Continuing from Tuesday…
I also referred her back to the Stern Environmental Group website so that she could see bed bug bite photographs, actual bed bug photographs, and obtain very valuable bed bug information while she was traveling. I figured that if it was indeed bed bugs that were eating her alive, it was best to arm herself with a huge amount of useful bed bug information. I also performed a quick online search of the hotel in question and found that hotel guests have been reporting bed bugs at this particular hotel since May of 2008!
As luck would have it, many days worth of bites on her arms, neck, and face caused a terrible night of sleep for her. From what she reports, she was awoken by the worst burning and itching she has ever felt at 4:30 AM, and quickly went on the hunt for more anti-itch cream in her hotel room. Then remembering what I had said the previous day, she turned back all of the blankets and sheets on her bed for further investigation. To her shock and dismay, there they were…crawling in her bed…crawling on her husband…bed bugs…loads of them! Some delightfully happy red plump ones, some still searching for a blood meal. Some were full grown like an apple seed and some were still quite small and somewhat translucent in color. Completely freaked out, she began killing them. She was smart and saved a good sized batch to take to the hotel management the next morning.
Her husband was lucky in that he did not suffer the affects of the bed bug bites that he surely received. My friend however is covered in painful welts that burn and itch. The itching and swelling that is caused by bed bugs is an allergic reaction to the bites she received. Some people do not have a reaction, some people have a mild reaction, and others suffer a horrible reaction. Some people even have residual scarring because of bed bug bites. Not having any reaction to bed bug bites is one of the reasons that bed bugs are spread so easily from place to place. Some people simply don’t know that they have them.
Please check back on Tuesday for the conclusion to this story.