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Post by littleengine on Jun 23, 2010 23:06:06 GMT -5
...in my basement.   I am so dirty and awful. I have been trying very hard to keep the main floor presentable. It's so much better than it used to be, and oftentimes I can have my kids' friends over. (Oftentimes not, too, but hey--it's progress.) But my basement. OMG it's horrible in there. Massive piles of laundry and moldy gross stuff and unwashed dishes from years and years ago. I started tackling it tonight and found maggots. I had to take a hard plastic toy and pop each and every one of them as they wriggled away. I am dying of disgust at the maggots and at myself.  I've ruined so many perfectly good clothes and pillows and toys down there that got all mildewy from being on the damp floor. I AM SO CREEPED OUT BY MY BASEMENT!!!! It is a massive hurdle for me. I feel like I really cannot do this. But I must. Must. Must. Help?? |
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Blackswan
Banned
Joined: October 2008
Posts: 6,388
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Post by Blackswan on Jun 23, 2010 23:27:37 GMT -5
oh god! I cannot even begin to imagine!
but look at you! look what you got through! You are strong and brave! You absolutely have what it takes to reclaim your basement, you just proved it!
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Post by eagle on Jun 23, 2010 23:46:45 GMT -5
I know you don't want maggots in your basement. Neither would I. However, they are not going to hurt you. Still, I know they are kind of creepy. I had to use them as a nurse to treat patients a few times and it always made me feel like gagging.
So here's what I would do before going into the basement the next time: Dress to cover all limbs and wear dishwashing gloves or garden gloves, or gloves non-latex or latex exam gloves. The exam gloves or gloves like come in hair dye packages are available at most stores that carry pharmacy supplies.
Fully covering yourself helps decrease the feeling that they're contaminating you. Wearing the exam gloves make it easier to use your fingers and whatever tools you are going to use.
Bring big sturdy garbage bags with you, a broom, a dust pan, a bucket of scalding water or beer, some fly paper strips. Sweep the loose maggots into the dustpan and drop them in the scalding water or beer. Put the maggoty clothes into the sturdy garbage bags. Tie them up real tight & carry them out to the garbage bin. Maggots in the garbage can is not really a horrible thing. You'll end up with some flies eventually, but they die off.
Hang some fly paper in the basement. You surely have flies in the basement, too, so you'll want to get rid of them as well. Make sure you wear disposable gloves when you change the fly paper. You can just toss the gloves and the fly paper at once. Always take that trash bag out to the garbage bin right away.
You can leave a shallow pan with beer in it in the basement near where the maggots are and they will crawl in and drown. Flies will also. You'll have to empty it later & carrying it up stairs will be disgusting, so make sure you have a bucket or something deeper to pour it into before walking up the stairs. Better yet, if you have a toilet in your basement, you can flush that down the toilet.
IF you have a drain on in the basement floor DO NOT put the maggots or dead flies down the drain. Too much of that & it will clog up. NOT WORTH IT.
The above is pretty much chemical free for maggot removal (well, except for the beer). You can use chemicals, if you choose. There are a variety of chemicals that will kill maggots (and flies) but in a basement, with poor ventilation, I wouldn't recommend it.
Once you clean up the basement, keep changing the fly paper strips until you have no more flies. Keep the door to the basement closed so the flies don't come upstairs (if you basement has a door). Don't let animals into the basement (excrement draws flies). Don't keep any food in the basement until after you have cleared away the flies & maggots. And if you keep food in your basement (I keep root vegetables in mine), check them every few days to be sure none are rotting.
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Post by littleengine on Jun 23, 2010 23:48:10 GMT -5
Thank you, Blackswan, for the encouragement. I found more maggots. Feel like vomiting. Two bags filled and taken to the curb. Going back down to the basement now. Oh G-d what will I find next?  |
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Post by littleengine on Jun 23, 2010 23:53:54 GMT -5
Thank you, Eagle, for the very good advice. (By the way, what are maggots used for medically? I heard in the old days they would use them to clean a wound because they eat the part of the wound that is, well, rotting...is that still true?)
I do have flies in the basement, but only in the past couple of weeks. I've been killing them with a fly swatter. The most I've had to kill has been 30 in a day, many days it's been as few as 6 or so. I'm going to set some beer out down there, thanks for the suggestion.
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Post by clutterific on Jun 24, 2010 0:15:14 GMT -5
Littleengine,
You are NOT dirty. You have a problem with squalor and are working to overcome that. I know the maggots had to have been gross, but please don't beat yourself up. Just the fact that you managed to keep working after seeing them is a testament to your resolve and strength.
I have no advice except to go with eagle's full body covering. Everything else eagle said sounds smart, too.
Please don't beat yourself up. I admire you a great deal for not running and never going in the basement again, as that's probably what I would have done.
Clutterific
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Post by littleengine on Jun 24, 2010 0:42:06 GMT -5
Thanks for the kind words, Clutterific. They mean a lot to me.
"Resolve and strength." I'm feeling so down on myself right now; these words are a buoy. Thank you.
Four more bags out to the curb. I'm just tossing tossing tossing. Almost all of it is going. Now I'm getting angry at my husband's squalor. Tossing some of it too. His is just as bad as mine, he just hides it better.
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Post by eagle on Jun 24, 2010 0:43:42 GMT -5
Yes, maggots for wound debridement of certain types of wounds. It is not seen by all nurses, nor is it even done in all hospitals because it is not always thought of as 'normal' or 'acceptable'. Socially and culturally, it is just not well received by many people. Actually, 'medicinal' maggots are bread in sterile conditions and therefore safe to use. They are efficient and effective at their prescribed purpose.
I always wondered, though, how the patient felt. You know, inside their skin. I had to learn to control my gag reflex and distance myself from the 'creepy' factor.
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Jun 24, 2010 1:03:50 GMT -5
For LittleEngine ... Here is the medal for bravery that the Wizard of Oz gave to the Cowardly Lion. You don't need the medal. You've already demonstrated your immense courage! Yet I felt compelled to bestow this upon you, in honor of your valiant battle. Wear this with pride! 
(I believe this image is in the public domain)
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Post by cando on Jun 24, 2010 1:31:41 GMT -5
You're doing great, Lil Engine! CD  |
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Post by lizzie on Jun 24, 2010 2:11:53 GMT -5
May I add, if you put some Vicks vaporub under your nose, that could help too, smelling something like Vicks can help avoid that gag reflex! Well done for tackling this yukky job, it sounds from your description that everything in the basement is getting thrown out, so that makes it "easier" if you don't have to inspect stuff too closely... you are doing well, remember to have breaks and drink water! Regards, Lizzie
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Post by StuffNoMore on Jun 24, 2010 8:09:33 GMT -5
I'm sure you'll get through this. Eagle gave you some terrific advice and plan. Eagle - I too have used maggots for wound debridement many years ago. I was also in the era where we used glass syringes and had to file down the burrs on a stone. Guess a bit of dating myself here.  SNM |
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Post by heretoday on Jun 24, 2010 8:24:43 GMT -5
that happened to me too recently littleengine. I leave the front door open when it is hot and some flies came in and suddenly there were more and more and then I discovered a bunch of maggots crawling out of my garbage bag near the sink. They were even on the floor. So I put it outside and then some animal ripped it open and had to clean it all up again until garbage day.
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Post by dtesposito on Jun 24, 2010 8:25:15 GMT -5
Hi littleengine, I just wanted to say it sounds like you are doing the right thing in just filling garbage bags and throwing--I know it hurts to think of the money you've spent letting things get moldy(I've been there too!) but at this point just try to let it go--all you can do is resolve to do better in the future.
As far as the maggots go, don't feel you have to kill them, just sweep them up and throw them away. Maggots are just baby flies, they'll turn into adult flies in your alley (joining the million other flies already there) and won't hurt anything. You don't have to deal with them other than sweeping them up and getting them out of your house.
Interesting to read about the wound treatment--I worked at animals shelters and we treated a lot of strays who would come in with untreated wounds filled with maggots. At this point, our goal was to get rid of the maggots, so it's hard to imagine having to purposely put them into a wound. I developed a pretty strong stomach during all those years of working with badly injured strays, but I have to admit the maggots were the one thing that bothered me--especially the smaller ones because of the way they made the wound look.
Anyway--keep up the good work, you're doing great!
Diane
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Post by messymimi on Jun 24, 2010 8:49:48 GMT -5
Little Engine,
You are brave, and you are a fighter.
Parts of your home are currently dirty, but you are not dirty. As was pointed out in another thread, we are people who hoard or squalor or whatever you wish to call it. We are not hoarders. We are human beings who happen to have a particular behavior we are trying to change.
You are changing the behavior. Continue to take Eagle's excellent advice, and toss a bag or two or three, whatever number does not overwhelm you but represents progress for you, each day, with a day off once a week. (Even the Lord rested, remember?)
Do not believe you have to be superwoman and have it perfect in one day, that will overwhelm you. Just work on it each day, and sooner than you expect, you will have a usable basement.
You can do this.
messymimi
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