So I've received word that KDM's office, staff, and the Eurovolley hotel are heavily scented. Just curious how this has managed to fly under the radar for so long. Are most patients that have gone to see him not MCS? I am terribly reactive to chemicals. Or is it not customary to accommodate your patients' kryptonites in Belgium?
hi all,
i am the patient who talked with frou about the eurovolley hotel and whether or not it would be too scented for me. as frou and garcia and sushi say, we are all different, so everyone will react according to their own level of sensitivity. in fact, another patient, along with frou, told me they did fine at eurovolley hotel, too.
i AM highly sensitive. 2.5 yrs ago i got a bad mold exposure and my MCS went thru the roof. this is my level of sensitivity: i have to wear a mask on an airplane ride due to the perfumes. i can't go into a Target store (or walmart, or kmart or any clothing store) without feeling toxified. and if i manage to stay there, buy a shirt and bring it home, i will have to wash the shirt about 3-4 times in baking soda and vinegar before the perfume from the whole store is gone from the shirt (in my noses opinion). so that is the level of sensitivity i am at. another gage: if you have clothes on that you washed in "normal" laundry products, i'll have to put plastic on my car seat before you sit in my car, for fear that your clothes will leave a scent on my car seat. i hope that gives you an idea of my level of MCS: high.
that said, in my experience, the Eurovolley hotel is highly toxic. my partner does not have mcs, and he found it overwhelmingly scented, too. it was all about the cleaning fluids. mostly the laundry soap, which permeated the rooms and all the air in the whole place, even outside the hotel. and it was also from the cleaning cart that remained in the hall all day long. it was also in the general air, as the laundry machines spewed their exhaust into the outside air, outside the hotel.
both my partner and i found that most people in belgium are scented as well. folks would walk by us, and leave a trail of perfume. it is a culture where many wear perfume on a daily basis. the staff at KDMs were no exception. they wore a good deal of it. but not KDM himself, that i could tell.
i had a good connection with the nurse at KDM's clinic and i really liked him. but each time he came up to me, i got dizzy from his cologne. same with the administrative staff. i would walk up to a staff member to ask a question, forgetting their perfume, and then have to take several steps back. (i did this gently and i'm sure none knew. i thought about telling them, but in truth i was so overwhelmed, i did not.)
the patients in the waiting room were mixed. some not scented, some scented. but as someone just posted, it only takes one perfumed person to chemicalize a whole room. i had to sit by the front door near the fresh air for the 3-4 hours i was there each day (2 days).
i want frou and others to know how much i appreciate all their help telling me about the hotel and their kdm visit!! my reaction to the place was my reaction. it was not hers or anyone else's. one thing i have learned is that there is no way someone can guess their own reaction to a place in advance, based on someone else's reaction to a place.
i'm pretty darn sensitive. i had thought that frou and i were more or less on the same level. but i now see that that is too hard to assess via emails. clearly i'm much more sensitive.
on the other hand, i wonder if the hotel changed laundry soap recently, because it was soooo bad.
by the way, strangely, the hotel towels were fine. it was the sheets that were toxic to me (and thus the mattresses, which we had to wrap in mylar and ducktape to tolerate). and the air, and the cleaning supplies.
i'll report more from my visit soon, about other things besides chemicals.
again, many hugs to all who told me in advance how eurovolley was for them. i really appreciate all their advance help!
best,
rrrrr
