I go to my knees in pain

Day: 37

Heart Camp – 17.06.2000

The weather has changed again. Dark clouds cover the sun and it’s drizzling. On the way to the fireplace I have to sneeze several times and with one blow a pain hits my back so hard that it brings me to my knees. All the joys of the previous day are blown away and I feel sick as a dog. “What’s happened?” asks Tanja. “I think I’ve been shot in the back by a witch!” I reply, moaning. My condition deteriorates noticeably over the next few hours. I’m barely able to walk, let alone do anything productive. The evening is unpleasantly cold. It is raining and stormy gusts are blowing the ashes of the fire into the dark sky. My mood is at rock bottom and I’m worried about the rest of the expedition. At 2 a.m. I can hardly stand the pain and take a strong anti-inflammatory medication for the first time on an expedition. I’m on the verge of crying and at this moment I wish I was in a warm, cozy bed. I begin to be plagued by existential fears and, above all, the question of what to do next. I can only hope that the “Voltaren 100” is working and that my intervertebral disc has not simply given up the ghost.