, my sister decided to let the nursing home provide the laundry service so she would not be burdened with the chore. The nursing home washed my mom’s clothes and bedding in their heavily scented laundry detergent.

Luckily, the next day when I went to visit (I go every second day) I realized all my mother’s clothing and bedding were toxic. And she was not feeling well with a raspy voice, respiratory issues, no energy, just wanted to stay in bed. I took everything the nursing home had laundered out of her room and proceeded to purchase her new clothes and bedding. Soon after she was feeling better again, back to her normal self, more energy and not wanting to stay in bed.

The nursing home advised I needed my sister’s permission to stop the laundry service and be able to wash her things myself. That did not fly with me, so I continued to pursue the problem.

Talking with the “Director of Care” at the West End location of the nursing home was like talking to a brick wall.  But she did phone my sister and got permission from Darling Sister to let me do the dirty work, what a nice person (NOT).

I decided to call the main office and try to talk to someone that cares, and yes, I got through to Dale… thank goodness! He listened to my information. Then he took charge and made the change to fragrance free laundry soap immediately after researching what I said. Thanks to Dale, I would highly recommend Lifestyle Options to anyone in all locations now that they use fragrance free laundry soap.

Back to the “Director of Care” that I talked to in the beginning, not to worry. Remember, one bad apple does not spoil the rest, especially if it is removed or becomes educated on the issues. We can only hope and wish.

And yes, my Darling Sister lives a fragrance free lifestyle herself.   For her son, Princess Jay, she would never let anyone wash his clothes without checking into what products they use. Like my mother has always said “Why does my daughter not like me? What did I do to deserve how she treats me?” If anyone happens to know the answer to those questions, please respond to my blog or email me.

And to prove the point, try to get your head around this. My Darling Sister pushes our mother to put nail polish on and you know what that means…you have to remove it at some point. Nail polish remover is acetone. In the automotive industry the same product, acetone, is used for cleaning up paint equipment which requires the user to wear hand gloves and a charcoal filter mask or a forced fresh air system to use that product, there are danger symbols and warnings all over the container, very toxic. Why doesn’t nail polish remover have the danger warnings on the front of the bottle? If you read the back of the bottle, it does give warnings such as use in ventilated areas.

Why does my Darling Sister insist on painting our mother’s nails with toxic nail polish? I have been trying to get through to educate her on why Mom cannot wear it. The whole process of applying and removing of nail polish is so unhealthy.  Maybe she is jealous of Mom’s amazing nails? What do you think?

My mother is just about 90 years old and always had beautiful finger nails. When in their natural state, people can see that they are real. When painted, people question if they are real or fake. My mom would never wear fake nails.

After my mother removed the paint on her nails using acetone, her feet, starting just above the ankle, were purple for five days. Thank goodness it will not happen again. I took away the nail polish and polish remover.

Thanks, Catalina and Loving Son, David Tywoniuk