Return to diving

[andrewgreen74@btinternet.]

My wife recently suffered a venous gas embolism whilst diving in Mauritius. The treatment in Mauritius was appalling, but thanks to the DDRC in Plymouth she has now recovered completley, physically at least. Obviously she is very apprehenxive about returning to diving, she has said she may not dive again. Does anyone have any advice as to how she can regain her confidence in the water? Or would you say give it up. I know it's her decision at the end of the day, but she did love diving and the fantastic people we mey.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by andrewgreen74@btinternet.

My wife recently suffered a venous gas embolism whilst diving in Mauritius. The treatment in Mauritius was appalling, but thanks to the DDRC in Plymouth she has now recovered completley, physically at least. Obviously she is very apprehenxive about returning to diving, she has said she may not dive again. Does anyone have any advice as to how she can regain her confidence in the water? Or would you say give it up. I know it's her decision at the end of the day, but she did love diving and the fantastic people we mey.

Andy
i'd contact a moderator and change your name PDQ or you'll get spammed to death posting the best part of your e.mail address on the net

never been through that myself - i seem to recall there is a VET from london called Helen? [i think] who suffered a PFO and was posting something similar a year so so ago, someone will no doubt be along shortly who'll know her and point you in the right direction

i'd just go for a few gentle special dives
JEL out of plymouth
alice marie penzance
st chammand st ives
not to demanding lot's of life and things to see

best of luck
dave

[hogen-deifar]

Originally Posted by andrewgreen74@btinternet.

My wife recently suffered a venous gas embolism whilst diving in Mauritius. The treatment in Mauritius was appalling, but thanks to the DDRC in Plymouth she has now recovered completley, physically at least. Obviously she is very apprehenxive about returning to diving, she has said she may not dive again. Does anyone have any advice as to how she can regain her confidence in the water? Or would you say give it up. I know it's her decision at the end of the day, but she did love diving and the fantastic people we mey.

All I can say is get her to join up here, get chatting, voice her thoughts and fears in a post and trust me this lot on here will make her feel so much better. It worked for me.

Had a "glip" a month ago, and scared me lots. I posted it here, feeling a tad foolish for airing my dirty laundry in public, but it was the right thing to do. I had some good advice and even better support and now I'm going back in the water next week with some good new found friends from this site.

By airing her thoughts and fears she'll discover she's not alone and hearing other peoples stories will help her to make the decision whether to give up or not.

Trust me on this one. I normally talk a load of old bollox (anyone agree with that and you're dead) but on this one, I know I'm right. YD gave me back my confidence, and also some cracking mates.

Sh*t, I've been nice. Now I'll have to go into one of Dave's posts and pick on him!!!!

[Big Andy]

Spoke to a chap last year who had a similar experience. He got started again through Snokeling. I know we all have a love/hate relationship with our snorkel but he said (if I remember correctly) that it gave him the chance to settle down again and see/feel what he was missing....

Anyway, best 'o luck.


PS - does anyone know how many Ls there should be in Snorkel(l)ing?

Originally Posted by Big Andy

PS - does anyone know how many Ls there should be in Snorkel(l)ing?

one for UK, two for America

Corinne

[DannyB]

Originally Posted by Diving Diva

one for UK, two for America

Corinne

So one in English and two in pidgin english then?



Danny

[dreammermaid]

Hi, I got a DCS hit 2 years ago and was very apprehensive about returning to diving. Now I have and everything is fine but I can completely relate to feeling anxious. Many people in the group have gone through similiar experiences. There are links about anxiety etc which often accompany returning to diving regardless of what the accident was caused by. Of course, she wants to make sure it isn't something that could happen again and that she is medically cleared to dive. I wish her all the best, Leila
The adress is DCSsupportGroup : Scuba_Diving_DCS_Support_and_Research

[Hellvet]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

never been through that myself - i seem to recall there is a VET from london called Helen? [i think] who suffered a PFO and was posting something similar a year or so ago, someone will no doubt be along shortly who'll know her and point you in the right direction

That'd be me then!

I did struggle getting back into the water. It doesn't help that they make you stay out the water for so long post bend - the whole getting back on the horse as soon as possible definitely applies, and cos they won't let you it becomes an even bigger psychological hurdle.

I questioned everything apart from whether i wanted to dive again - i always knew i wanted to! I did wonder whether i could get over the hurdle of diving again, but ultimately the decision comes down to whether its worth it to the person involved. It helped that i had a "reason" for the bend, but ultimately the decision to go diving always means there is a possibility of getting bent as the only way to avoid getting bent is to stay out of the water.

The most important things for me going back was to dive with people i knew and trusted. I had my instructors with me, and spent lots of time getting ready with people who weren't going to rush me and that i knew understood how i felt. I spent a few weeks in the pool first, doing drills just to get my confidence up, again with people i knew and trusted as buddies, and i also spent a lot of time talking with my friends. If she wants to talk PM me...no problem honestly!

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by andrewgreen74@btinternet.

My wife recently suffered a venous gas embolism whilst diving in Mauritius. The treatment in Mauritius was appalling, but thanks to the DDRC in Plymouth she has now recovered completley, physically at least. Obviously she is very apprehenxive about returning to diving, she has said she may not dive again. Does anyone have any advice as to how she can regain her confidence in the water? Or would you say give it up. I know it's her decision at the end of the day, but she did love diving and the fantastic people we mey.

I'd start in the pool and gradually take it from there avoiding any situations that may stress her unduly.

IME the confidence takes longer to heal than the body.

Good luck

Safe diving,
Steve

[andrewgreen74@btinternet.]

Thanks for everyone's responses. I think we are going to start with a snorkelling holiday in Sharm - it was the Ras Mohhamed marine reserve that first gave us the urge to dive. We'll probably go back to Mauritius at Xmas, the diving is very calm in Trou Aux biches.