thanks for all the advice blokes but unfortunately I ignored it all.
Today I did 3 dives of 15, 15, and 13 meters out on the reef.
I saw lots of good stuff (turtles, white tip reef sharks lion and a whole heap of clown fish (16 of them all driving the same really tiny car) to name a few), but I have to admit there was a bit of a nervous time when I did my first ascent (which I took VERY slowly).
I took 5 @ 5 meters each time and in every case I was the last person onto the boat because of it. I remembered my BWAF (British Women Are Fun?), my signals and kept a good watch on my air (overly so). My buoyancy was a little off at first but I did a few fin pivots and it was fine, buy the end I was floating upside down with my head about 6" off the bottom (I wanted to see if I could still do that). All up, not bad for not having dived (doved?) for a couple of years.
[serious stuff] Ok, the medical statement I gave at the beginning of the day was a complete work of fiction, but I consider it as protection for the company, I have no illusion about it protecting me from myself and I would not have expected any sympathy from the courts if it all went tits up. I have always been a risk taker and have always engaged in activities that involve risk (diving, skydiving, sidecar racing, motorcycle racing, offshore yacht racing), but I consider myself a CONSIDERED risk taker. I was here in cairns last year too and wanted to dive then, but it was too early, My thought processes were tectonically slow and my body way too frail. This year I felt better, consulted my rehabilitation specialist (a bloke who has years of experience with the rehabilitation of motor vehicle accident victims with both orthopaedic and head trauma and is lead consultant for my case) and he said ok. Me asking the question on here was simply an attempt to gain the most information before I made MY decision. Today was a bit of a learning experience however. Leaving the water after my first dive was ok, the second harder, the third....... harder still. Ok, so moving forward what am I going to do long term? Clearly 3 dives in a day is too much for my body. I had a Minerva brace stabilising fractures to C1-C2, a rod, some plates and screws keeping C7-T1 stabilised, I have also had L3-L4 fused and lastly damage to the processes T5-T7, so I am fairly damaged and I take 16mg Jurnista and 2x panadol osteo 3 times a day along with 400mg of celebrex and gabapentin daily. My rehab specialist is aware of all these medications which are taken in strict adherence to doctors orders.
Given my difficulty getting out of the water and the look of panic in the deckhands eyes when I told him I was having some pain in my back as I was getting out of the water(he immediately went to defcon 1, but I told him its ok, I had a little arthritis), I will seek out a dive doc for another opinion and will go through my list of injuries and medications with them in detail when I get home. If there is one thing I have learnt from all my dealings with doctors, there are no absolute right or wrongs for the individual, there are only advisable and inadvisable actions.
You just gotta be prepared for the consequences of your choice.
[/serious stuff]
CB
Today I did 3 dives of 15, 15, and 13 meters out on the reef.
I saw lots of good stuff (turtles, white tip reef sharks lion and a whole heap of clown fish (16 of them all driving the same really tiny car) to name a few), but I have to admit there was a bit of a nervous time when I did my first ascent (which I took VERY slowly).
I took 5 @ 5 meters each time and in every case I was the last person onto the boat because of it. I remembered my BWAF (British Women Are Fun?), my signals and kept a good watch on my air (overly so). My buoyancy was a little off at first but I did a few fin pivots and it was fine, buy the end I was floating upside down with my head about 6" off the bottom (I wanted to see if I could still do that). All up, not bad for not having dived (doved?) for a couple of years.
[serious stuff] Ok, the medical statement I gave at the beginning of the day was a complete work of fiction, but I consider it as protection for the company, I have no illusion about it protecting me from myself and I would not have expected any sympathy from the courts if it all went tits up. I have always been a risk taker and have always engaged in activities that involve risk (diving, skydiving, sidecar racing, motorcycle racing, offshore yacht racing), but I consider myself a CONSIDERED risk taker. I was here in cairns last year too and wanted to dive then, but it was too early, My thought processes were tectonically slow and my body way too frail. This year I felt better, consulted my rehabilitation specialist (a bloke who has years of experience with the rehabilitation of motor vehicle accident victims with both orthopaedic and head trauma and is lead consultant for my case) and he said ok. Me asking the question on here was simply an attempt to gain the most information before I made MY decision. Today was a bit of a learning experience however. Leaving the water after my first dive was ok, the second harder, the third....... harder still. Ok, so moving forward what am I going to do long term? Clearly 3 dives in a day is too much for my body. I had a Minerva brace stabilising fractures to C1-C2, a rod, some plates and screws keeping C7-T1 stabilised, I have also had L3-L4 fused and lastly damage to the processes T5-T7, so I am fairly damaged and I take 16mg Jurnista and 2x panadol osteo 3 times a day along with 400mg of celebrex and gabapentin daily. My rehab specialist is aware of all these medications which are taken in strict adherence to doctors orders.
Given my difficulty getting out of the water and the look of panic in the deckhands eyes when I told him I was having some pain in my back as I was getting out of the water(he immediately went to defcon 1, but I told him its ok, I had a little arthritis), I will seek out a dive doc for another opinion and will go through my list of injuries and medications with them in detail when I get home. If there is one thing I have learnt from all my dealings with doctors, there are no absolute right or wrongs for the individual, there are only advisable and inadvisable actions.
You just gotta be prepared for the consequences of your choice.
[/serious stuff]
CB
Last edited:
