9 Juli - Autsch!

When I woke up this morning, I felt this searing pain in my back every time I tried to move. Let's just say the bike ride to the University was not fun. I had to go into the office today because I am meeting with Wendelin about my project plan. I keep taking ibuprofen, but it doesn't seem to do anything. I had to take the box Nora gave me to the pharmacist and point at it and say give me this. Maybe I'll go again today and just point to my back and say autsch! I wanted to go climbing tonight and teach Skylar how to lead. This has to go away soon. I don't get hurt or sick very often or maybe I just ignore the minor things so that when they turn into major things, I won't stop whining.

I was getting ansty about my meeting, so I went to get a cappuccino at the coffee vending machine thing by my office and the choices for a cappuccino are: Hell or Hell mit Sucker... I just started giggling at the machine... I'm such a dork. I chose Hell and it gave me hot chocolate. Whatever... caffeine may not have helped my state of mind at this point anyway.

I met with Wendelin and he seemed very stressed out. Not sure if it was directed at me or if he was just doing too many things at once. Anyway, we discussed the project and went over the outline I drafted. I have a bad feeling about the project now and kind of wish I kept my big mouth shut. I just keep repeating it will all be a learning experience no matter what... that is my current mantra these days.

After my meeting I went to the Apotheke (which are pharmacy stores separate from the grocery or walgreens type stores - they just sell medical stuff). I found these things that stick to the skin in the hurt area and get warm. I thought it was like an icy hot thing. Turns out cayenne pepper is the active ingredient and it reacts with the skin to make it warm. It felt more like a burning sensation, but not so bad that I had to remove it. The pharmacist said to leave it on for 8 hours, so I did. My back really did start feeling much better after a few hours. By the time I took it off, the burning sensation was hurting worse than the back pain. I have a pretty sensitive skin, so when I pulled the patch off it hurt like heck and I instantly broke out in hives. I rinsed it off and put some aloe lotion on and it was ok.

I did not go climbing, but I can't stand much more of this staying home and resting stuff.