Diving, Doctors and "The Mexican Promotion"

Betsy and I were at the beach for sunset a couple of days ago. The sun set behind Mt. Tetakawi, there were clouds in the sky and it was gorgeous. We stayed until Venus made her appearance as the Evening Star, and got some beautiful pictures.




After my snorkel trip three weeks ago, I took the plunge and signed up for the Scuba Certification course at Gary's Dive Shop. I had signed up once before a few years ago in Sacramento but got a sinus infection and had to cancel. In California the certification is either at Folsom Lake, Lake Tahoe or Monterey. Here it's... here! Prettier underwater scenery, warmer waters and private one to one instruction.

Unfortunately when I filled out the health questionaire that is required to be allowed to scuba dive, I answered "yes" to a couple of minor questions. So I had to visit a local doctor and have a brief exam and have him sign off on my certificate.

Dr. Canale is raved about and loved here in San Carlos. I made an appointment with him and I saw him on Thursday afternoon. Dr. Canale is a general practitioner and - in my opinion - practices both the art and science of medicine in the way it should be practiced, by addressing the overall patient. Dr. Canale was very intuitive as well.

I have a couple of minor health issues that I know could disqualify me from diving and I was hoping to keep them a secret. He took my pulse and my blood pressure, and used nothing fancier than a stethoscope and a flashlight (for my eyes), and found all of my secrets including my chronic sinuses, vertigo, anxiety and grinding my teeth.

I thought I had a case of "swimmer's ear" as it has been three weeks since I've been able to clear my right ear. It turns out that it's NOT swimmer's ear. Dr. Canale described the symptoms of swimmers ear and - nope - that's sure not what I have. It turns out my problem is a combination of sinuses and TMJ! The extreme pain I feel for several days in the area below my ear has nothing to do with my ear - it's my jaw being out of alignment, and biting down onto a breathing apparatus used for snorkeling or diving, is what causes the extreme pain. Bummer! So I can expect that to happen every time I snorkel or dive? That's not fun. He did some things that demonstrated to me this was an accurate diagnosis and it made sense. I don't get this pain when I do lap swimming, only when I snorkel. Rats!

He ended up signing off on my health certificate, but with some warnings. If my ear does not clear up, I cannot dive deeper than about 10 feet or I could blow out my eardrum.

Now to another side of the coin. There is an expression I've heard since being here called "The Mexican Promotion." While it is certainly not the majority of people - it is not unheard of for people in a variety of fields but most notably the medical and veterinary professions - to come to Mexico and pass themselves off as something they're not. Someone may have worked in a vet clinic in the USA and pass themselves off as a vet... that kind of thing... giving themselves a "promotion" - or a "Mexican Promotion." This information has already come in handy at least once!

It's sort of like me and Betsy saying we're "writers" when people ask what we do here, although I have taken to saying that I'm "pretending to be a writer" since other than this blog, I don't seem to be doing all that much with my project.


Hmmm... I wonder what I can pretend to be today!... Frances already has monopolized the "Princess" role. I know! I'll be a Pelican!