My Big Toe Story

[balbrigganbloke]

Why not buy Dan insurance as well? that way the hyperbaric will treat you

[Scubee]

No matter how many problems we see in the UK, at least you can get treated for a bend without too much effort.

Apparently, there is a new chamber opening up near me. I am going to see it tomorrow. (for a look, that's all!)

[West Ireland Diver]

Well there we go. My first (and hopefully last) experience of sitting in a chamber for 4hrs 45mins!!

The guys at Craigavon were fantastic. The nurses, technicians, doctors were all brilliant. Still don't actually know if it was a bend, but as there was no other explaination I went in anyway just to be sure.

None of my dive profiles showed any reason why I should have been hit, but hey ho I guess I could have just been unlucky.

Lets hope the Galway chamber opens soon for anyone else in my position.

Only thing now is I don't know if I'll ever want to dive again. The fact that there is no explaination for it, even if I add in even more safety fators I'm gonna be real concerned that I get hit again for no reason......looks like I'm going to take up knitting or something!!

[scubagit]

Now why would you want to go and give it up?? As you will see on many's a thread here, sometimes bends just happen for no apparent reason. It's not always due to overstaying your welcome/rapid ascent etc.
Get back on the horse, do a few nice shallow dives with a good buddy to get the goo back, and see how you feel then. If you start to venture deeper and the same thing happens again, then it could be due to PFO which again can be fixed.
Can't remember if you said you were in a club or not but anyway, there are some great clubs in your area and as you will know some great diving.
Wouldn't it be a shame to jack it in???
Just my 2c.

[West Ireland Diver]

Originally Posted by scubagit

Now why would you want to go and give it up?? As you will see on many's a thread here, sometimes bends just happen for no apparent reason. It's not always due to overstaying your welcome/rapid ascent etc.
Get back on the horse, do a few nice shallow dives with a good buddy to get the goo back, and see how you feel then. If you start to venture deeper and the same thing happens again, then it could be due to PFO which again can be fixed.
Can't remember if you said you were in a club or not but anyway, there are some great clubs in your area and as you will know some great diving.
Wouldn't it be a shame to jack it in???
Just my 2c.

I hear what you're saying. One side of me is desperate to get back in the water, the other side just says no bleeding way. My kit is still hanging up from where I left it drying after diving on Saturday and everytime I walk past it I just can't look at it, it's all very bizarre.

Yeah PFO was bought up when talking to the doc. Im might see about getting checked out although I know little about what that involves. Time for some more reading up.

I've got at least 4 weeks out of diving anyway, I'm sure I'll start again with a few shallow dives and see how it goes. I'm also going to stick to only one dive a day for a while, just play it safe.

Getting hit once is unlucky, if I get hit again I'll feel like an idiot.

[scubagit]

Originally Posted by West Ireland Diver

I hear what you're saying. One side of me is desperate to get back in the water, the other side just says no bleeding way. My kit is still hanging up from where I left it drying after diving on Saturday and everytime I walk past it I just can't look at it, it's all very bizarre.

Yeah PFO was bought up when talking to the doc. Im might see about getting checked out although I know little about what that involves. Time for some more reading up.

I've got at least 4 weeks out of diving anyway, I'm sure I'll start again with a few shallow dives and see how it goes. I'm also going to stick to only one dive a day for a while, just play it safe.

Getting hit once is unlucky, if I get hit again I'll feel like an idiot.

Don't be so hard on yourself!!

[David D]

Originally Posted by West Ireland Diver

Still don't actually know if it was a bend, but as there was no other explaination I went in anyway just to be sure.

As a matter of interest, did the toe improve over the course of the session?

[West Ireland Diver]

Originally Posted by David D

As a matter of interest, did the toe improve over the course of the session?

You see, that's the funny bit. The first time I got the pain in March it cleared up after approx 3 days with just a dull ache remaining.

I get it again after diving on Saturday, get into the chamber early yesterday even though the symptoms were getting milder. Yes by the time I got out of the chamber my toe was feeling better, but was that because I was in the chamber? Or was that because it was just getting better over the course of the day?

If I had gone straight to the chamber when the pain was most intense on Saturday evening it would have been much easier to identify and confirm if it was a bend. Doc says the chances are I got hit in March, didn't get it sorted then, went diving on Saturday and I would have been much more susceptible to it returning as it wasn't treated in the first place.

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by West Ireland Diver

Only thing now is I don't know if I'll ever want to dive again. The fact that there is no explaination for it, even if I add in even more safety fators I'm gonna be real concerned that I get hit again for no reason......looks like I'm going to take up knitting or something!!

Obviously that's your choice and something I went through after my episode, all I can say in my case is that time and building up gradually combined with more conservative deco' profiles and gas choice helped me get back into it.

Originally Posted by West Ireland Diver

Yeah PFO was bought up when talking to the doc. Im might see about getting checked out although I know little about what that involves. Time for some more reading up.

Personal choice again but I wouldn't take the test unless I was sure I would undergo a closure if it were positive, here is a good start for your reading DAN Divers Alert Network : Patent Foramen Ovale: Is It Important to Divers?

Good luck whatever you choose.

Safe diving,
Steve

[Ant P]

Originally Posted by Steve S

Personal choice again but I wouldn't take the test unless I was sure I would undergo a closure if it were positive, here is a good start for your reading DAN Divers Alert Network : Patent Foramen Ovale: Is It Important to Divers?

An interesting read that paper. Maybe not new, but its the first time I have heard it said.

Cheers, a