The problem with dive trips

[Scott M]

Heading for Belize this saturday, booked months and months ago.................

This past Sunday I'm at my daughters softball game and I start to feel a little off. Not sick but just run down a little. Hmmmm, knowing myself well enough I know somethings coming on but it could just be the weather. Monday comes around and I'm still feeling run down so I hit the vitamins, drinking orange juice and plan to getting to bed a little earlier that night. As I am going on vacation I can not take anytime off to rest so I have to go to work. Tuesday rolls around and I'm no better. With me, when I start to get sick my eyes start to hurt then I can feel a little something in my chest. Thats how it always starts. Anyway, I go to the Doctor and he knows me by now, he knows I have something in the works. He prescribes me a Z-pack. It's tuesday so I should fine by thursday/friday or at least feeling better since I caught it early enough, right? Well it's thursday morning and I'm no better. I can feel tightness in my chest, eyes still hurt and still run down. No coughing and no sinus issues yet.

So now what to do? We have to leave friday night to head for a hotel to catch a very early saturday flight. I do not want to be stuck in Belize and sick and I do not want to stick my dive buddy and leave him alone or ruin his trip plus it's a double room. Maybe by Saturday with the Z-pack I'll be fine, maybe not but I have to make a decision today or tomorrow morning at the latest.

We make these plans with the best of intentions but you just can not control some things.

Frustrating...

 

[ETnScuba]

We make these plans with the best of intentions but you just can not control some things.
Frustrating...

I know how you feel.

On Friday the 6th, my family and I (non-diving wife and JrOw certified daughter) made a four hour drive to catch a plane from Atlanta to Houston where we got on the red eye to Bonaire. We arrived, got our truck and made it to our room by 7:30am. My daughter was too exhausted to do the 9:30 orientation, so we waited for the 2:30 session. After completing this she finally made her first warm water dive after months of anticipation. We kept it cut it short - about 30 minutes - since she was still pretty worn out.
The next morning we made a second dive in which she called early because she couldn't clear her left ear. That afternoon she was in the midst of a full blown head cold. Six months of planning, completing speciality courses and quarry check out dives and she was surface bound after only two dives from the dock at the dive operation.
I was able to get a seat on a boat trip and found a buddy in a similar circumstance as I was so I did get to do some shore dives. The good news is that she recovered enough to do three dives on Thursday before our no fly day on Friday.

 

[REII]

Hey Scott;

Not much you can do. Take care of yourself as best as you can. At least you went to the doctor which was a smart move.

Where are you going in Belize? I love Belize. A beautiful place, and wonderful people.

I hope you feel better.

TOM

 

[Scott M]

I know how you feel.

On Friday the 6th, my family and I (non-diving wife and JrOw certified daughter) made a four hour drive to catch a plane from Atlanta to Houston where we got on the red eye to Bonaire. We arrived, got our truck and made it to our room by 7:30am. My daughter was too exhausted to do the 9:30 orientation, so we waited for the 2:30 session. After completing this she finally made her first warm water dive after months of anticipation. We kept it cut it short - about 30 minutes - since she was still pretty worn out.
The next morning we made a second dive in which she called early because she couldn't clear her left ear. That afternoon she was in the midst of a full blown head cold. Six months of planning, completing speciality courses and quarry check out dives and she was surface bound after only two dives from the dock at the dive operation.
I was able to get a seat on a boat trip and found a buddy in a similar circumstance as I was so I did get to do some shore dives. The good news is that she recovered enough to do three dives on Thursday before our no fly day on Friday.

It's always hard when stuff like that comes up. Thankfully you were able to get some dives in so not a total lose. We went to Curacao two years ago. One of our group was comig off a cold and thought he would be OK. Turned out he couldn't and ended up sitting for the whole week. I felt bad for him, just a real boring week by yourslef while the buddies are out diving.

 

[Doc]

Stop by MallWart.

Buy the Equate Brand of many and several nasal decongestants, both tablet and nasal spray.

Start the Ibuporfen now. Can't hurt. 1 every 4 hours, 4 a day.

Go get your scrip & meds from your Doctor. Keep them on hand for use if need be.

Be prepared. Better living through chemistry.

Quit standing in the snow.

 

[Scott M]

Hey Scott;

Not much you can do. Take care of yourself as best as you can. At least you went to the doctor which was a smart move.

Where are you going in Belize? I love Belize. A beautiful place, and wonderful people.

I hope you feel better.

TOM

Ya, I thought I could get ahead of it before it turned for the worst. I am still hopefull that it will clear by tomorrow but it's not looking good.

We are staying @ Belizeanshores over on Ambergris Caye. It looks like a great place but I wouldn't want to be there for a week if I'm not diving.

Thanks

 

[Scott M]

Stop by MallWart.

Buy the Equate Brand of many and several nasal decongestants, both tablet and nasal spray.

Start the Ibuporfen now. Can't hurt. 1 every 4 hours, 4 a day.

Go get your scrip & meds from your Doctor. Keep them on hand for use if need be.

Be prepared. Better living through chemistry.

Quit standing in the snow.

I am on the Z-Pack now which Arithamiacin(sp). You take 2 to start then 1 a day for the next four days. It suppose to stay in your system for the ten days you would normally be prescribed something like this. So far the sinus's have been farily clear and my chest is tight like I am starting to get a chest cold but nothing, sorry about this, coming up yet. I am a little leary of diving if I am coming off something because the last time I did that I had a sinus squeeze on my last dive and that hurt.

Chances are I will be OK, but if not it's a boring week and I would not want to get the rest of the group sick being around me. Tough decision to make. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel bette.

 

[TSandM]

Nobody can tell you whether you are going to get sick on your trip or not. You have to decide whether you are willing to take the risk or not. Some people are risk-averse and would stay home; others would want the trip badly enough to go anyway.

I CAN tell you that it is highly unlikely the Z-pack will have made any difference. Your nonspecific symptoms are almost certainly viral, if they are an illness at all. The Z-pack cost your insurance company a bit of money, but probably did nothing for you. This is a prescribing habit that irritates the dickens out of me, as it is the cause of the frightening increases in resistant bacteria (so that when you really GET pneumonia, it will be much harder to treat.)

 

[brutus_scuba]

I"m available to take your spot on the vacation if worst comes to worst.

 

[Scott M]

Nobody can tell you whether you are going to get sick on your trip or not. You have to decide whether you are willing to take the risk or not. Some people are risk-averse and would stay home; others would want the trip badly enough to go anyway.

I have mixed emotions. I do not want to leave my buddy with out a partner. I want to go. I don't want to make the others going, sick. etc.

I CAN tell you that it is highly unlikely the Z-pack will have made any difference. Your nonspecific symptoms are almost certainly viral, if they are an illness at all. The Z-pack cost your insurance company a bit of money, but probably did nothing for you. This is a prescribing habit that irritates the dickens out of me, as it is the cause of the frightening increases in resistant bacteria (so that when you really GET pneumonia, it will be much harder to treat.)

Your probably right but I've had pneumonia before and thats why I am cautious about stuff like this. I usually get this at least once a year and I normally wait until symptons are worse to get treated so I can build up a resistance for it but with the trip coming up I wanted to get ahead of it.