I Have a Problem…Maybe
Okay, enough is enough. I’m finally getting serious about figuring out this problem I have. I’ve had it since I was in my early 20’s but after all these years it is finally starting to really bug me. Really bug me! And, worry me just a bit…
You see, I figured if I ignored it then it would go away. I tried that a couple of times when I was pregnant and didn’t feel quite ready to go through another pregnancy just yet. It didn’t work then and it hasn’t worked now for this. In fact, now that I think about it, there have been quite a few times that I have tried to ignore things hoping they would go away and they didn’t. Ignoring them only made things much much worse. Like the time I had a bad abdominal pain and just kept popping pain pills for days hoping the pain would go away. It didn’t. That was the time my colon blew a hole and it took two life saving surgeries to finally make it go away. Or the time….actually I don’t think I want to go there right now on this blog because you all might think I was just a little dumb. Forget I started to mention that one. So, moving right along….
Anyway, I have this problem. Okay, here it comes…you see, I shake. Not all over. Just my hands. Actually it is just my right hand most of the time. I first noticed it when I was about 24 or 25. It happens mostly when I am doing something in front of people, like signing a credit card receipt, or taking the sacrament, or teaching a class. It has gone on for so long I don’t notice it too much, but obviously others do. It is embarrassing. For instance after I taught the gospel doctrine class a couple of weeks ago a man came up to me after and asked if I was shaking because I was nervous or because I was fasting. I didn’t know what to say because I was totally unaware that I had been shaking. I asked a couple of friends after if they noticed me shaking. They said yes but I had done it for so long they didn’t pay attention anymore. Arrrggh!
I am pretty sure this shaking is something hereditary because several of my siblings have “the shakes” as we call it. My mom and her brothers had the shakes. No one has died of it….yet. Well, actually they did die, but they didn’t shake to death. In our family we just shake. I didn’t think it was something to worry about but now that people are noticing it and making comments I am thinking it must be getting worse and maybe it is something serious.
One funny story….we had a man working on a project at our house and as he was lifting something he was shaking pretty hard. I rushed over to offer my help and he declined saying he was okay, he just has the shakes. I was thrilled to hear someone else had the shakes so that started a conversation about them. He told me having them comes in pretty handy sometimes and the best time was when they got him released from the high council. Apparently he threw the sacrament water over his shoulder one too many times as he sat on the stand. I couldn’t believe my ears that others had trouble with the sacrament. For some reason that is a time when the shakes really start up. I can’t figure it out. I do know that it doesn’t help when the deacon holds the tray so high I have to reach almost above the level of my chin. Oh boy, the shaking really sets in then. I almost can’t get it to my mouth. So embarrassing! I am sure the entire congregation is watching each week to see if I make it to my mouth or throw it over my shoulder.
So, enough is enough. Starting tomorrow, I am going to get to the bottom of this shaking business. I will begin by googling it and see what that brings up. And if that scares me bad enough I will begin to think about calling my doctor for an appointment….maybe sometime next year if it hasn’t gone away by then.
