Back to Urgent Care for Treatment for my Hiccups

We arrived at Urgent Care once again about 1 hour prior to closing. I was in so much discomfort and pain that I was desperate at this point.

We met with a nurse who took down our information again and went through the normal routine and then met with our doctor. The doctor has an extremely heavy accent and was almost impossible to understand. He obviously hadn’t been in the US long.

The good thing about dealing with a foreign doctor is he was actually concerned about fixing my problem as opposed to how many patients he could push out the door in one day.

He asked me a series of questions about my hiccups and how I was feeling in addition to what I was experiencing and allowed me to go into great detail about what was wrong. He actually listened to me; instead of cutting me off and assuming he had already solved the problem.

After hearing about my previous two visits to the ER and Urgent Care the day before he ruled out many of the common things he was going to try. Instead he said that at this point it would be best if I was given X-Rays to make sure that everything in my chest looked good.

The X-Ray could potentially pick up any problems with a damaged Frenetic Nerve or Diaphragm.

We got to Urgent Care first thing in the morning at 9am when they opened. This was good because even in doing so there was quite a wait. By this time I was exhausted and worn down, my throat felt as though it has been rubbed with steel wool, and I thought I might start gagging in the lobby at any minute.

They finally got me into a room to see a doctor, where I was helped by a nurse prior to meeting with the doctor. He turned out to be one of the most informed people we had talked to since the whole episode began.

He mentioned that the medication I had been given from the ER was mainly for nausea and was not going to help with hiccups. He also mentioned that my hiccups might have had something to do with the effect that “general anesthesia” has on your body.

I then met with the doctor who checked me out. Everything seemed normal aside from the fact that I still had the hiccups. He mentioned that the surgery may have put a strain on my frenetic nerve which could be causing the hiccups. He said there were plenty of “home remedies” but not many medical cures for hiccups as they had never been studied in depth for medical pusposes.

He gave me a new prescription for Metoclopramide and sent me on my way.

Five Days of Hiccups & a Decision about a Hospital Checkup

Sunday was pretty unproductive. My hiccups still hadn’t gone away and I was suffering from severe chest pains and Acid Reflux throughout the day.

That night was a repeat of Friday night, although this time I decided to not go to the ER. I just didn’t want to be poked full of needles again in some uncomfortable place that wasn’t going to help my problem.

I opted for staying home instead which lead to a long night of wrenching and choking from about 9pm until 5am the next morning. I was so worn down from the night’s ordeal that when I finally passed out I didn’t want to wake up.

Unfortunately (and fortunately) my fiancée wanted me to go to Urgent Care. The reason it was fortunate is because we felt as though they could help. The reason it was unfortunate is because I do not have a regular doctor (since I am usually very healthy) and in our city there is a 4 month wait to get in to see a doctor.