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?