Thanks sooooo much to all who replied with all the helpful advice on my situation! Great bunch of folks here.
I haven't replied because I just now returned from the island and after the first morning of responses, I'd made my decision on whether to make another go of it this trip and did not spend the money or time to log back on at the "cafe connection"...opting to thank everyone and give my update from home.
I'm fine, if not a bit embarassed and confused as to what I might have done wrong. I'm still not sure what the cause was.
I initially tasted a bit of salt on the mouthpiece, but attribute that to switching from snorkel to reg at the start of the dive (shore entry and we snorkeled to the point where we went down). The reg was clear of fluid from the combination of using the purge and exhaling through the reg before I took my first inhale. There was no "salty" taste to the air that I could detect from that point on.
The question about whether I'd been deeper than 30fsw? Yes. My max depth was 45fsw. I was at that depth for about 1-2 mins and we were slowly working our way back along the bottom towards the shore when the breathing difficulty began presenting at 30fsw.
The attending physician was a dive physician and the doc that was responsible for bringing the recompression chamber to Bonaire, setting it up, etc...or so I'm told...so he's presumably a qualified dive doc. That should rule out a mis-diagnosis. The official diagnosis was Salt Water Aspiration Syndrom and I was treated for a near-drowning case, as that was how the lung films and initial listen to the lungs presented.
There were no lingering effects. I recovered pretty quickly, having received Lassix, Prednisone, an anti-asthmatic, and Doxycycline in conjuction with IV fluid and oxygen. (If any of the docs out there are interested in dosages, I'd be happy to provide, I believe I have all the relevant info in the records I brought home.) I remained at the hospital for about 5 hrs w/ oxygen and fluids for observation before being released. The following morning, I went for a follow up doc visit the to check for any residual fluid retention or production and got the all clear.
The dive shop (which has a great reputation), checked all the equipment and claims no defects or malfunctions. I wouldn't have pursued it further, even if they'd claimed responsibility, have no plans to do so, nor do I have any reason to doubt their honesty. They were extremely accomodating...the DM spent most of the day at the hospital keeping us company and making sure the local dive doc was the attending physician, and even chauffuerred us to and from the hospital, as well as to the local pharmacy to get the antibiotic prescription filled.
All said and done, I was still a bit apprehensive about continuing my c-card dives and opted to finish this trip snorkeling. I will go on to get certified at some point in the near future. Providing the remaining 3 dives of the certification go well, I will keep the depths at a range from which I know I can safely surface without further risk if the problem happens again. I'll also do so using my own equipment, just for peace of mind.
What did I learn from the experience? First of all, I know that I won't panic in difficult situations. The situation could have ended much worse, but I responded as taught and remained calm...even without being able to catch my breath at depth. I stopped and tried to focus on breathing slowly, remembered procedure and surfaced slowly while rapping my tank and signaling "go up" to both my buddy and the DM ahead of me, and remained calm at the surface, despite a continued inability to breathe comfortably. (Sorry, but I'm pretty proud of that considering that the fluid in my lungs was highly audible at that time and breathing was extremely difficult.)
In any case, I was snorkeling a little over 36 hrs after the event and had a wonderful time on the island. I'll return to Bonaire next year...next time, hopefully, as a certified diver.
Again, my thanks to all those who provided input and showed concern for my safety.
Best fishes and safe travels.
Jeff
