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Wednesday, October 17, 2007

When Hiccups Won't Up and Leave

The males in my life are down with some bizarre illness, could be stomach flu, could be some sort of infection. Husband is much better now. He was able to go to work after we'd established that he wouldn't set forth and start an epidemic (this has been a particular worry of mine. I didn't want Marguerite to catch this stomach thing not only for obvious reasons, but also because I have always been rather obnoxious about the rotavirus vaccine). His stomach still feels funny, but his officemates need not look accusingly at him. He hasn't been contaminating the bathroom at the workplace. My Dad's fever is also gone, but like Husband, his stomach is still upset. Thankfully, he has the right to contaminate his own bathrooms.
The other thing about Dad right now that has us worried is his persistent hiccups. He had them the whole day yesterday. His only rest from them happened when he slept (at least he was able to fall asleep). I googled hiccups and they could be caused by the most banal, like eating too fast, to the really alarming, such as tumors and serious diseases. It's pretty scary actually. That's what I get for doing medical consultations with internet search engines.
I remember this happening in the past, but not as long as an entire day. How long does it take to drive from Balboa Park to Oceanside? 1-2 hours? He was hiccuping the entire travel time. It's a good thing he wasn't doing the driving then, but it was really uncomfortable and embarrassing for him, and, well, for the rest of the people in the vehicle too, actually. We also felt dumb trying to jolt the hiccups out of him (old wives' tale about startling people to drive their hiccups away). We were suggesting all sorts of things. Water usually does it for him, but not that time. My own unique way of dealing with hiccups is to hold my breath until I gag. That method hasn't failed me yet. I think he tried to hold his breath, but he wasn't good at it because a hiccup would always sneak out. Anyway, Dad finally got rid of the hiccups that time by blowing into a paper bag.
This time around though nothing has worked thus far. He has tried water, sugar, citrus, ginger root, ice, the paper bag trick, holding his breath, etc. Tomorrow if he still has them, he'll try apple cider vinegar, peanut butter, honey, anise seeds (for babies, really) pressing on his collar bone, plugging his nose and ears (won't this method burst his eardrums or something), and winning the lottery (This will be a complete shock all right. As far as he's concerned, there are no compromises when it comes to gambling.)... Anyway, please pray for my Dad, that the annoying hiccups go away and that they not be a symptom of something serious. Thanks.:)
Eherm, a bit of bragging...
I was letting a cranky Marguerite play with my laptop (turned off). She was typing away, pushing buttons. When she pressed the screen down though, it locked. She was very miffed about it, her whines slowly escalating to semi-screams. I was trying to get her to sign to me, so I just asked her, "What is it, baby? What do you want?. She refused to sign though, so finally I asked, "Do you want me to open it?". She shot me a baleful look and yelled, "Yeah!!!". The magic words will come later. Hopefully.

1 comments:

aunt chip said...

isn't midge just the smartest? and doesn't she just look smart in her pictures?
MIDGE FOR LIFE!