Got myself bent - not much fun.

[mud_diver]

10.7.06 - 10.8.06 Lake Wazee - Nice wekend of diving. 3 dives Saturday 2 on Sunday. All clean profiles. Max tissue saturation 83% in midrange tissue compartments.
10.9.06 Right Hip, right knee, right lower leg and  right ankle start hurting pretty bad.
10.10.06 - 10.20.06 Go to doctors and get an X-ray of hip. Told I have bursitis of the hip, some kind of inflamation in the joints. Doctor puts me on medicine to reduce inflamation. Pain only gets worse.2 trips to the chiropractor, helps relieve a little pain, but nothing seems to help.
10.21.06 Lakee Wazee - 2 dives, bothe clean profiles except first dive has a slightly faster than normal ascent, but still within safety limits.
10.22.06 Wake up, can barely walk. Long drive home.
10.22.06 Late afternoon - Can't take the pain any longer - off to the hospital emergency room. After a bit of talking with the doctor, he suspects the bends. Confers with St. Lukes hyperbaric department and off I go in an ambulance.
10.22.06 Late evening - wheeled into hyperbaric chamber for a 6.5 hour ride. Morphine makes the pain tolerable.
10.22.06 - 10.26.06 - every day  to the chamber for another ride. Pain is lessening with every treatment, even at shallow depths of pressure. Caught pneumonia from the high concentration of oxygen. Sound like Darth Vader when I breath. Hyperbaric nurse is considering putting in a chest tube. Already have a catheter (and not the condom version), cause I can no longer pee.
10.26.06 Excruciating pain. Somethings gone wrong. Into the MRI machine. Herniated disc in my spine has fragmented.
10.27.06 Spinal surgery to remove fragments of disc.
10.28.06 Discharged from the hospital for a half a week of bedrest.

Most likely scenario: Had a herniated disc before my first dive I knew nothing about. Poor blood flow results in the bends in my spine, puts pressure on the disc, cause pain in my leg.

Lessens learned:
1. Always have DAN dive insurance. Going to be the best $60 I ever spent. This bill will be quite expensive but DAN will pay for it. ( I was told about $5,000 per chamber ride x 5 rides = $25,000 just for chamber time, not sure if this is true, waiting to see a copy of the bill)
2. Don't ignore any pain after diving, get it checked out.
3. Even if you are within your NDL, you can definately get bent.
4. Nothing fun about the chamber.
5. Made some good friends diving, quite supportive while I was in the hospital (You know who you are. THANKS !!!)

Brian