BEDBUGS – OMG – Got them!

I had bedbugs after all.  It was not my imagination.

I wasn’t going to tell you.  But I figure, I tell you everything else.  So what the hell.  Maybe you’ll learn something.

I had blocked out one statement the inspector from Terminix said.  “If you have them, you’ll know it in a few days.”

I HAD MORE BITES.

He came back the next day.  Still could not find evidence except for my body.  This time he said, “Those are not mosquito bites.   Those are bedbug bites.”

They bite in a pattern.  A couple at a time and they itch.

Terminix is inundated with requests for treatment.  It is an epidemic here in Chicago now.  I had to wait five days for an appointment for treatment.

He said change beds.  They followed me into the guest room.

He said sleep on the couch downstairs.  They came there too.  They find you by the carbon dioxide you breathe out.  They are relentless.

In the meantime, I was to empty all closets and drawers and put the contents in garbage bags that are knotted not tied and put everything in the basement.

Later they will have to be washed and dried little by little.

All washables like sheets, pillows, comforters are to be washed and put immediately into the dryer for at least 30 minutes.  Heat kills them.

I threw everything out I had not worn in five years.  That was the only advantage.  Came to terms with the fact I am a size 10 not 4 anymore.

TO SAY I WAS HYSTERICAL IS A MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT. It is a war with an enemy you can’t see.  And they attack you when it is dark.  Like when you are sleeping.

Andrew, the exterminator arrived yesterday.  I met him at the door.  “I hope your middle name is Jesus.”

I had my whole house treated although he said it was a minor infestation.  They treat with high pressure steamers. All mattresses, upholstered furniture.   Even in your light switches.  Then they use some industrial spray you can’t buy anywhere.  Spray all baseboards, corners.  When the bedbugs cross any of the areas they die. They put bedbug proof covers on all mattresses and box springs.  More information below.

He will be back in a week.  And then the week after that.  Then, as needed and a final check up a month later.

WHAT I LEARNED:

A clean house is not a defense.  They don’t care.

If you have no problem at present, go to www.bedbugcover.com and buy covers for your bed and box spring.  They have the patent on these.  Expensive but this is not time to economize.  Bedbugs cannot get into your mattress or box spring and if they do they can’t get out.  These are the ones Terminix uses.  About $85.00 each.

Your dryer will kill bedbugs.  If you buy something in any store, put the items in the dryer right away for 30 minutes.  People return things that might be infected.

This is up to you, but I will not go to a movie theatre.  They love dark places.  Also theatres.

Again, your call, if you have a cleaning service or person who services many houses every week, you are very vulnerable. These innocent people may not know they are carrying pests into your house on their clothes.   I am going to do my own cleaning from now on.  My boys will help with the vacuuming.

Treatment is only guaranteed for 90 days.  I can’t take a chance on getting them again.

If you get them, don’t fool with home remedies.  Call the biggest pest control company.  Again, expensive.  $900. For my whole house.  Plus replacement of comforters etc that will not fit into my washer and dryer.  I cannot, in good conscience, bring them to a Laundromat or a cleaner.  They are all in my garbage can outside.

Go to the supermarket when there are few customers.  Stay away from people on the checkout line.

I would not stay in any hotel for all the money in the world.

If you want to call me paranoid, you are right.

This is a massive epidemic that is sweeping the whole country.

There are many scientists working on the bedbug problem.

I am praying that they find something soon.  My Terminix guy told me they have heard they are working on some kind of chemical that will make them unable to reproduce.

That would stop it.  Not soon enough for me.  I will be bedbug free soon.  Then, I will become a hermit.

By the way, they don’t nest in computers or cell phones.  So I will continue blogging.

In the meantime, for a month, do not drop in for tea.

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