Denisegg's incident and near miss at Jackson Blue

[Bubbletrubble]

This is the link to the study but there are no published results:
Immersion Pulmonary Edema - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov

@denisegg: Thanks for the link. I'm glad that some researchers are looking at changes in pulmonary artery pressure during diving. It's interesting that the investigators in the linked study are using 50mg of sildenafil (Viagra) as a pharmacologic intervention. Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5), the enzyme inhibited by sildenafil, appears to be expressed only in the arterial smooth muscle wall of the lungs and the penis. Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in the PDE5 pathway. NO activates guanylate cyclase which generates cyclic GMP, causing vasodilation (relaxation) of the smooth muscle walls. Presumably, this vasodilation can prevent/reverse pulmonary artery hypertension. Interestingly, I read somewhere that some physicians were treating high-altitude pulmonary edema with sildenafil.

I'd love to hear the reactions from some of the study participants.

After reading your last post, it sounds to me like pulmonary specialist #2 has a great attitude -- promising to research IPE, formulate a plan, and discuss it with you at your next appointment. That's exactly the kind of specialist I'd want. Sorry to hear about the run-around you're getting with the medical record releases. That's the nature of sharing medical info nowadays, I'm afraid.

Take care.

 

[denisegg]

@denisegg: To which Duke University study are you referring? Did the physicians/DAN give you a citation on the study.

Actually, I found it myself, printed it out and took it with me. He read it, commented on it, left the room and came back and said, do you know what the drug they administered during that study is? I said yes I do. I did my homework.
He laughed and said its original use was for heart conditions but they had found a more profitable use for it.

And I agree. I do feel like he wants to help me. That is why I want to make sure he receives all the results from all the other tests done.

 

[Jax]

Good for you, Denise!

 

[Mike Boswell]

Thanks for sharing, Denise. All of us divers will benefit from your generosity.

 

[denisegg]

Thank you. I am glad a really good friend helped me to make the right decision to share.

 

[SeaYoda]

...I have to share a curious finding relating to pulmonary doctor #1's desire for me to go through a sleep apnea study. I'm like, please, I'm not interested in why I'm not sleeping well, I want to know why I had IPE. He told me he did not specialize in dive related incidents but talked me into going through their study. I went last week for the first night and had to go again last night for a follow up. The Tech wanted me to sleep with a Cpap during the night and I say look, no one has even told me why I am here. I haven't even seen the doctor again. He says the doctor will explain everything after the study when you see him but I am insistent so he tells me on the first night while sleeping my blood oxygen levels dropped below normal (which caught my attention) and last night while sleeping with the Cpap they were normal. Even before seeing the doctor again they want me to sleep with one at home for a couple of weeks and then follow up with the doctor.

?????

Again, I have not talked to a doctor about this. This came from the Tech performing the test. I still have to follow up with 4 doctors on this.

The drop in oxygen may not have anything to do with your diving incident but you should take their advice about using a c-pap. I have the same problem with my O2 saturation dropping at night (my throat tissues relax and close the airway). I didn't know I had the problem until I told my doctor that I was waking up with a sinus headache every morning. He asked me if I had ever fallen asleep during the day at a traffic light or at my desk and I remembered doing that a couple times. He ordered a sleep study and they didn't even let me go through the first night without putting on a c-pap. The tech running the study said he couldn't stand to watch me any longer ! There are lots of heath risks associated to sleep apnea and I believe my c-pap has extended my life expectancy by a lot.

 

[denisegg]

The drop in oxygen may not have anything to do with your diving incident but you should take their advice about using a c-pap. I have the same problem with my O2 saturation dropping at night (my throat tissues relax and close the airway). I didn't know I had the problem until I told my doctor that I was waking up with a sinus headache every morning. He asked me if I had ever fallen asleep during the day at a traffic light or at my desk and I remembered doing that a couple times. He ordered a sleep study and they didn't even let me go through the first night without putting on a c-pap. The tech running the study said he couldn't stand to watch me any longer ! There are lots of heath risks associated to sleep apnea and I believe my c-pap has extended my life expectancy by a lot.

Thank you for sharing that with me. I have had alot of people tell me they were told to sleep with one but just couldn't get use to it and quit using it. I intend to use it and hope it will have a positive impact on my health also.

 

[denisegg]

This is a quote from the thread about Wes Skiles on Cavediver.net by Sludge. Someone on Scubaboard was kind enough to point it out to me.


"I found out why. Jamie called me back an hour later. Very quietly he said, "Wes saved my life once."

If you have an NSS-CDS Cave Diving Manual, look at the back cover. Jamie took that picture when they made a dive at a private cave, which was owned by the Nature Conservancy. During the dive, Jamie went unconscious. Wes brought him out, purging his reg for him, helping him "breathe." It was a thyroid problem for which he has been on medication ever since.

Any lesser-skilled buddy and Jamie would have died."

 

[D_B]

I read a bit about c-pap and found a statement that having some form a therapy in it's use before increases the percentage of people that continue to use it by a great number

 

[denisegg]

Thanks D_B