I personally know two divers that have had chemo. One of them is a regular dive buddy of mine who was treated for Hodgkins, but I have no idea how long after treatment you should wait before getting back in the water.
can you dive after having chemotherapy?
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fisherdvm
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I think it is likely safe to dive after chemo if you take precautions to avoid abrasions. Perhaps donning at least a 3 mm wet suit, boots, and gloves... Swallowing fresh or salt water will likely be safe. I am just more concern of the cruds growing below the boat's ladder, the coral cuts, and other hazards like rusty hooks and mildew on the dive environment.
My lovely bride is a 4 year breast cancer survivor. Surgery, reconstruction and chemotherapy – the whole deal. She celebrated her 50th birthday with her first dive as a certified diver! Got to love that gal!
Dave
Dave
rexb
Registered
Thanks, mike, lynne and "fisher"...
Each of your replies are much appreciated. I'm thinking, Lynne, that you must really grab life by the horns! 200+ dives in just one year since you started diving!? Wow. And manage the life of a doctor/equestrienne at the same time? The fact that you haven't learned of any kinds of scuba-associated medical problems that would apply to my situation is reassuring in itself.
And I was actually thinking of the little scratches, scrapes... bites? stings? that might be relevant if my immune system is still partially on the mend.
I did find a considerable listing of likely resources on the webpage http://www.scubalinx.com/medicine/dive_safety/dive_safety.html - - though this actually does not provide a link to the webpage of any of these (their snail mail addresses are listed in most cases, so if all fails, I could write them a letter with a stamp on it!) - - I'll let everyone know if I find that any of these has inernet info or if any seems particularly question-friendly (even if only by snail mail).
I figure... that if nothing else, my postings here on this thread are an icebreaker for othrs facing questions about diving after (successful) cancer treatment. It seems like such a great way to celebrate (even partial) success!
Regards,
Rex
Each of your replies are much appreciated. I'm thinking, Lynne, that you must really grab life by the horns! 200+ dives in just one year since you started diving!? Wow. And manage the life of a doctor/equestrienne at the same time? The fact that you haven't learned of any kinds of scuba-associated medical problems that would apply to my situation is reassuring in itself.
And I was actually thinking of the little scratches, scrapes... bites? stings? that might be relevant if my immune system is still partially on the mend.
I did find a considerable listing of likely resources on the webpage http://www.scubalinx.com/medicine/dive_safety/dive_safety.html - - though this actually does not provide a link to the webpage of any of these (their snail mail addresses are listed in most cases, so if all fails, I could write them a letter with a stamp on it!) - - I'll let everyone know if I find that any of these has inernet info or if any seems particularly question-friendly (even if only by snail mail).
I figure... that if nothing else, my postings here on this thread are an icebreaker for othrs facing questions about diving after (successful) cancer treatment. It seems like such a great way to celebrate (even partial) success!
Regards,
Rex
rexb
Registered
Oh, whoops... didn't realize that these additional posts were here on "page two"! Didn't meant any slight, "beez", or dave! Thanks for your posts...
Well, not a doc so please don't take it that way. 
Bleomycin is the one we concern ourselves with most here. It is bad when combined with high pO2's. Here is one UHMS abstract that was easy to find <http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/>:
TRENDS OF TREATING PATIENTS, THAT HAVE RECEIVED BLEOMYCIN THERAPY IN THE PAST, WITH HYPERBARIC OXYGEN TREATMENT (HBOT) AND A SURVEY OF CONSIDERED ABSOLUTE CONTRAINDICATIONS TO HBOT. Stubbs, Johnson, and Thom. 2005 UHMS Meeting. RRR ID: 1638
I had to write Steve today since we did not get a copy of that poster at the meeting. We will post it if he can find the file. A better abstract on bleomycin alone was published by Moon et. al. but we have not had a chance to add that year to the database yet.
Other than that, dives with active cancer pre treatment are an interesting question that I am hopeful will get answered in the next few years. Maybe by the Veterinary Hyperbaric Medical Society (VHMS) <http://www.vet.utk.edu/vhms/>. But that is a WHOLE other topic that is probably a little much for this thread.
Sorry, we are doing what we can as we can to get the information available.
Take care,
Bleomycin is the one we concern ourselves with most here. It is bad when combined with high pO2's. Here is one UHMS abstract that was easy to find <http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/>:
TRENDS OF TREATING PATIENTS, THAT HAVE RECEIVED BLEOMYCIN THERAPY IN THE PAST, WITH HYPERBARIC OXYGEN TREATMENT (HBOT) AND A SURVEY OF CONSIDERED ABSOLUTE CONTRAINDICATIONS TO HBOT. Stubbs, Johnson, and Thom. 2005 UHMS Meeting. RRR ID: 1638
I had to write Steve today since we did not get a copy of that poster at the meeting. We will post it if he can find the file. A better abstract on bleomycin alone was published by Moon et. al. but we have not had a chance to add that year to the database yet.
Other than that, dives with active cancer pre treatment are an interesting question that I am hopeful will get answered in the next few years. Maybe by the Veterinary Hyperbaric Medical Society (VHMS) <http://www.vet.utk.edu/vhms/>. But that is a WHOLE other topic that is probably a little much for this thread.
Sorry, we are doing what we can as we can to get the information available.
Take care,
PairofMedics
Guest
Hey Rex, A victory dive sounds awesome, congrats to you nonetheless! I've learned quite a bit about cancers, including lymphomas recently because of a family member and I can only speak of what I have seen. She was completely exhausted and a trip shopping (her favorite sport) wore her out as I've never seen. Her healing process, even after passing all the testing with flying colors, was long to put it mildly. Now a year later she is finally getting back her strength. She was also anemic, more so than you I gather since she was treated aggressively for it before her chemo even started. She still remains on treatment for her anemia. I guess what I am trying to say, is that if you've been medically cleared and feel up to the dive than good luck and enjoy! As regards what fisherdvm mentioned, there are alot of hazards in key largo. My husband and I have dove dozens of the reefs and wrecks there and I wore a 1mm dive suit in the winter and still sustained a tear on my thigh from coming into into contact with something on the reef I shouldnt have. Just something to keep in mind. Stay away from those darn hogfish too, little buggers are meaner than the sharks!!!!
rexb
Registered
Hey there... "pairof" family... thanks for the reply.
You're right that some lymphoma patients will have substantial anemia as part of their disease, and the treatment can make it worse.
I think that during the next several weeks I need to gauge, and try to improve my general conditioning, especially in view of the high probability of my anemia worsening. Seems like simple treadmill will give me a reasonable yardstick. If I can increase my general aerobic capacity, then clearly that will enhance my ability to enjoy diving. Conversely, if it declines, despite a conscious attempt to improve it, then this may be the answer I need to confront, squarely in the face.
And I appreciate the advice to watch out for the hogfish. Since we are very much novice divers, I anticipate that we might just dive the reefs, and leave wrecks for a future date. My only prior experience has been SNUBA in Hawaii, and SCUBA in the USVI, and I split my dives between wearing a shorty (3 mm) and no wetsuit at all. It seems wise to assume that I ought to wear a suit for Key Largo in January - - and I am beginning to think that we might be wise to wait until a little later in the spring. Not so much for water temperature as for sun and fun weather (and let some hair grow back to reduce my risk of sunburned scalp!)
And for anyone else following this thread, here is some additional info, regarding the link lisred above. One of the more promising listings was "Undersea Medicine Associates" which, with a quick Google, I located the web page www.scubamed.com operated by "Dr. Fred" (Fred Bove MD, PhD) with lots of information. i have sent my original inquiry to him, and I have received a preliminary reply. He has also proposed starting an entry on the blog portion of his web page about diving after cancer therapy.
My continued thanks to everyone on this forum for making me feel welcome here with my questions.
You're right that some lymphoma patients will have substantial anemia as part of their disease, and the treatment can make it worse.
I think that during the next several weeks I need to gauge, and try to improve my general conditioning, especially in view of the high probability of my anemia worsening. Seems like simple treadmill will give me a reasonable yardstick. If I can increase my general aerobic capacity, then clearly that will enhance my ability to enjoy diving. Conversely, if it declines, despite a conscious attempt to improve it, then this may be the answer I need to confront, squarely in the face.
And I appreciate the advice to watch out for the hogfish. Since we are very much novice divers, I anticipate that we might just dive the reefs, and leave wrecks for a future date. My only prior experience has been SNUBA in Hawaii, and SCUBA in the USVI, and I split my dives between wearing a shorty (3 mm) and no wetsuit at all. It seems wise to assume that I ought to wear a suit for Key Largo in January - - and I am beginning to think that we might be wise to wait until a little later in the spring. Not so much for water temperature as for sun and fun weather (and let some hair grow back to reduce my risk of sunburned scalp!)
And for anyone else following this thread, here is some additional info, regarding the link lisred above. One of the more promising listings was "Undersea Medicine Associates" which, with a quick Google, I located the web page www.scubamed.com operated by "Dr. Fred" (Fred Bove MD, PhD) with lots of information. i have sent my original inquiry to him, and I have received a preliminary reply. He has also proposed starting an entry on the blog portion of his web page about diving after cancer therapy.
My continued thanks to everyone on this forum for making me feel welcome here with my questions.
While I am not in the medical field, I am currently a Hodgkins Stage IV survivor AND diver. My treatment was 6 cycles of ABVD in 2010. My post PFT and CT tests were good and told the doctor I am going diving. Been on 4 Aggressor trips, doing all the dives WITH Nitrox 32% to 34%. Deepest to date is 115ft. BTW, during treatment I formed blood clots in the lungs.
My advice to those who have received bleomycin is to do the obvious checks but go diving and have fun! I even talked to DAN and they stated after 6 months (assuming all else ok) one should be good (including a chamber ride if needed).
To those in the medical field, thank you. But update your websites that state no diving, period; and please stop scaring folks from diving. There have been no recorded diving incidents from bleomycin and diving.
My advice to those who have received bleomycin is to do the obvious checks but go diving and have fun! I even talked to DAN and they stated after 6 months (assuming all else ok) one should be good (including a chamber ride if needed).
To those in the medical field, thank you. But update your websites that state no diving, period; and please stop scaring folks from diving. There have been no recorded diving incidents from bleomycin and diving.
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