A Shocking Experience

“Have you ever been shocked by an electric fence,” the Doctor asked? “I sure have, Doc, and it was never all that pleasant,” I said. “Well this will feel like I’m touching you with an electric fence wire, so get ready.” “You’re kidding, right Doc?” I said in return, but I soon knew that no, he wasn’t kidding.

As I lay on the table in the Doctor’s office, I began to wonder just what I had gotten myself into.  I remembered the days of running electric fences around our pastures to keep the cows from getting out, and sometimes accidently getting zapped.

It was just a tingle, but it never really felt that good. I also remembered the times I accidently touched the cow trainers that hung above the stantions in the dairy barn while hooking the milking machine into the pipeline.

The cow trainers kept the cows from making a mess in their stall by moving them back over the gutter where their manure was supposed to go. A cow will naturally arch her back very high when she’s relieving herself and when she did the trainer would shock her, and she would back herself up and hit the gutter. It only took her a time or two getting zapped, and she was trained to back up at bathroom time.

This summer I noticed that my hands were constantly falling asleep at night after I had been doing some roofing and gardening where I was using them to pound and twist a lot. Some friends told me to go see if I have a condition called Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, so I decided to check it out. Now, I wasn’t so sure it was the right decision hearing the Doctor tell me he was going to test a dozen nerves on each hand and arm with an electric shock.

Sure enough, he got started and soon I was hooked up to a bunch of wires and a monitor. Then he began to shock those nerves one at a time. Each time I jumped out of natural reflex and each time he watched the monitor to see how well the nerve worked.

“If you jerk too hard, I will have to shock that nerve again,” he said with a straight face at one point. I tried with all my might not to jerk, but it was inevitable. When he finished my right hand, I was wishing I hadn’t told him that both hands were about the same because he told me to turn around on the table so he could test my left hand.

When it was all said and done it wasn’t really that bad, I guess. I survived anyway and now will wait to hear from the orthopedic doctor as to what is next. Heck, the Doctor even told me I was one of his better patients as I didn’t yell or jump up and down.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in James, Chapter 1, verses 2 and 3. It reads; Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

When my shock test was finished, I was pretty happy that I had gone through with it. It made me stronger.

Until next week, may the Lord help you through your trials and give you strength. God bless.