A small turn for the worse

shortly after my last dive is where the trouble began. The only downside to the live aboard  is  that  I  had  to pay an extra  15$ for every dive that I wanted a  guide. I had met many wonderful friends on this boat and they were  not going  with guides so for the first 5 dives I went out with them. This was a  big mistake, not only did I spend more  time worrying about everyone and  where  the  boat was, on the 5th dive I had accented too quickly. I didn't think anything more about it, but did hire a  guide for the rest of  the dives. My  next  series of dives were like I had never experienced before.  My nerves were calm, my senses were completely open and I had some of the  best  dives I have ever had. Then when I got  off the boat  on the 3rd day I started  feeling  very sick and very  dizzy. I didn't know what was  wrong with me, but when it didn't go away by the time I was  due to fly, I got very nervous  it was decompression sickness. This, unfortunately, was no matter to take lightly especially since the pressure  of me flying would  make it twice as  bad. So I made the very difficult decision to not get on  my plane to Vietnam and instead  go to the  hospital. 

The problem with decompression sickness is that the symptoms are  very  mild and the biggest  symptom they say is  denial. This is  because the symptoms are so mild  that  many people think it to be over exhaustion until it gets so bad and evident  they end up getting treated too  late. I would probably  have been in that category if  I didn't  have to fly, which stuck my concern. 

Being at the hospital, alone, in a foreign country  was probably one of the most scary  and lonely experiences I have had. They ran many tests, took x rays, and  in the end  decided that I would  have  to stay over night on a mask feeding me a constant 100%  oxygen. There were times when I just wanted to break down and cry, but I instead kept reminding myself that the only thing this will all do is help me to feel  better  and that I am O.K. and it is not the end of the world. In the end I had to stay an extra week in Australia, of which I mostly slept and read. I discovered that when I don't feel well  it's ok not to be social, that I can get through anything by going with the flow, that sometimes  it  is a  really good decision to follow  my instincts, and that a small jar of peanut  butter, several bananas, and a  loaf of bread can feed me for 5 whole days..and now I am happy, healthy, safe, and  enjoying myself in Vietnam! ANNND I am still going to keep diving (in 6 months when it is safe to do so again, of  course) :)