Call me bender

[Phil Ennis]

<font color='#0000FF'>Hi Gaz, glad to hear you are fit to dive again. So was it a bend or just repetative strain injury all along.

[gaz]

Erm no, it was a moderate cerebral bend.

Here, let me tell you my last ever wet diving story and it will put fear into your hearts ….

As you may or may not know, I have a few trips to the chamber this year, one for a bend and one for golfers’ elbow.

So, come last Saturday, I decided to go down to Wittering and dive the Mulberry harbour unit. I turned up on my own and met another diver who was doing his first sea dive. Naturally, I buddied with him and we went off on our dive. Being a cautious type, I took Nitrox40 along to the 11mtr dive and spent about 45mins going round the mulberry having a good look at all the wildlife.

Back on dry land, we ended up at the pub for lunch for a couple of hours of alcohol free dive chit-chat. Eventually, I started off back to Crawley. &nbsp;About four hours after the dive, and about halfway home, I started to feel very tired, like you do after a long day’s diving. Eventually, I got home and dozed off a couple of times.

Over the next couple of days, I noticed a few aches and pains in my right hand and forearm (site of the last bend). Initially, I thought nothing of it (oops) until I finally rang up the hyperbaric unit (on my almost personal hotline). Up to the chamber on Wednesday and in for a session then another session on Thursday.

By this afternoon I was feeling pretty incident free and got discharged. Before I left I mentioned to the doc that I was very reluctant to ever go diving again, the potential of dci had turned into a sword of Damocles. Ah, said the doctor in a ’I was hoping you’d mention that’ &nbsp;kind of phrase. In the short conversation that followed, I was basically told to never ever, ever dive on compressed air again ever.

So time for a new hobby then….

And just for good measure, i'm back off to the pot tomorrow as my symptoms have re-surfaced.

PS, feel free to have a good look at the ads I’ve placed.

[Jay]

Sorry to hear that Gaz - having spent 6 hours in the pot I can fully sympathise. It could indicate you have a PFO which is relatively easily fixed if you wish to continue diving (albeit with a 6 month referral on the NHS for a consultation). I got the same chat after my pot session but thankfully have done some challenging dives since without incident so (with luck) I don't have a PFO.

[gaz]

I see where you're coming from jay, but this is after a very shallow dive (11mtr), both instances have presented type-2 hits and it doesn't appear to be the MO of a pfo.

i'm happy to bite the bullet on this, diving was something that i used to get a lot of enjoyment out of, but the dcis i have had made it a far less attractive pasttime. At the end of the day, it's a hobby. A hobby that i've enjoyed, but now it's time to find something else to do.

[Jay]

Thanks for the reply Gaz - I'm truely sorry thats its turned out like this for you but I agree, its only a hobby and health is always paramount. Best wishes for your future pastimes!

[MATTBIN]

Gaz
glad you have come to a conclusion that is acceptable before anything too serious struck home.

Best wishes for the future, whatever it may bring hobby wise.

Matt

[Doug Parker]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Heads Up @ Sep. 04 2003,22:49)]
But thankfully have done some challenging dives since without incident so (with luck) I don't have a PFO.

 I've done a couple of challenging dives since actually seeing my PFO on a screen at Shrewsbury hospital. So that means nothing.  If you've got one, it will get you eventually.  

[mjgreen]

Originally Posted by Jules

<font color='#736AFF'>whats a pfo?

Patent Foramen Ovale.

Hole between the rigth & left atrium in the heart - left over from fetal development. Fetuae don't breathe, so while in the womb there's a hole between the left & right atrium which allows oxygen supplied from the mother to circulate around it's body. Normally these grow over in very early childhood, however in some individuals, a hole of varying size remains.

This can in theory allow blood from the venous system (containing bubbles) to bypass the lungs and enter the arterial system causing AGE. However, tests have shown that even in individuals with PFO, there's almost always a loose flap covering the hole that prevents bubbles passing - and been found to be damn near impossible to get those bubbles through.

On a completely different note, wraysbury, in their emergency info, have Whipps Cross as their nearest chamber - it's not, St John's Wood is half the distance, but for whatever reason (AFAIK financial/commercial) they list whipps cross as nearest - kind of irresponsible, making a bit of money or business goodwill is not worth the extra time to get there that in an emergency could save someone's life!

[Paul_K]

Originally Posted by mjgreen

Patent Foramen Ovale.

Hole between the rigth & left atrium in the heart - left over from fetal development. Fetuae don't breathe, so while in the womb there's a hole between the left & right atrium which allows oxygen supplied from the mother to circulate around it's body. Normally these grow over in very early childhood, however in some individuals, a hole of varying size remains.

This can in theory allow blood from the venous system (containing bubbles) to bypass the lungs and enter the arterial system causing AGE. However, tests have shown that even in individuals with PFO, there's almost always a loose flap covering the hole that prevents bubbles passing - and been found to be damn near impossible to get those bubbles through.

On a completely different note, wraysbury, in their emergency info, have Whipps Cross as their nearest chamber - it's not, St John's Wood is half the distance, but for whatever reason (AFAIK financial/commercial) they list whipps cross as nearest - kind of irresponsible, making a bit of money or business goodwill is not worth the extra time to get there that in an emergency could save someone's life!

Five year old thread! What were you searching for then...

[mjgreen]

Originally Posted by Paul_K

Three year old thread! What were you searching for then...

Ooops...

Thought I read a thread on an incident at stoney at the weekend, but couldn't find it - had something to add & was searching for it