Horse riding. My accident… continued

I have loved horses for as long as I remember. When I was only 5 years old I would walk to a stables nearby, on my own and watch them walk out of the yard on their ride outs. The sounds of their shod hooves clip clopping on the tarmac made my soul happy. It still does.

So I am in the car. My husband is taking our horses back to the stables. I imagine the journey for my husband alone with the creatures he tolerates. Any Christmas thoughts long gone out of my head. I try to relax and take deep breaths, every bump makes me cringe. I think of the wait at the hospital. The A&E Department is always very busy.

My daughter gets me there and parks in the limited parking area near the entrance to the accident and emergency. I now have to get out of the car. This may not be easy! I hope I can do it. I slowly swing my legs out and with a deep breath I stand and feel so relieved. That bit is over so now to walk into A&E.  Very slowly!

As I expected it was very busy. We queue to reception. Eyes must have been looking my way. I am wearing jodphurs and long riding boots, they are all covered in mud, still shaking, My hair probably looks like a birds nest. But I really don’t care.

The lady at reception asks my problem without looking up and my daughter explains what happened. She typed all the information into the computer in a robotic way and asked us to take a seat and wait to be called to be assessed. This is a room where a nurse checks you over and finds out how urgent you need to be seen.

There are few empty seats. It is a large waiting room, Sitting on a seat is the last thing I want to do though, so I find somewhere to stand, so I am not in the way. I am still shaking, my thumb is now throbbing too. My daughter gets me a coffee and a chocolate bar, then goes to park the car in the car park.

While I am stood looking out of place, 2 police men come and sit near with a man in hand cuffs. I wonder why he is in cuffs and would he make trouble. I hoped not as I wouldn’t be able to get out of the way if he did. I have a piece of chocolate. I didn’t enjoy it. Now that is a shock in itself. So I sip my coffee and the shaking dies down a little.

My daughter was back in what seemed 5 minutes,  I was surprised at this as parking at the hospital is normally busy, with queues to every car park. I have been to the hospital a few times but not for myself.  I am normally the one visiting and bringing family members for appointments. This is Sunday afternoon though so I guess there are no sheduled appointments today.

She looks at me, smiles and tells me my face is covered in mud too. I must have touched my face or something. Who knows? Oh well.

A couple of minutes later a nurse appears from the major trauma area. With a wheelchair!

She calls my name. I steadily walk towards her. The mud is now falling off and I leave a trail as I walk. She smiles at me and gestures me to sit in the wheelchair. I look at her and half smile? “Do I have to have to sit in that” I ask. She replied in a kind voice, “you do” eyes are now looking at me, so I sit in the wheelchair. The pain was intense. I sat and I screeched with pain and then burst into tears. All the eyes must have been quite shocked. The nurse apologized for making me sit. I had been as comfortable as I could be while stood up.

I am now shaking uncontrollably again. I cannot stop. I get whisked through some doors into a room that is full of people on trolley beds and in corridors side by side, sick people everywhere. All the bays are full. I get taken straight past them and into a room. There is a trolley bed ready for me to get on with a crisp white clean cover.

I have to remove my filthy clothes and put a hospital gown on. These things are like a big dressing gown that you put on back to front, so your bottom is bare. my daughter helps me and mud is deposited all over the place. I settle onto the bed lay down… my body is still shaking. I feel more comfortable out of my clothes. The pain isn’t as bad if I lie and don’t move.

The nurses decend and hook me up to a drip. Put a needle in my hand, They come and take blood and check me over. I don’t like all this fuss but I am scared of what I have done to myself. The nurse brings me blankets and gives me morphine. The doctor then comes in and prods my injuries and asks me what happened. All I really remember is bottom planting onto the ground. My daughter saw the whole thing happen. She said I was flung into the post like a rag doll. She has flash backs now. It must have been so scary for her.

The doctor sends me for a CT scan and x-rays. This is not how I expected my much longed for holiday to start. I am terrified if I have broken any bones or got internal bleeding. I just want to be ok. The shaking has now stopped, maybe the morphine has helped. I don’t feel any effects from the morphine apart from that. And maybe a little dizzy.

My husband arrives. He got the horses home safe! He is now qualified to drive them around. 😁

I get taken to a a corridor next to the room with the CT scanner in. There are other patients waiting in their trolley beds too. Some are covered in bruises. Some look old and frail. 1 ladies jaw is hanging down one side and is swollen like a balloon. I think I don’t belong here. I don’t get sick. I rarely even visit the doctors.

I wait a while then get taken into the room. I have to transfer to a bed to go into the scanner. I manage to shuffle across, it was so awkward and painful trying to keep the gown coming undone. The nurse injects me with a dye so it shows up any damage to my organs, I am then left on my own while I go into the machine. A voice comes over a speaker and asks me to breath in and hold my breath. I do as I am told. This is all very strange. Once it is finished I got wheeled to a room. And then for an x-ray.

After a short time that felt like an age, the doctor comes to see me and gives me the results.

No serious damage was picked up on the scan. No broken bones no internal bleeding! I will soon be well again and I get discharged.

I got helped into my clothes and was free to go.

I get up off the trolley and feel so relieved. I am in great pain but at least I will soon mend!

It’s now almost 4 weeks. I have certainly rested. I have not returned to work since before Christmas. It’s a shame I have not been able to move much. Sleep comfortably or do anything. I am pleased I got checked out though as it could have been so much worse. I feel lucky, I got severe bruising and a torn muscle and nerve damage in my bottom I think. Oh and a sprained thumb. But I have had time to reflect and think about the positives. My Husband can do all the jobs around the house. He mucks out the stables and helps care for the horses. I have rested more than I have in my whole life and I think of the future. I need to think of a way to slow down a little. I need to work less. This will be the next chapter of my life. I was very lucky not to seriously get injured, it has put life into perspective. So my thoughts now turn to looking into an escape from the rat race.