Scary pool bacteria or chlorine?

Which would you prefer too much chlorine in a pool or scary bacteria?   The other day as I was swimming and about half way through I noticed my lips felt numb and that the taste of chlorine in my mouth was HORRIBLE and I thought hmmm maybe they should dial it back a notch on the chlorine.  And NO I was not drinking the pool water I promise.  But then I started thinking back to my taper before my last IM and how I got this awful staph infection and the doctor said I probably got it while swimming!!  I also remembered a rumor going around town that another local pool had some flesh eating bacteria AHHHHHH!!!  So I happily swam in the heavily chlorinated water.

"But Natasha you didn't tell us the whole story what happened during your IM taper?"  Oh ok I can tell you the whole story.  I wasn't a blogger yet at the time of my last IM so the only thing I documented was a few major training mile stones and the actual event.  So about 2-3 weeks out from my IM I noticed a "zit" on my forehead and was bugged but just ignored it.  Then a while later on a work trip doing the back stroke in the hotel pool I hit my head REALLY hard against the wall, due to no flags to warn me!!  Well that night I felt really woozy and thought I might not wake up tomorrow and no one would know for several days!!  Then I went and took the Do Not Disturb sign off the door I figured that way the cleaning lady would find me.  Well against all my paranoid theories I still woke up but when I looked in the mirror I was shocked to see that my entire face was swollen and other parts were too (any area that had lymph nodes) and that "zit" on my forehead was way bigger and more like an open wound now.

I made the flight home with a co-worker who made sure I didn't pass out and bonk my head in the airplane :-)  Yes I looked that bad he was that scared for me, it was really awkward having someone you didn't know very well stare at you for 3 hours!  When I had made it to the Doctor the 1st guy gave me the wrong antibiotics and it just kept getting worse.  The 2nd guy gave me a different set of pills along with a topical antibiotic.  It turns out I had a staph infection that got into my skin probably in the pool via a small cut on my forehead and because I didn't know what it was and I ignored it for too long it almost went septic!!!  The Doc tried to tell me I wouldn't be able to do the IM and I cried in the lobby for a long time until a concerned patient asked me if I was ok and then I left.  Turns out he let me do the IM but I had to wear a TON of sunscreen because the antibiotics I was on made me really sensitive to the sun.

So it turns out once you've had this you are more prone to getting it again.  So every once in while I see it forming on my forehead and I immediately put the topical antibiotic on it and it goes away.  I also don't wear make up on those days and scare my coworkers but it's a small price to pay.  :-)  I always get sick on tapers for Olympic distance triathlons or longer but this was one of the worst!!!

Have you had an awful taper story?  Do you not ever get sick during your taper?