Bent! o_O

[RichWilx]

The treatment ended yesterday and before I went into the chamber I did ask the doc if there could be other causes for the symptoms. He said yes, that particularly for the fever, there could be something else going on.

I think that, in reality, I will never know if I was bent. The doc seemed convinced but that's what he was looking for. Would a non dive physician have come to the same conclusion? In any case, everyone involved was playing it safe: it's better to have treatment and not need it than to need treatment and not have it.

That suits me just fine.



One final point: being in the UK the element of profiteering suggested by one poster doesn't apply. Sure, the costs of treatment are reimbursed by the NHS buy me being in there for 6 hours doesn't make anyone richer.

 

[lowviz]

Great to hear that you are OK!

You may now have a valid reason for getting a PFO test (???). You may wish to consider doing so as, either way, the outcome will alter how you plan future dives.

Patent foramen ovale: Tests and diagnosis - MayoClinic.com

 

[CavDvr2]

I believe PADI (according to the last update) lowered the max depth for rescue exercises to 40 ft.

 

[Tortuga68]

None of his course dives were deeper than 40 feet; see post 7

 

[Diver0001]

Sure, all the dives were on 40% nitrox (go figure!)
Fresh water.
Surface temp avg 18c/65f
Bottom temp avg 12c/53f


Day 1 (Saturday)
Dive 1: 8m/26ft for 10 minutes (unconscious diver to surface)
20 min SI
Dive 2: 8m/26ft for 36 minutes (search pattterns)
20 min SI
Dive 3: 8m/26ft for 20 minutes (search pattern/entangled diver)
1h40 SI
Dive 4: 10m/35ft for 10 minutes
15 min SI
Dive 5: 10m/35ft for 8 minutes.


Day 2 (sunday)
Dive 1: 12m/40ft for 12 minutes (scenario 1 - find diver, bring to shore etc.)
1h15 SI
Dive 2: 12m/40ft for 15 minutes (scenario 2 - find diver, bring to shore etc.)
25min SI
Dive 3: 20m/65ft for 20 minutes (celebration dive!)

That series of dives leaves you well within the NDL's. Oo

Aches and pains after a rescue day are also not that unusual. The fever is not symptomatic but the pain in the shoulder, fatigue and headache could be.

That's weird but if the treatment helped then it does appear to point to at least the possibility of DCS. The question then becomes how did you get DCS on a series of relatively tame dives?

I would suggest taking the advice for a PFO screening seriously. I think it's wise to look for an explanation outside just the bottom time you racked up.

R..

 

[TjRjn]

im only new to diving, and this may be a very dumb question. but i thought that it was common practice to do the deeper dives first, and go shallower on the following dives. would the fact that his celebration dive was deeper, as well as being the last dive of the day, on a cold a fatigued diver, have anything to do with it?

According to my dive centre this is no longer a requirement.

 

[Tigerman]

The treatment ended yesterday and before I went into the chamber I did ask the doc if there could be other causes for the symptoms. He said yes, that particularly for the fever, there could be something else going on.

I think that, in reality, I will never know if I was bent. The doc seemed convinced but that's what he was looking for. Would a non dive physician have come to the same conclusion? In any case, everyone involved was playing it safe: it's better to have treatment and not need it than to need treatment and not have it.

That suits me just fine.



One final point: being in the UK the element of profiteering suggested by one poster doesn't apply. Sure, the costs of treatment are reimbursed by the NHS buy me being in there for 6 hours doesn't make anyone richer.

A non dive physician might not have come to the same conclusion because of lack of dive specific experience and/or training..

 

[Hickdive]

One final point: being in the UK the element of profiteering suggested by one poster doesn't apply. Sure, the costs of treatment are reimbursed by the NHS buy me being in there for 6 hours doesn't make anyone richer.

Sigh...I didn't say that applied in your case - in fact I specifically wrote that I wasn't saying that. Why respond to something I didn't write?

However, privately run recompression chambers do make a profit every time they recompress someone and recover the money from the NHS, they wouldn't exist otherwise. In fact some unscrupulous individuals have gone to considerable lengths to make money out of recompression treatments; http://www.northoftyne.nhs.uk/about-us/pdf-attachments/countering-fraud/LCFS%20Newsletter%206%20final%20PDF.pdf

 

[DeeperOut]

I am not going to play doctor here like some of the commenters above.

On the future consequences -

with a mild profile like that leading you to suspect bends,
you should get a thorough examination by a dive medicine specialist as to you being fit for diving, including PFO,
you should get proper thermal protection and training required to dive drysuit,

and dive very conservatively in the future (if OKd for diving).

One final point - anyone that has a suspicion of dive related injury should contact a baromedical facility immediately, it is of absolute importance.
You can read a report from the HSE available online. "Time to treatment for decompression illness. "

Wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[SeahorseDeb]

The treatment ended yesterday and before I went into the chamber I did ask the doc if there could be other causes for the symptoms. He said yes, that particularly for the fever, there could be something else going on.

I think that, in reality, I will never know if I was bent. The doc seemed convinced but that's what he was looking for. Would a non dive physician have come to the same conclusion? In any case, everyone involved was playing it safe: it's better to have treatment and not need it than to need treatment and not have it.

That suits me just fine.



One final point: being in the UK the element of profiteering suggested by one poster doesn't apply. Sure, the costs of treatment are reimbursed by the NHS buy me being in there for 6 hours doesn't make anyone richer.

Just one question.....are you a DAN member??

(DAN is my invisible buddy, I've never needed him, but I won't ever dive without him!!)