Those seven words were most likely followed closely by, "Now go to your room and think about it!"
That was probably the worst punishment any kid could ever ask for. The wait. The wondering. The worrying. You know there is an impending wailing and gnashing of teeth!
Dad would come home and mom would reveal, no doubt with much embellishment, just how the earth was about to end because of your latest mischief. Of course, her embellishment was not nearly as exaggerated as the defenses you had been working hard to devise.
All these memories came flooding back not long ago when I went to the doctor. An old P.E. football injury is now coming back to haunt me in all its fury. It was my sophomore year at a small Christian school in Southeast Georgia. We were playing football on a cool October day. I was playing defense and the guy running with the ball zigged when I thought he was going to zag. When I tried to recover, my left knee ended up underneath my body in a formation God didn't intend it to bend. Thankfully, I was only a fourth the man I am today!
Now back then, I was young and thought nothing of it. Yes, it hurt; but I had to be tough. I had to get over it. There was no way I was going to complain about it. Over the years, I'd notice with much activity, it would tend to swell a bit. But it didn't dawn on me the damage that might have been done that day.
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| Yep, this is gonna hurt! |
The Physician's Assistant has taken my statement for the day. He found out the pain level and I've gone back to X-Ray to let them take a picture of it again. Only when I'm taken back into the exam room, the PA sets up as if I'm having surgery. There's the sterile silver tray with the sterile instruments. The medicine that will go into the syringe and the needle. The long, very pointed needle!
If you know me at all, you know I hate shots. I hate any needle stick. I cringe at the very thought of a syringe with medicine heading my way. And now, I'm left in an exam room alone with those ~ THINGS!
It was worse than hearing those words again - Just wait til your father gets home! And then when he gets to your room, where you've been waiting, worrying, wondering, he has the nerve to tell you that what he's about to do will hurt him more than it will hurt you!
I must give kudos to the doctor and his brave assistant for not using those words as he began to spray the freezing agent on my knee before the needle stick. He does handle a needle much better than the doctors I had when I was a kid. Yes, it still hurt; and the medicine going in was no fun. But it did the trick for a few days. The inevitable knee replacement surgery and therapy loom large in my future. I'm not eagerly anticipating the pain, but the relief will certainly be welcomed!
