The Revenge of the Caterpillars.......

Well, the saga continues.  After the 18 nests of caterpillars were removed from our backyard, we stayed in the hotel on post for 2 days, followed by our trip to Berlin.  During those 4 days, our rashes were getting MUCH better, with minimal itching, and no new "marks".  We were hopeful that we had found resolution to the issue, and we could continue enjoying Europe, itch-free!   Well, we were wrong!

The first night back in our house, we awoke with "just a few new marks", but we were trying to convince ourselves that they were mosquito bites from the 4th of July festivities.  Well... after our second night home, I woke up itching like crazy in the middle of the night, and had 20 new spots, on my arms alone.  The kids awoke in the morning, with many more, as well.

I quickly started making phone calls, trying to get help and find the reason for our rash. Unfortunately, Tuesday was a "holiday" here, as it was an extended weekend because of the 4th of July. We were still convinced it's the caterpillars, but thought maybe it was just that we missed some of the hairs inside the house.  So - we cleaned, disinfected, mopped, washed walls, etc...trying to rid the house of the contaminants. 

By mid-afternoon I received a phone call from our housing office that our house was considered a health hazard and that we would need to vacate our quarters immediately - and PERMANENTLY!   We would have to move back into the hotel and find new quarters.  I had to start "house hunting" with the housing officer, and they brought me to the ONLY duplex that had both sides currently empty, so we and the Brown's could still live side-by-side.  When we went to look at it, however, there were some issues that would need to be cleared up prior to our moving in.  There was supposed to have been a possibility of us moving in on Friday (tomorrow), since our household goods from Maryland had arrived, and were scheduled to be delivered Friday morning (to the new house), however, the repairs to our new quarters could not be completed on time.  We now have to stay in our hotel for another 8 days, as they say we cannot accept our new quarters until NEXT Friday, July 16th. 

Many think going to a hotel is a "vacation", but really !?!?!?!??  When you go with 4 kids, a cat and a dog - it's not much of a vacation!  The kids are handling it great though, so we're very blessed.  Knowing that the expenses of the room and our meals are being covered by the Army (our housing office is an even bigger blessing, as having to eat our for 2 meals a day, with 6 of us, can get quite expensive.

Now...imagine this.... being told you cannot bring ANYclothing to the hotel, that ALL  your clothing (and textile) items would have to be professionally cleaned, to decontaminate them, that all you could bring to the hotel were your computers, bath items and anything "non-textile" (meaning non-cloth or fabric), and pets.

Well, we were told all of that, and quickly the fact that were were living in "health hazardous" conditions took on a whole new meaning (and emotion).  My heart was racing - not our of "fear", but from the unknown.  Not knowing if the caterpillars have truly done this to us, not knowing if there's was something "greater" making us ill, not knowing if our children were in harms way.  I quickly started packing to get out to the hotel, and it was actually quite easy since not much could come with us.

We had to go and buy clothing to "hold us over" until our clothing could be properly cleaned (and decontaminated). Typically, a "shopping spree" is awesome, but not when you "have to" find stuff that fits and at good prices!  Anyway, we went to the PX and found everyone 2 pants and 3 t-shirts, socks and under garments, along with one set of pajamas - and prayed that we could have our own clothing back quickly.  Of course, finding all the clothes took us 3 HOURS!!!!

As far as our clothing at home is concerned, we're told they will need to be decontaminated, but  no one seems to know "how" to get them cleaned - so they remain hostage to our old house.

We brought Sally and Princess with us, and they received the first "shower" in the hotel, to clean them of any "caterpillar hairs", and our own clothing that we had worn (to go buy new clothes and to the hotel) were quickly removed to be washed in HOT water and a REALLY HOT dryer, in hopes of killing whatever is on our clothing, that could continue causing our rash.

We have now been in the hotel for 3 days, and our rash is getting better (Praise God), though we're still a little itchy, but with no new marks on us. Unfortunately, now we're all just a little grumpy with not having our stuff (the little we did bring with us), and from wanting to get back into a house again, and from having difficulty finding foods that I can eat (gluten free) in the hotel restaurant and in local places.  I had been making my own foods at home, and now it's impossible, so I've had several flare ups already, from taking in gluten.

I'm frustrated (okay, and a little grumpy) because I now have to start the process of transferring phone and internet service, from scratch.  Unfortunately, the company will not expedite the transfer of service, even though they know we were told that we MUST vacate our quarters, and that it wasn't our choice.

We are uncertain as to how long it will take to get our new quarters prepared, since on Tuesday we were told it would be done by today (so we could move in tomorrow), but now they're saying they need an entire other week!??!

At this point, there are MANY unknowns, as to what will happen to our housing situation.  There's some issues at the new house, there's question on "what" actually needs to get done to "decontaminate" our old house, there's still questions about HOW we go about getting our clothing cleaned, so we can use them, WHEN we can get into a house, what will happen to our trampoline and patio furniture (the seat cushions and umbrella) that cannot be "dry cleaned", but are thoroughly contaminated from living under the caterpillars for the entire month, WHO is responsible for the completion of which tasks, and many more.

The difficult challenge is that this Garrison (post) has never had this health crisis happen before (which is good), so they're trying to figure out "how" to respond, and "what to do", and at the same time we need to get some answers so that we can resume a normal life, in a home.  We know nobody here "wanted" this to happen, but I'm hoping that next year there will be some precautions happening, prior to the caterpillar "season", such as thorough inspections of ALL oak trees throughout the entire Garrison - so nobody has to go through the weeks of rash/itching again. 

I'm happy to report that the Garrison, housing, Department of Public Works and the Public Health Office are all working as a team, to ensure we are taken care of and into quarters as quickly (and safely) as possible!

We are hoping to have some more concrete answers tomorrow afternoon!  Stay tuned....