Shaky Shaky Eggs And Bakey

Howdy all! *dismounts noble steed and tips huge cowboy-type hat*

I had mentioned a few weeks ago I had gotten a bit of icky news so thought I might go mad and share a bit…

I’ve been getting these ‘shakes’ in my hands since my teens but I always put it down to my penchant for a weekend tipple. It was kind of a running family joke.

As the years passed though they’ve been getting worse so I finally braced myself and headed to the doctors and found out I have something called an Essential Tremor.

When I heard the word ‘Essential’ I wanted to hunt down the Dr McFunnybones PHD who named it and cream pie him right in the face. Though apparently ‘Essential’ means there’s no known cause so I put my cream pie back in the fridge for another victim.

How bad is the tremor you may ask? Here are some things I struggle with (not all the time, it comes and goes as it sees fit):

• Writing with a pen. This can be a fun one, it starts off well then the biro decides to have a wee boogie across the page. Thank the good Lord for keyboards eh?
• I cannot for the life of me pick up a shot glass. I always end up chucking it round myself or a fellow patron. A great way to make friends and influence people!
• It gets worse when I’m nervous. I went for a job interview last summer and my entire upper body started to jig about. How the interviewer kept a straight face, I do not know. Needless to say I didn’t get the job – ha!
• I used to enjoy making jewellery but have had to retire my pliers for the time being.
• I can’t carry a cup of coffee on a saucer from the counter to the table without spilling it.

When I got the news I was pretty bummed out. It’ll probably get worse with age and affects my left side the most and of course the Universe loves a laugh…I’m a leftie!

After beating it around in my head for a couple of days I just thought there’s not much point tearing my hair out, so I shall embrace my wobbly ways and learn to live with it! Did you know Katharine Hepburn had a tremor and it never stopped her!

Although my goals to become a professional needle-threader are now down the pan, at least I can explain myself in social situations now instead of folks raising an eyebrow and backing away in a horrified fashion from the bobbling oddball.

Adios my dream career!

I’m lucky enough to have a lot of lovely people around me who like to take the piss. One friend said “if I need open heart surgery I think I’ll give you a miss”. I mean when you have that kind of emotional support, what problem can’t be overcome? Serious though, I find it’s better to have a laugh instead of fretting. On that note:

Some Benefits Of Having A Tremor:

1. It’s called ET, so I can now say “I have ET” as a conversation starter, beat that Spielberg!
2. It will most definitely assist me in my dream of becoming a pogo master.
3. When I bring my daughter swimming, she’ll have her own personal wave machine.
4. My potato mashing skills can only improve.
5. If I really don’t like someone I can just drink loads of coffee and let the games begin!

Phone home….

I hope this little post will maybe help someone else with the same nuisance ailment. Until a few weeks ago I knew nothing about it, even though I’d been living with it for years.

Onwards and upwards though, worse things could happen so in my usual fashion I will roll with the punches!

Einstein – another leftie!