The Show, the Hospital and a Very Long Day....

I bring you this post from a hospital bed in my local hospitalA very tired and weak RubyYesterday started out greatMy Dad, my nephew, my sister and IAll set off for the horse show at 9 30amAnd arrived at the center just after half tenThe place was a hive of activity And I was super nervous from the startI changed in to my horsey garbAnd took a seat to watch the show startI knew very little about the show itself I deliberately didn't ask any questions As I figured that ignorance was blissThere was a guy from my class there FintanAnd he was riding in the same category as meAll in all there were seven of us I had feared that they would all be childrenBut they were in fact all adultsSome people were taking it very seriously altogetherAnd 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 12pmI 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 itIt was time to goI knew one thing thoughI knew Star wouldn't let me downI mounted him Took my whip and Eilish gave me the nod to beginThankfully Star began trotting with no bother And we were offFrom the start Stars pace was greatHe was moving so lovely We made our way around the courseTrying to be as neat and precise as possible I was trying so hard to keep my shoulders down and my back straightI swear it was hard workIt looks so easy And it seems the horse is doing all the workBut 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 judgesI looked upAnd all I could see was Fintan giving me a huge thumbs upEilish was super excited She gave me a big hugAnd said it was the best I've ever done itI was wrecked But I felt it went wellI dismounted Star And went to speak to my family Who were all delighted for meThen 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 teaI 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 thoughtThen 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 himHe truly deserved itTo 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 painAnd also my sister It felt suspiciously like the pancreatitis painBut I was just praying it wasn't We arrived home about 2pmMam is laid up obviously with her footSo my other sister stayed with her today I told Mam about the painShe strongly suggested that I didn't wait for it to get worse And to head in to A&EThat was really the last thing I wanted to do But as the pain got worse I knew I had little or no choiceSo I packed a bag of essentials And my sister and I headed off again
We arrived in A&EAnd it was busy I registered and took a seatAnd 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 meShe asked the standard routine questions About my ED My addictionMy medsShe took my blood pressure which was normalAs was my temperature and blood sugarsThen 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 takenThen had to wait for the results Which took another hour and a half Eventually he came back to meThey measure the amylase in the bloodNormal is 100Mine was 330So 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 allBut deep down I think I knew it was I always knowYou can't mistake that pain
The waiting went on and onAnd my poor sister who had just got back from her stint in hospital with mum, was really starting to flagI kept trying to convince her to go homeAnd at 11 30pmShe 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 refusedThey were being very stingy with the meds on this admissionUsually 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 fitfullyThen at 2amA porter woke me up to take me to a ward Turns out I was in the same ward as last timeAnd I recognised the nurses straight awayOne of them took me in to a little side roomTo do my vitals She also weighed meBut the less said about that the better Then I was taken down to my roomI was so glad to just relax and settle inAgain I asked for a sleep tablet And this time I was successfulI read  for a few minutesBefore I felt the meds kick inAnd 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 hospitalWhen I'm needed at home But isn't this just always the way life happens?