The Year of the Caterpillar

Well, yet another adventure has hit the Wieman household, and we didn't have to travel any further than our own house!

For the past week, our entire family has had a rash. It started with Alex, and at first, it seemed like we had gotten a few mosquito bites, but then we were getting these "mosquito" bites, without even going outside.  So, after 3 days of more mosquito bites, and Alex's arm being completely covered, and Samantha's neck being covered, I tried making an appointment to see a doctor (since Jason had no idea what could be causing our bites).  After 2 days of not being able to get an appointment, I called directly to the front desk and explained that our entire family was covered in a rash, and we NEEDED to be seen.  Surprisingly, they "found" one appointment.  I brought Alex in (afterall, it was his "official appointment) and Samantha came along (more of a "show and tell" moment).  Alex has definitely been the hardest hit, and Samantha a close second!  The rest of us seem to be given it a hard run for "third"!  :)

The doctor took one look at Alex, then Samantha, then Me, with all of my "bites", and grew confused and concerned.  They speculated it was scabies, though it didn't follow the typical pattern.  I was concerned that we had "bed bugs" since we have been sleeping on temporary furniture, while we await our own furniture later this summer.  The thought of bed bugs, honestly, was freaking me out.  So, the doctor decided that we should do the scabies treatment, even though he wasn't convinced it was the cause, but rationalized it could only "help" and not hurt.

Well, once they thought it was scabies, they had to call the health department in, since it was "contagious" and had to be reported.  The public health officer came in the office to speak with us, took a report and gave me his card and asked that I call him in the morning, if we needed to.

We ended up being treated for the scabies, which means everyone had to wear a "watery cream" for 12 hours, over our entire body, and then wash it off the next morning. We decided we would apply the cream before going to bed, so I had several hours to "disinfect" my house.  We took all of the linens off the beds, all the clothes that were not in the closets, and even took off the mattress covers (from our loaner furniture) and started washing them in VERY HOT water, and dry them in HIGH HEAT!   Once we got the mattress covers off, we realized that all of the mattresses were plastic, so we took them outside and washed them in a hot water/bleach solution, and let them dry outside for a while.

Once everything was dry, and linens were done, we applied all the medicine on us, and went to bed.  We were told we  should see a big improvement in the "bite marks", but the itching could still be there.  Well..... we woke up this morning with TONS more bites!!!  

Needless to say, when I awoke with more bites than I went to bed with, I was very frustrated, angry and dishearted.  I feared waking up each day with more and more bites.  Everyone was itchy and cranky, and even poor Rebecca, who had been originally spared too many bites, woke up with so many over her entire body that all she could do was scratch and cry.

I called the clinic directly and asked to speak with the public health officer, so that he could find out the source of our bites, and fix us....we needed help!  He quickly said he would need to come to the house to do a "survey" - which would include looking in the attic, basement, around the house, neighborhood, etc.  When he came out, he told me that he had 2 possible "ideas" for what the rash "could be".  So, we went in the backyard and started looking in the trees.  THEN WE FOUND THE CULPRIT!!!

Turns out we had caterpillar nests in our Oak trees....."Oak Processionary Caterpillar" rash.  The hairs on these caterpillars (in the nests) contain an irritant to human skin, which causes a rash.  Without even knowing that caterpillars are around, the will shed their fine hairs, and "float" because of the wind and land on our skin.

These caterpillars, as far as we can tell, these pesky caterpillars don't come every year....apparently just when the Wieman's are in the country!  

Here's a picture of one of our four caterpillar nests.....

We have found 4 nests  in our backyard, and 2 in our neighbors back yard, which will need to be removed.  In order to remove the nests, DPW (Department of Public Works) from our post will need to come in their full "hazmat" suits, including head cover, and use a large pipe-like vacuum, that will cover the entire nest, allow it to be sucked up, without spreading caterpillar hairs every where.  Don't really know if it's actually going to happen like that, but I will find out tomorrow, I hope!

For now, we have the windows closed in the house, so that no hairs can enter through the screen, and we have 3 fans running in the living/dining room.  It's up to 90 degrees today, and is expected to get hotter over the next few days.  If they can't get rid of the nests tomorrow, it's possible we'll have to get a hotel room.  Tomorrow is a new day, and will have many new answers (and quite possible, adventures) for us.   I look forward to sharing them all with you.

I leave you with a few pictures of our "rash"......but, be warned....you may want to get the Benadryl now, as you'll probably start itching!  :)