Sunday 1 May 2016

The show, the hospital and a very long day....

I bring you this post from a hospital bed in my local hospital
A very tired and weak Ruby
Yesterday started out great
My Dad, my nephew, my sister and I
All set off for the horse show at 9 30am
And arrived at the centre just after half ten
The place was a hive of activity 
And I was super nervous from the start
I changed in to my horsey garb
And took a seat to watch the show start
I knew very little about the show itself 
I deliberately didn't ask any questions 
As I figured that ignorance was bliss
There was a guy from my class there 
Fintan
And he was riding in the same category as me
All in all there were seven of us 
I had feared that they would all be children
But they were in fact all adults
Some people were taking it very seriously altogether
And arrived dressed and done up to the nines 
A few people had even brought their own horses 
There were some really beautiful ones 
I was on at about 12pm
I was super nervous from the start 
And I just couldn't wait for it to be over 
Eilish gave me some last minute words of advice 
And before I knew it
It was time to go
I knew one thing though
I knew Star wouldn't let me down
I mounted him 
Took my whip and Eilish gave me the nod to begin
Thankfully Star began trotting with no bother 
And we were off
From the start 
Stars pace was great
He was moving so lovely 
We made our way around the course
Trying to be as neat and precise as possible 
I was trying so hard to keep my shoulders down and my back straight
I swear it was hard work
It looks so easy 
And it seems the horse is doing all the work
But it's tough on the legs 
And your breathing 
Before I knew it 
My test was over 
And I finished up in the centre 
And bowed to the judges
I looked up
And all I could see was Fintan giving me a huge thumbs up
Eilish was super excited 
She gave me a big hug
And said it was the best I've ever done it
I was wrecked 
But I felt it went well
I dismounted Star 
And went to speak to my family 
Who were all delighted for me
Then we had to wait for about half an hour to get the results 
So we all got a cup of tea and chilled out 

As I was drinking tea
I noticed a pain was developing in my upper abdomen 
I ignored it at first 
The pain was bearable 
So I didn't give it too much thought
Then Eilish came over with a huge smile on her face 
I came fourth out of seven!
I was really delighted as all the riders in my group were experienced 
And it just felt so good not to come last 
Fintan came first 
And I was so happy for him
He truly deserved it
To be honest 
I couldn't enjoy the moment fully 
As the pain in my stomach was getting worse 
But I pushed it to the back of my mind 
After taking some photos 
We headed for home 
I told my Dad about the pain
And also my sister 
It felt suspiciously like the pancreatitis pain
But I was just praying it wasn't 
We arrived home about 2pm
Mam is laid up obviously with her foot
So my other sister stayed with her today 
I told Mam about the pain
She strongly suggested that I didn't wait for it to get worse 
And to head in to A&E
That was really the last thing I wanted to do 
But as the pain got worse 
I knew I had little or no choice
So I packed a bag of essentials 
And my sister and I headed off again

We arrived in A&E
And it was busy 
I registered and took a seat
And then the waiting game began 
Which is a bit of a nightmare when you are in pain 
About an hour later 
The triage nurse saw me
She asked the standard routine questions 
About my ED 
My addiction
My meds
She took my blood pressure which was normal
As was my temperature and blood sugars
Then I was sent out to wait some more 
A whole two hours later 
I was finally called to see the doctor 
I was given a room of my own 
Which has its disadvantages and advantages 
The doctor came 
More questions 
More examinations 
Blood taken
Then had to wait for the results 
Which took another hour and a half 
Eventually he came back to me
They measure the amylase in the blood
Normal is 100
Mine was 330
So they suspect my pancreas in inflamed 
I was both relieved and annoyed with this result 
Part of me was hoping that I had over reacted 
And it wasn't my pancreas at all
But deep down 
I think I knew it was 
I always know
You can't mistake that pain

The waiting went on and on
And my poor sister who had just got back from her stint in hospital with mum, was really starting to flag
I kept trying to convince her to go home
And at 11 30pm
She relented 
And dragged her weary body back to the house 
At 12am 
When I still couldn't sleep 
I asked for a sleeping tablet 
A request that was flatly refused
They were being very stingy with the meds on this admission
Usually I get morphine as standard 
But this time I only got paracetamol 
Very disappointing 
Anyway 
That's not my call to make 
For the next couple of hours 
I slept fitfully
Then at 2am
A porter woke me up to take me to a ward 
Turns out I was in the same ward as last time
And I recognised the nurses straight away
One of them took me in to a little side room
To do my vitals 
She also weighed me
But the less said about that the better 
Then I was taken down to my room
I was so glad to just relax and settle in
Again I asked for a sleep tablet 
And this time I was successful
I read  for a few minutes
Before I felt the meds kick in
And I drifted off to sleep

So here I am 
It's morning 
And I'm just waiting for the doctor to do his rounds 
I'm pretty much fed up to be in hospital
When I'm needed at home 
But isn't this just always the way life happens?


6 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry to hear that you're in hospital, it can be so frustrating, especially after what seems to have been such a great day. Sending love and hugs your way. xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. omg!! Hope you feel better soon. Congrats on doing so well at the show!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm glad you had fun horse-riding ^_^
    Sorry to hear that you're in the hospital :o I hope you feel better. Get well soon <3

    Love,
    Christie (who tends to be distant but can never stay away for more than a few months :P sorry!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Aw I'm so so sorry that you're back in hospital again. Why does your pancreas keep flaring up? Is there nothing the doctors can do to sort it out properly? It's not fair on you having to keep yo-yo-ing in and out of hospital. Sending you so much love and get well soon wishes xoxo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Methadone can do it, so stopping that will be the next step ��

      Delete
  5. Oh no! Sorry to hear you're in hospital! Hope you get well soon!

    xxx

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving some love x