The Mighty Mites. Ew!

Scabies Mites

I remember watching a show of some kind several months back. The news, maybe?  It may have been more like six months or more ago. People were having problems with bed bugs, mites, infiltrating their living quarters. Specifically, the beds they slept in. Ew!

I was thinking how bleck it would be to know there were bugs, naked to the eye, tunneling through your bed springs, onto you, while you dozed. Residents had to hire an exterminator of sorts to go into their homes and spray an enormous amount of chemical smelling chemicals into their safe zone. Mattresses were discarded. Tossed to the curb.

I couldn't help wonder if the bugs infested homes that weren't particularly clean. That was never mentioned during the report, but you know, it did make me consider the idea that the problem started due to the owners lack of taking responsibility for their home.

What a hassle, and a half! That's what I thought.

Rudy called recently. Said he had gone to the hospital's emergency room. Didn't know where else to go. New to the haven't had much time to explore basic necessities like where to go for medical care based on our insurance area.... 

Everything has been going along swimmingly, except for one lingering problem...

He called to say, he has been invaded by mites. "Ew!" I thought, remembering the report I had seen.

"Well, it seems those bug bites you noticed on my legs the ones I dismissed as mosquito bites when you were here are bed bugs, burrowing under my skin. They have never gone away, and last night I  scratched the hell out of one of them. A big one on my leg. I didn't know what was wrong.... until a doctor gave me his diagnosis." Rudy talked, his voice transmitting pretty fast and getting a bit louder with each word. She knew he was worried about his oddly Ew! problem.

Scabies Mites are the most common type of bed bug. They tunnel under the skin, about one centimeter in length. Then they lay eggs. Ew! They feed on skin and secretions, living for ten to seventeen days on their unsuspecting host.

In this case, Rudy!

Eggs hatch. New cycle.

Irritation and itching is severe. Hence, his scraping the crap out of his skin, peeling it raw. Ew! Ew! and Ew! Ew! Ew!

Rudy is a clean freak. Of sorts. He maintains his place. His clean, orderly place. So there went the idea that all those folks on the report I watched may not have kept up their house. I was wrong to make that assumption. I apologize. Another lesson learned.

Rudy was given some kind of shot, full-body-medicated-cream-with-steroids to destroy those little invaders, and some antibiotics.

He's not itching anymore. Sounds more relaxed.

Aside from washing his sheets daily, he will find out on Tuesday as to what will be done to his furnished as part of his monthly rent bed. Ew! I imagine it's full of bed bugs. Happily awaiting his return. Fortunately, there is a second room with a bed for him to sleep on. He's almost certain it's bug-free. Almost.

Happy that he is mostly let the medicine kick in fine, all I can say is that I am so glad I am here. Not there.