A risk worth taking ????

[knotical]

Everyone’s different. We lost an older student (well, my age) to a heart attack on a surface interval a while back. His family said they found it comforting that he died pursuing his dream.

Perhaps your Dad should consider getting a second opinion from another physician, with especial attention to the affect of pressure on the meds. Were I your Dad, and unless the meds are a strong contraindication to diving, I’d chat with my loved ones, let them know how I feel, and continue to dive, but with gentle profiles and getting my daughter to haul my gear.

To me, and perhaps to your Dad, diving is the opposite of stress.

 

[Walter]

Jo,

Tough choice for you. The bottom line is it's his choice to dive or not. I tend to agree with your dad, I'll dive as long as it's possible for me to drag myself into the water.

What I'd be doing at this point is talking to your dad's doctor and to DAN to find out what it is about diving that is dangerous for him. Perhaps he can stop diving in rough seas and strong currents and reduce Perhaps if he doesn't carry his own gear he'll reduce his risk?

I know you don't want to have to recover his body, but, for me, that would be much better than hearing he dropped dead carrying his gear to the boat when I could've carried it for him.

Tell him you love him, that you understand his desire to dive. Ask him to help you find a way to make it as safe as possible. Tell him, that's important for your welfare. Good luck with this Jo.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

It's an individual choice that's why I worded my comment that way. Everyone involved needs to be ok with the fact that there may be a death on the dive. I don't know where they dive but a boat operator if they are diving from a boat will be affected as much as the owner of a dive location if they are diving on private property (quarry for example). If Joh doesn't mind watching her dad have a heart attack underwater and is able to allow (and watch) him to die the way he wants instead of trying to rescue him to avoid possibly getting herself injured more power to her. Rescuing him could possibly lead to him ending up in a coma or some other debilitating medical issue and living the rest of his life without being able to enjoy it. Personally it's not worth it to me to take that risk, I would not want to watch my father drown nor would I want to rescue him only to have him live the rest of his life as a vegetable. It's a hard choice and a very personal one and my comments simply reflect my own feelings if I were in her place.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[scubamickey]

Forget the family doctor. Tell him to go see a cardiologist. I can't tell you the number of times that general practice docs diagnose gas for heart problems or just put the old person on meds to be rid of them.

Go see a cardiologist and have him tested. If the specialist says absolutely no diving, I would give that serious thought. Also remember that the liability issue is always looming over the doctors. If they even think of saying "go for it" and the patient dies, they end up getting sued. So it's safer to tell them to stay home and vegetate in front of the tv

 

[Ber Rabbit]

My father-in-law had a heart attack a couple of years ago. A couple of days after he came home from having bypass surgery he was having chest pains and went back to the hospital. Those turned out to be gas but while testing him to find the cause the docs found an aneurism the size of a grapefruit in the artery leading to his kidneys which was fixed once he was recovered from the bypass.

The chest pains can be caused by a lot of things. What is concerning me isn't the meds but the warning to avoid exertion and stress. Scubamickey is right, see a cardiologist and find out what the problem is, fix it if you can, stop diving if you have to.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[scubajoh44]

I have no idea about what condition my Dad is in. He's not going to tell me either. I got as much info as I could from the family doctor, but that was limited too. He just sent him to a cardiologist. I know he saw a cardiologist, but don't know what was found out. I highly doubt I will be able to get any more info. He won't even tell my mom what was said. He's so diving minded that he won't hear of not diving from anyone. If telling us what a doctor said is going to make us tell him to stop....he's not telling.
Most of our diving is fresh water. It ranges from 20 - 85 feet. No boats. I tote his equipment. I've been doing that for a while..... don't mind at all.
Of course I don't want to WATCH HIM DIE, or be a VEGETABLE, or him to go INTO A COMA!!!!!!!!!! And NO NO NO NO....I'm deffinately not prepared to watch him have a heart attack and not help. I will do whatever I need to do. WHATEVER!!!! My whole dilema is I don't know what MY first action should be.

 

[Randy43068]

My father-in-law had a heart attack a couple of years ago. A couple of days after he came home from having bypass surgery he was having chest pains and went back to the hospital. Those turned out to be gas but while testing him to find the cause the docs found an aneurism the size of a grapefruit in the artery leading to his kidneys which was fixed once he was recovered from the bypass.

The chest pains can be caused by a lot of things. What is concerning me isn't the meds but the warning to avoid exertion and stress. Scubamickey is right, see a cardiologist and find out what the problem is, fix it if you can, stop diving if you have to.
Ber :lilbunny:

he's an old guy. If he wants to "go" while diving, why not let him? I would.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

he's an old guy. If he wants to "go" while diving, why not let him? I would.

I'm simply concerned about the psychological ramifications for his dive buddy. You're happily diving along when buddy clutches chest and convulses (or whatever a heart attack victim does underwater). Do you rescue him and risk having him end up in a coma or otherwise limited in what he can do with his life (and possibly blaming you for that--aka "I wish you had let me die") if the heart attack wasn't enough to kill him? Do you stay and watch him die the way he wants to go? Not a position I would want to be in.

Sorry for sounding so harsh Jo, it's the only way I know how to explain my feelings.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Diver0001]

A few weeks back I posted a thread on senior citizen diving. Everyone pretty much assured me that it was ok for my 68 yr old Dad to dive.
Today I saw our family doctor (who happens to be a personal family friend) and he said how sorry he was that my Dad wouldn't be diving with me anymore. To make a long story short.... My Dad had been to the Dr. with chest pains. He was put on some meds and told no strenuous work, no stress, ect...and no diving. When I asked my Dad about it, he told me he WAS going to keep dive and that if he died doing it that he would die happy. I argued of course, but what do you do? He was diving before I was born and I can't see him stopping. Do I refuse to go with him? If you were in his situation what would you do? If you were in my situation what would you do?

I understand his feeling. I think if I were in a similar position I would keep diving too. I believe there comes a time in everyone's life that they have more to gain by risking death than they have to lose by trying to avoid it..... This is probably an unpopular statement on scubaboard but it's really how I feel.

What you need now is a discussion with your father about philosophy, not logic.

R..

 

[Randy43068]

the guy would have a DNR order and instructions to his dive pals stating the same. If not, he should have.

As I mentioned, as long as his dive team knows what could happen, and are willing to accept the risks and issues, I think he should dive. However, it's ONLY the guy in question's choice, actually. I'd dive with him knowing full well he could die right then and there.

Apparently diving makes him happy. As I see it he's lived his life, has more years behind him than in front so why not help him do what he wants to do? Many people live lives avoiding danger, doing nothing, rather than living and doing things they like. (I didn't phrase that well, but you get the idea)

I'm simply concerned about the psychological ramifications for his dive buddy. You're happily diving along when buddy clutches chest and convulses (or whatever a heart attack victim does underwater). Do you rescue him and risk having him end up in a coma or otherwise limited in what he can do with his life (and possibly blaming you for that--aka "I wish you had let me die") if the heart attack wasn't enough to kill him? Do you stay and watch him die the way he wants to go? Not a position I would want to be in.

Sorry for sounding so harsh Jo, it's the only way I know how to explain my feelings.
Ber :lilbunny: