Just following up on item 2, regarding your preference of performing a CESA at end of the dive rather than the beginning.
Realistically, the before or after would have no tangible effect on the resulting barotrauma as, in essence, both involve a descent and ascent.
I submit for consideration that the 20' to 0' to 30' cycle with only seconds on the surface at 0' had a definite effect. The symptoms I felt on the descent (A "foggy dream-like thinking state" that I had to push through) certainly sound like descriptions I read elsewhere of nitrogen narcosis.
Whether it was nitrogen on the brain, or adrenaline, or just being 43-years-old - Whatever it was, that post-CESA descent was dramatically different from the other 4 descents I did that weekend. I suspect it had something to do with attempting to descend ALMOST IMMEDIATELY after the CESA ascent.
If I had a dive computer on my wrist, that would have helped. If I had drilled equalization to the point that it was a muscle memory skill, that would have helped. (It's one thing to answer a question correctly on a quiz, or to show your instructor that you can pinch your nose and exhale. It's another to do the right thing while descending from 10' to 15' in a matter of seconds while something else is going wrong. Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I had a prepared descent routine for equalization that I had actively practiced.)
I submit that a 2-3 minute rest on the surface after my CESA would have helped also. For instance, I knew that one should always ascend if there's an issue with equalization - but again, the "foggy dream-like state" interfered with my ability to conduct the descent correctly.
And that's been my main objective in posting here. A chain of unfortunate events lined up to result in a significant injury. I contend that a rest period on the surface after my CESA would have broken one of the links in the chain leading up to the injury.