“When you wake in the morning- think of what a precious gift it is to be alive. To breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” Marcus Aurelius
It was during my fundraising dives for the American Cancer Society I noticed issues in my teeth. It was painful. It felt like someone had plunged a knife into the right side of my mouth. The pain was so intense that I would have to pull over. It was also unpredictable. Sometimes it would happen during a die, other times right after, but the most bizarre was when it would happen 2-3 hours after the dive. The longevity of the pain was also bizarre, it might last a few hours or in extreme cases a day or two. It was keeping me out of diving as well as out of work in some cases. I was working towards a goal of doing 15 miles underwater and the experience was painful.
I went to my dentist several times. After x-rays, re-filling a previous cavity, more x rays, we couldn’t find the answer. I wound up in urgent care and in one case the ER. Rounds of antibiotics and pain killers I found myself in the care of an ENT. After more x-rays, MRIs, CT scans I wound up in surgery. A deviated septum, closed eustachian tubes, and four impacted sinus cavities required work. The process was painful and the recovery was aggravating.
Quinns is a dive spot that gets allot of scorn. Most divers hate it here. Its mucky, it gets shut down for viruses from people who let their kids do non diapered kid stuff, it has goose crap in it. It has almost no structure and its cast off as a crappy pace to dive. Me, I love it. Its close, I find stuff in there, it’s a place other divers hate so I get to add street cred and give people crap for not diving it.
That first dive back I was nervous. This was the test to see if my diving days were done. I had already warned close friends to be at the ready should this not go well and the pain was still present. I got to the dive site, forgot my backplate and wing and had to go back home to get it. I got in the water without fins. I was a wreck.
My dive buddy asked me to take it easy. She asked I keep it to no more than 20 minutes. I hit the water, go to 10 feet and hang out. This is tw0-feet deeper than where I have had tooth pain. I inch down to 15 feet, then 22. Pretty soon I am not thinking of the pain but following a couple of fish. I find a pocket drop, a few quarters and then two $20 bills. I stay for 35 minutes. No pain!
My love of diving has increased more than ever since I went through the trails of this summer. The possibility of losing the ability to dive was horrifying. My whole identity is based on being a diver. Its really all I have wanted to do since I was in that little pool my dad set up for us when I was in Arizona.
The possibility of losing something and then getting it back gives you a sense of gratitude beyond anything else. I have talked to others who’s situation was even more dire. Cancer, heart surgery, and other life-altering issues make you realize that everything we have can be quickly taken from us. Loved ones here today and then suddenly gone, your youthfulness, your finances, your ability to dive can all be taken away so quickly. I know many of us now miss the military more and cherish many of the memories now we are out than when we were in.
For me each dive is a gift and although I have always been passionate about diving, its even more so now. Each time I enter the water may not be perfect. This is what makes an ordinary dive for others and extraordinary dive for me. Its why on a dive trip when others are tired and want to hunker, I want to be out there underwater.
Consider for a moment, not just diving, but in life, what makes the mundane, the ordinary, the regular in your life special.
Gear
I am serious about taking care of my sinuses now. Here is what I’m using to stay dive healthy
The Neptune Warrior 
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