Let's begin this horrendous process. I've been getting bites all over my arms for some time. The bites are red, show up as the day goes by and go away by the end of the day. They rarely itch or bother me. The next day a whole new set shows up and the process continues. I can't remember for the life of me when exactly they have started but I want to say for at least a month and probably longer. I try not to think about that part too much because it's such a horrible thing to think about. I wasn't sure what the bites were coming from, especially since they didn't irritate me. I had thought several of the following things; allergy due to new medication, allergy to anything different in my life, bites from my job being outside in the playground where there are lots of ants and other pests, etc. Then more and more bites started to come so I started thinking more about what they could be. A coworker mentioned bed bugs at some point [let's call them BB for convenience now]. I didn't think they were BB but it did stay in the back of my mind.
Last week, I went out of town for a couple of nights and had absolutely no bites. I went home, slept in my bed, and woke up with a trillion bites on my arms. The night before I read about BB and decided that it was actually most likely that. I was most upset because I didn't want to buy a new bed, I could not afford it and I had only just bought it earlier this year. But after texting some people I know and talking to my cousin I learned a bit more about the process of dealing with them and decided to email management to have them inspect my place. Inspection confirmed BB. But let's backtrack to my trip before I continue. While I plan to make a separate post for my trip I want to focus on one aspect of it. Bugs. I went on my biannual trip to Arcosanti, a trip that usually always involves bugs. In the particular room I stayed in, there were quite a lot of medium/large spiders cohabiting there. Now, bugs don't really bother me, but just so long as they aren't crawling on me while I'm sleeping [an ironic statement now]. I've always been fascinated by spiders and people's fear of them [one which I do not have]. So I spent hours of my first night in my room laying on the bed and reading about spiders and then later about scorpions. The amount of species and information of spiders is insane and very interesting. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit itchy already. While reading, I could smell a distinctly odd smell that was not my own. I was sniffing my chest and my hair, all the sudden I felt something crawling on my hair and neck and grabbed a two inch beetle! I threw it off myself while accidentally ripping off one of it's legs. I found it on the edge of the bed and took a picture.
On my last night there, after dinner, I poured myself a glass of wine and sat outside in the dark to enjoy the starry night sky. I set my glass down on the chair next to me and took some photos of the sky. When I finished I went to take a sip of wine and had this overwhelming urge to use my flashlight and look into my glass before drinking it. I ignored this urge and went ahead and took a sip... a fucking moth found it's way into the glass and was fluttering at my lips. I pretty much kissed a moth. It survived but my heart didn't when I had to pour out the wine.
So let's say that I've been obsessing about bugs already. And every time I stay at Arcosanti, there's always bugs around and I often routinely seek out all their positions just to make sure that they are still where I can see them. This was the unfortunate beginning of a bug burden.
After I found out that I, in fact, had BB I have been super stressed out and really pissed off. I had no idea where I got them, especially since I can't remember how long I've had them I can't really pinpoint where I got them. I work at a school with not only my students but with regular ed students in first grade and kindergarten. All dirty kids who, god knows what, have in their own homes. I also work with kids outside of school. I do dreadlocks at other peoples' houses and have been to many friends and families' homes. I also hang out in public places like restaurants, hookah lounges, movie theaters, etc. It could of been from anywhere and this fuels my paranoia and stress. A big thing about BB is killing them and not spreading them and getting reinfested. Also not to mention that I simply live in an apartment complex, that alone is a culprit. Any of my neighbors could of had them [which one of them did in a different building]. I more recently found out that my grandparents had them several months ago. They are simply my only lead, I do not know of a single other person who has the same problem. With having BB, I've started many of my sentences with "And the worst thing is...". I'm going to continue that same path in explaining this story. So, the worst thing is, it doesn't matter if you're super clean or super dirty, you can get them any fucking way. I keep my place clean but I also have a lot of stuff...which will come later in my story. Unfortunately, and probably rightfully so, there is a stigma to having BB. So a lot of people don't talk about if they have them or not, which is the absolute worst thing you can do, because you can easily give them to someone else. I'm making my story heard so people can be aware of what comes with BB. After spending at least a week [still counting] dealing with them, I nearly feel like an expert on them so I will share any and every fact I can think of.
I was at work when I got the confirmation, thus I couldn't do anything about it until I got home. I had to wait several hours just fuming in my own stress and worry. I was on fall break from school, which was convenient because my cousin [one of my other bosses] just let me take the rest of the week off to deal with them. This was extremely helpful, but then again the damn BB ruined my break. Hell, they are ruining my mind at this point. Management confirmed that I definitely had them in my bedroom but weren't positive if they were anywhere else in my home. My place is a townhouse, 2 bedroom and 2 stories. This actually worked in my advantage because the bedrooms are upstairs and that is the only carpeted part of my house as well. They ordered a heat treatment schedule a week from the confirmation. This helped but also continued to fuel my worry. I cannot stress enough in writing how much of a wreck I was about all this. When I got home I went straight to my bedroom where my bedding had been partially undone and I saw them, those creepy fucking blood suckers. They mostly resided on a corner of my bed that I don't sleep on. They were on my fitted sheet and between the mattress and the boxspring but mostly only on that corner. I took a photo and just left everything as is.
I've pretty much suspected that my downstairs area was uninfested so I made myself a bed on my couch, there I have slept for over a week now and continue to do so. And I have not had a single bite since sleeping there and that is wonderful news in all this shit [which also confirms that they are not hiding in my dreadlocks!!!]. It's actually been kind of fun sleeping on my couch. Every night I watch Netflix, read David Sedaris, and drink wine to get my mind off it enough to sleep. I feel like I'm having a little slumber party by myself. I'm so grateful to have such an amazing couch that is just as comfortable as a bed.
I stayed in my house and did not have anyone over for an extended amount of time and did not go to anyone else's house for several days. I couldn't bear the responsibility of giving BB to someone else. It's made me exponentially paranoid. I went out occasionally only to get food and take a little break from the epic cleaning out I did.
Alright, I'm going to educate you on BB before I get into the protocol that I had to follow. First, bed bugs feed only on blood of humans and animals. There is no evidence that they carry diseases and their bites aren't really harmful unless the bites get infected. They are more a nuisance than a health threat. This is relieving. Thanks to the internet there is a lot of resources on them, from exterminator sites to bed bug forums. They can live for up to a year and go long periods without blood, this isn't good for us. They grow immune to pesticides and generally will migrate if you use them. So it is best that you don't try to get rid of them yourself, otherwise you'll risk spreading them around your house or to someone else's home. They don't feed on you til about dawn, 2am to 5am, and will only feed on you when you are sleeping and still. The downside is if you are nocturnal, they will adapt their feeding habits to your schedule. For example, if you work at night and sleep during the day, they will feed on you in the daytime. They inject you with anesthetic so you don't feel the bites. They feed on you for 3 minutes, fall off you, go back to their hiding space and digest for the next 10 hours. They can be clear/white or brown and will turn dark red or brown after feeding. They can be as small as a teeny tiny fuzz ball to small ant size. They are hard to see but you can look for their eggs and their droppings [little black and white dots]. They travel on anything fabric including carpet as well as baseboards, and I've heard they like to hide behind pictures or frames on walls, travel on piping, and in electrical outlets and electronics. Suitcases and used items such as clothing, bedding, mattresses and boxsprings are major culprits. Hotels and apartments are notorious locations for BB. The absolute most effective way to kill them is through extreme heat. Apparently they start to die around 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Most exterminators will use heat up to or more than 150 degrees. I also read that some companies are trying to advocate freezing them as more effective because it doesn't damage your belongings. I'll explain more about the latter part of that statement.
I will first explain the protocol that I had to sign and follow and my thoughts/stresses on that, then I will explain my actual process. In explaining this, I hope that people share their experiences more and will be better prepared or aware of BB. First, I have to understand that this is for eradication of BB and that in the case of reinfestation that I report it within 48 hours. My entire home will be heated to 165 degrees Fahrenheit and that all and anything that cannot be subjected to this heat must be removed from my home prior to treatment, if I cannot remove all items I must provide a list of items to be removed by management or the exterminators. If these people cannot locate or remove some of these items, they are not responsible for damages. The list of things that can be damaged in this kind of heat is tricky. The obvious is CDs, DVDs, televisions, some electronics, vinyl, food, medication, oil paintings, instruments, etc. This list is actually larger depending what you own, I will explain this more when I discuss what I did. I must leave the premises for no more than 4 hours for treatment. I can enter after and open windows to allow for more livable temperatures. I must inspect all new and used items being introduced into my residence for any signs of infestation [along with a list of possible items to be aware of]. I must understand that all boxed, drawered, or otherwise contained clothing, bedding, towels, and similar items be removed and thoroughly dispersed throughout the treatment area. In other words, I have to open EVERYTHING and spread EVERYTHING all around so that everything can be saturated in heat. For me this is stressful because I have a lot of clothing, bags of winter clothes, dirty laundry, bags of clothes I have yet to donate, etc. You essentially have to just throw the clothes all over the floor. And it must be noted that these things may come into contact by the technician and may be relocated from where you left it previously. Putting everything back [or cleaning up the clusterfuck] is all my responsibility. Treatment will be done to furniture, thus it may be positioned upright or however necessary. Also most require that you position mattresses, boxsprings, and frames upright against a wall. It may also be required, by the technician if he/she sees necessary, to remove highly infested furniture. They also do not want you to get rid of anything prior to treatment because anyone can get into that trash, unless you do it correctly or notify management. Extensive vacuuming is necessary both before and after treatment and all vacuum contents must be carefully removed and disposed of continuously. If pets live in the home, they must be removed for treatment as well as any inside plants. If I do not follow protocol I will be subjected to a fee and evicted. This last part scared the bejesus out of me. In my stress filled dazed I misread this the second or third time and thought that if I was reinfested that I would be evicted. I was not only scared but furious because at the beginning stages I purely blamed my apartment complex for the infestation. A accusation I still do not know is true or not, but just as likely or more than anything else.
So to start, I've been working on my place every chance I get. And I'm still not close to being done. The day after confirmation [let's call confirmation day 1, and go on from there] I started downstairs. I started removing and inspecting everything in my kitchen and my small downstairs bathroom. I had to put medications in the fridge, I took plastic containers out, removed cleaning supplies and anything pressurized. I just started throwing things in large black bags. I felt like I was moving out, considering all the shit I had to take out to prevent heat damage. Another reminder that I have a lot of shit. It started to occur to me that I do not know the melting point of most household items. Nor is it easy to find out. Every time I was stumped on a particular item I looked it up. The list of removed items was getting longer and longer. Meanwhile I was getting angrier and angrier. I vacuumed like crazy, cleaning as I went. I moved into the dining and living room, where I had recently put up Halloween decorations, which all had to be taken down. I went through every single DVD case, inspecting, wiping clean, vacuuming any possibility, then putting into a bag and taken out to my patio [where they still reside]. I left my major electronics for the night prior to treatment. This took hours, but for the most part I still felt my downstairs was unaffected by bugs. I have a whole wall downstairs that is covered in my artwork, from framed paintings, photographs, drawings, and painted canvases. I didn't want to risk it so I took them all down but left the nails in the wall. I inspected them all and vacuumed some of them. Later in the day my dad and brother came over to help me with what I needed help with most, my bed. We very carefully pulled off the bedding and put separate parts in bags and sealed them. The only thing I threw out was the fitted sheet which had the most bugs on it. I had to take down some plastic string lights that would surely melt in the heat. We hand vacuumed up every bug we saw and and slowly lifted the mattress and put it against the wall, finding more bugs on the corner of the boxsprings. They "minorly" inhabited another corner or so. Aside from the fitted sheet, the disaster lay on the bed frame. Each notch had at least a couple bugs on it. They all got sucked up. It became some kind of game as all three of us inspected each area and every time we saw a bug we would call my brother over to suck them up. After I felt satisfied we put all the bed parts up against the wall and cleaned the floor. In terms of the inspection and my own opinion the infestation was actually quite minor [but burdensome enough]. I always get a little antsy when my dad and brother help with something because they're a little rough when handling things and I didn't want to spread the bugs around. So I'm trying to control and watch what they are doing while being on the look out for bugs. Every time I saw another cluster of bugs I grew more anxious, sick, and just simply freaked out. I became a little shaky and weak. It was not fun to see the bugs but I'm glad my family was there to help. After we bagged up stuff and cleaned out the vacuums they left and I continued my tasks downstairs. I felt a little safer knowing the bugs were trapped because my first night on the couch I felt that the bugs would find their way to me, to my BLOOD. That's a creepy feeling. While I still felt it, I did feel a couple ounces better. I had also been non-stop itchy ever since my trip to Arcosanti, merely as placebo due to bugs on the mind, this was stronger at night when I tried to sleep. I eventually started some work upstairs by removing cleaning supplies and cosmetics from my bathroom. I was so exhausted and called it a day. Finishing work consisted of doing final touches with the vacuum, taking off my clothes and keeping them separate from anything else, showering, putting on "safe clothes" to sleep in that have been kept separate and have been cleaned. Then I make my bed on the couch and reward and distract myself in TV or a book or both. I have refused to sit on my couch with clothing other than my "safe" pajamas. Everything is very compartmentalized to minimize and risk of further infestation. My couch is essentially my safe place. I will add that I never feel fully safe unless I'm out of my house and out of my car. I constantly itch and feel things on me and I am hyper-aware of my surroundings and every little spec within them. You may call me obsessed, and partly I am, but unless you've experienced any kind of hard to beat or major infestation, you probably won't fully understand my stress.
On Day 3, I removed everything but basic essentials from my upstairs bathroom. I started going back and forth between the bedrooms. My bedroom doesn't have much in it aside from clothing. I have 3 small drawers, two large plastic containers, a large trash bag full of clothes, and the whole length of the the closet hangs with clothes. I have an IKEA shelf with boxes of various stuff and more clothes that are reserved for winter. I mostly just went through non-clothing items to remove anything that could melt or that is flammable. I spent a lot of time in the second bedroom that I use as an office/art workspace/guest room. That room is filled with shit. I have two large bookcases, one is completely packed with books, the other has a handful of books, old college materials, and various filing boxes of art supplies and miscellaneous. I left the books while I knew they would be safe my mind wandered and decided to break my heart in imaging that they became ruined. I had to sort through the miscellaneous stuff which is mostly crafts, music merch or CD sleeves, costume supplies, and old accessories. A lot of my belongings are in plastic bags or small zip loc bags, all plastic and easily melted in my opinion, so a lot had to be taken out or at least removed from bags or packaging. Next was taking out all my canvases, which are all wrapped in plastic packaging. I wasn't going to open them all, so I took them all out. Over the years, any time I see a good sale on canvas, I buy them, thus I've collected quite a bit. I left behind a few unwrapped canvas that were poorer quality just out of curiosity if they would get damaged. As far as I'm aware they are okay. I had to remove a lot of art supplies: paints, markers, pens, even paint brushes. When it comes to my art and supplies, I'm very protective so I wasn't going to risk anything and I have no desire nor funds to buy more stuff if it were to get ruined. Everything kept getting piled and piled in to large black bags of which I carried or near dragged downstairs to put on my patio. Luckily some of the supplies weren't fully unpacked yet, so it made it easier to organize and remove. The whole while I've been working on my preparation I had wrote notes to myself of items that I need to remember to remove or to ask about later. Some of those included my futon in the guest room which is electronic and has speakers within it. Another important tip in preparing for heat treatment is to unplug everything. I later learned that not all electronics have to be removed but unplugging is very important. I emailed management to make not of my futon, I was told if the technician felt it needed to be moved they would do it. To me it appears they didn't have to move it but I haven't tested if it still works, all other electronics that I have left do work however. While I had been working, I would occasionally text the few people that knew my situation that were checking in on me and providing tips. One thing I noticed, people would occasionally say something that made me relax a little but at the same time everyone had something to add which was very contradictory and quite alarming to my already fragile psyche. I swear, I would start to feel better about something and then someone would mention something I hadn't thought of at that point and then just throw me further down the hole I was in. It also poured when it rained in this whole ordeal. Every time I was trying to get stuff done, something else happened that either made things more difficult and stressful or just really frustrating. One of them being when my best friend texting me occasionally to make sure I was preparing properly. She works for the same management company of which I reside, so she can provide some insight if I hadn't already covered it in my research. I have a whole quite large wall covered in posters that I attached using command strips. She asked me how I hung my paintings and posters. I told her about the command strips and she worried they would melt. I hadn't thought about this AT ALL. While I was grateful she thought of it, I was at a point where I didn't want to do anything about it. I spent hours hanging those posters up and had absolutely no desire whatsoever to take them down, AND put them back up again [plus, those strips are not cheap!]. While we were texting back and forth, I tried to find some temperature restriction on the Command site. There it was, they start to soften and lose adhesion at 105 degrees... My treatment was going to be way hotter than that. My friend called me and talked me into it and tried to think of anything I hadn't thought of yet. After getting off the phone, I spent well over an hour taking down all my posters, ripping some, cussing a lot. I told her that I'm surely not gonna want to put them back up again. She said she would help, so I'm counting on that. While I was happy to see the full effect of the command strip [both apply and removing], I'm not totally sure I ever want to use them again due to the amount of time involved. I used them in the first place because I didn't want to ruin my posters with tacks and I didn't want to spend the money to cover at least two dozen frames. Frames are still most ideal, but I just don't have that money. After finally getting them off and left with really sore thumbs and even more vacuuming, I called it a day again and went through my new nightly routine.
Day 4 was Saturday, a day I had reserved for myself as a break from the bugs. There was an all-day art festival in downtown Phoenix in which my friend worked. I spent the whole day and late into the night with her. Even after, I went out to the bar for a couple drinks because I dreaded going home. So I didn't do any work that day. And it is surprising that I had not had a single dream about bugs at this point.
Day 5 was Sunday and my last day of fall break. School started the next day and I had until Wednesday to get everything prepared for treatment. I had gotten a lot done, but there was still a large chunk of work I reserved for right before treatment. Let's also say that most of my break involved me home bound. I only went out to grab food or groceries and did laundry as a mini break. I may have finished up some of the major things I started on Day 3. This day is a bit of a blur since the work has kind of blended to one whole pile of shit. At some point I did drop off some stuff to my dad's shaded back patio so it wouldn't be ruined by the sun on my patio. Actually, I took most of this day to watch Mad Men since I had finally just started watching it. That's right, I decided on my last full day off that I would take another break. I left the rest for the next two nights. I got lucky that I didn't have to work evenings on both of those nights either.
Day 6, back to work at the school. I officiated my decision to take Thursday off since it was the day after treatment so I could start putting things back together at my place. Everyone was very supportive. After school, I did more work, at this point I think I've gotten used to the brunt of the work and while the stress was still there, it just wasn't as intense. I did more laundry.
Day 7 was the final day I had to finish everything. At this point I'm utterly exhausted. I made a list of all the most important things left so I wouldn't forget. I did nearly half on the list and saved the rest for the following morning before work. I unplugged most of my electronics and appliances. I opened all containers, drawers, and bags of clothing and spread them ALL OVER the floor upstairs. It was a literal shit ton of clothes. This became very frustrating because I don't know what is satisfactory in terms of properly "dispersing" the clothing, but I tried my best. I was also partly upset with myself for how much shit I own. I left all the clothes that were on hangers in my closet but took the huge bulk of spare hangers and put them in the other bedroom closet. When I did this, I planned poorly because I wasn't sure what I was doing yet so I made a mess of the hangers and proceeded to get pretty pissed off. Luckily I'm not violent otherwise I'd have a dozen holes in my wall at this point. I left my sealed bag of bedding for the morning since, again, I was paranoid the bugs would find their way downstairs to me, since that's where most of them were by this point. I double checked everything to make sure I removed all that was needed. After watching some Netflix, I unplugged my router, modem, and PS3 and put them in their boxes and removed them. I packed up all my non-refrigerated foods. I took off some plastic IKEA lampshades. After whatever else I could do then, I went to bed.
Day 8, treatment day. I got ready, finished some things on my list, packed up the bare essentials that I saved for last. Before I left for work I opened the bags of bedding and left immediately. I was anxious that it had to be a whole week before I could get treatment, but considering all the stuff I have, I'm glad I had the time to prepare. I was happy the day finally came but I was really nervous about what awaited me when I got home that night. I knew the bugs would be dead, that I knew for certain. What I was most worried about was the mess I had to clean up and if the heat and/or the technicians ruined anything. I was prepared by sources that it would still be very hot by the time I arrived home and indeed it was. It was over 100 degrees, it felt like a sauna. My thermostat couldn't even give me a reading. All it said was HI, for high. I turned the air down low, opened the windows, and started accessing the mess/damage. All the walls and the floor were hot to the touch. It felt like getting into a hot car, but almost worst because it's such a large stretch of space. My kitchen looked untouched. My living room had pillows and seat cushions scattered about the floor and other odd locations. My downstairs bathroom door was wide open the poster was barely attached to the door [one attached by command strips that I forgot about]. My large subway poster above my couch had some minor rips and was barely hanging onto the wall [this irritated me for it was held there by tacks, it looked as if they pulled it down]. I left my TV because it was not a plasma [which you cannot leave during treatment] and I wasn't too worried about it since I was getting a new one the following month, but it appears they took it out and brought it back because it was the only thing in the room that was not hot to touch. All the blinds of the sliding glass door, kitchen window, and bedroom windows were taken off and put out on the patio. I hate these blinds and I wasn't thrilled they took them off but they organized them perfectly so it made it easier. Upstairs was an utter wreck, it already was bad the way I left it, but it was worse after and coupled with the heat. I was completely overwhelmed. All I could do was walk through the piles and look at stuff and open the windows. I started downstairs because it was less hot there. I started putting my couch back together while vacuuming like crazy again. I put my lamps back together, fixed my poster, plugged some things back in. I put the blinds back on my sliding glass door/window and after I had finished and tested them out, half of them fell off. I was furious and sweating like hell. I had to bring my patience to the forefront and tried again, more falling as I was working. I brought the bags of food back in and unpacked them. I brought some kitchen bags in and unpacked them. Eventually it was so hot and I hadn't had dinner yet. I checked my thermostat before I left to get food and it was 98 degrees. I ate some food and worked a little bit more, but mostly tried to cool off. Bed time.
Day 9, I was told after the treatment that I would need let management know a good time to schedule a carpet cleaning as part of the BB protocol. So I scheduled that for the following day. Today was my day off school but I still had my evening job. Hence, time was limited and I needed to clear off the carpet upstairs so they could clean it. I started sorting through the clothes like crazy, making piles for different things. I started bagging things for seasons, immediate laundry, donating to Goodwill, etc. I had only gotten through one bedroom of clothes when I decided to do some "quick" laundry and make a stop to Goodwill and pick up the bags of stuff I had at my dads. Ever since I moved out I still do laundry at my dad's since it's free for me. My dad and my brother were at work and I started the laundry. Towards the end of the cycle when it was supposed to rinse and spin, the machine stopped working. I tried everything I could think of. Meanwhile, this is our old washing machine which was recently hooked up outside. My dad finally put these new but used machines in the laundry room but the new washing machine needs to be repaired so the old one is outside for backup. So I'm outside with my clothes floating in the machine full of water trying to figure out what the hell is going on. I try everything at least a dozen times and didn't want to call my dad because I had already been there longer than I had planned on. I started to take my soaking wet clothes out and wringed the water out and decided to put a small amount in the dryer [the new one that works great]. While I was wringing out more laundry, I checked the dryer and realized I'm wasting my time and just hung all the clothes and my bed sheets on the line and would pick them up after my night job. But I felt bad just leaving the machine full of water so I found a not sufficiently big enough plastic container and started manually dumping the water out. I'm furious and already wasted so much time. I get enough water out and take my bags with me and head home to trade my stuff for the stuff I need to take to Goodwill. After that I have only time to eat some lunch and do minimal work before heading to work. Instead I just ate and watched a couple episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Despite the many obstacles, after work that night I got quite a bit done and cleared way of the carpet for the cleaners. I stayed up til 11pm working on it. It's probably the most productive I've felt this whole time. I organized bags of clothes, vacuumed the floor more times than I can say, vacuumed my mattress and boxsprings, both of which were not infested even close enough to have to get rid of.
Day 10, today or October 25th, at least when I've written up to this point. They cleaned my carpet and changed my air filter as per protocol. I've been so exhausted and over this whole thing but still have so much work left and still a possibility of reinfestation if I had mistakenly taking an infested object out of my home and bring it back. So needless to say, a lot of my stuff is still in bags on my patio. Aside from that worry, my home itself feels super clean and I feel more comfortable here although I'm still sleeping on my couch. I'm not quite ready to be on my bed yet til I do a few things to it for my own peace of mind. I got home after work, checked out my carpet and then left. I drafted a majority of this post while hanging out at the hookah bar, something I hadn't done in a few weeks but have been wanting to badly. It's the first time I've hung out somewhere I typically frequent and relaxed outside of my home. I would be lying if I said I'm still a little paranoid in case I got the bugs from there in the first place. But I try to push it out of my mind. I don't have much time left considering there is a Halloween party this weekend. Then I am having my own birthday party next weekend. I have a lot to finish before then, including starting over with decorations again. I highly doubt I'll have my posters up anytime soon though.
It's been a few weeks since I wrote everything above this point. I'm back at the hookah lounge for the first time since writing this. I had some time to start putting everything back into my place before my birthday party which was now two weeks ago. The night before my party I slept in my bed for the first time in nearly 3 weeks. I ordered special encasements for my boxspring and mattress that protect from allergens, spills and stains, dust mites, and bed bugs. Those came and I finally felt safe enough to sleep in my bed. I have been sleeping there since and not a single sign of BB. There's still a possibility but so far I feel safe. I want to put this behind me and never have to deal with it again.
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