It just wasn't meant to be

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  Dahab, Egypt
Saturday, July 2, 2005

Well, I have some bad news. My second day of diving ended up with my being in the hospital. Long story short...I was suffering from excruciating pain in my left ear (the one that always gives me trouble with pressure changes) and sure enough I have a severe ear infection and a hole in the tissue of my inner ear. The troubling part is that the doctor doesn't believe that this could have happened simply after a day and a half of diving at such a short depth and that the problem was probably pre-existing and was only further aggravated by the diving. So I have a whole slew of anti-inflamatory meds and drops to take over the next 5 days. But it's enough to make me highly consider visiting an ear, nose and throat specialist once I have a proper job (i.e. health insurance) and am back in America. I only know a small amount, and only have little bits of recollection, of the painful ear problems I suffered as a child--so I guess I'll revisit that history with my mom to figure out what exactly was going on with my damn ears growing up.

But I'm happy for having had the experience and I have a referral that gives me credit for the portions of the course that I've completed. My instructor said that it was too bad as he found that I had caught on quite quickly and was doing very well compared with most beginners he has. I guess it'll be a matter of consulting a doctor to see if it's really an activity that I can pursue safely, as I would like to give it another go.

Anyways, I'm sure most of you are out enjoying your holiday weekends for the 4th. Have a lovely time and be safe. I'll be here doped up on high powered Egyptain drugs. The foreign meds are always much better than the ones back home!