Denisegg's incident and near miss at Jackson Blue

[CheddarChick]

"Failure is not an option"

And with your determination and will, it won't be....Just be careful.....

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Take your time sweetie... your determination and strength of will have gotten you this far. Use that to keep digging and pushing for the answers until you find the time/place within yourself to make the decision you can live with. Thank you for taking us along with you on this journey:worship:

The answer for you IS out there and you will KNOW when you find it! :consolation:

"failure can not overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough" Og Mandino I love that quote but sometimes we have to evaluate what qualifies as success!

 

[denisegg]

I must admit I expected more from the doctor Friday than I received. He had promised me he would research it and help me find some answers. He requested all the records from the hospitals and doctors and looked at their findings.
I expect no different from the cardiologist I am to see on Wednesday for my 4 week follow up exam.
I couldn't get in to see the endocrinologist on Wednesday but because I live 3 hours away the nurse agreed to draw blood and analyze my levels.

 

[denisegg]

The answer for you IS out there and you will KNOW when you find it! :consolation:

You are so right about this. That still, small voice inside us. Right now it is telling me to be patient and wait. It will tell me when the time is right to try it again.

On that fateful day I had a buddy but there was nothing he could do. He thought I had panicked and bolted and rather than trying to hold me back he just followed along behind me. Once I started crawling in the cavern right before exiting he thought I had finally calmed down. He didn't know I almost breathed my last breath. On that day my equipment worked, my buddy worked and I was not sick.
We evaluate incidences after the fact to determine what went wrong, how it could have been prevented and what to do differently the next time. I am the first to be hard on myself and blame myself for anything that goes wrong.
That day, coming out of that cave, I knew there was nothing wrong with my gear, there was nothing my buddy could do. I had plenty of gas, no malfunctions.
The most daunting thing is though when I turned the dive and started out after the first cough I knew something was wrong with me. I didn't know what, but I could feel my air being choked off from within and it was happening very quickly. I had no idea why, I just knew it was happening. The closer I got to getting out, the worse it got. I finally saw the ambient light signaling the entrance to the cavern, but even then I knew my body was giving out. That is when I started purging the reg in my mouth. I was starved for air.
We confidently depend upon our gear, our buddies, our training, our health. I think from now on I will try to listen closer to that still small voice.

 

[TSandM]

Denise, I think you aren't getting answers because there AREN'T any answers. Nobody knows what causes this; nobody knows how to prevent it, and nobody knows how likely it is that you will get it again. It just isn't known. The studies aren't there -- the problem is too sporadic, and the cases have been very different from one another.

I'm sorry, but I just had to stick up for the pulmonologist. Because if you came to see me, you wouldn't get anything better.

 

[Jax]

Wow! This has gone from heart-wrenching to out-of-your-mind frustrating!! for you, Denise!

IPE could be a way more significant part of diving life than we'll know . . . Did s/he drown because of running out of gas, or did s/he drown in her/his own fluids, and then run out of gas? Was the pulmonary edema because of the heart attack, or the reason for the heart attack?

This is freaking insane!

 

[D_B]

I'm thinking that this thread, while starting out heart wrenching, has become heart warming ... First of all, to see that Denise is still with us
... is still seaking a path to a goal that she has.
... has the support of so many people that care about her
... is determined to come to grips with this and to fit it into her plans when that time is right

 

[denisegg]

Denise, I think you aren't getting answers because there AREN'T any answers. Nobody knows what causes this; nobody knows how to prevent it, and nobody knows how likely it is that you will get it again. It just isn't known. The studies aren't there -- the problem is too sporadic, and the cases have been very different from one another.

I'm sorry, but I just had to stick up for the pulmonologist. Because if you came to see me, you wouldn't get anything better.

I understand. I am not upset with him and I wouldn't be with you either. You should have seen the look on the cardiologist's face when I left the hospital when he told me he could not find out why this happened to me. I actually felt sorry for him.
The pulmonary doctor was very sweet and energetic and teased me about being an adrenal junkie and taking up what he does, flying gliders with motors on them. He asked me what I saw down there that was so intriguing anyway. I told him it was not as much what you see, but what you feel. He walked out of the room three times to leave and turned around and walked back in. He had empathy and acted a bit saddened, although he was trying to keep things up beat.

These doctors have not been unsympathetic. I had a doctor look me in the face with no emotion at all 15 years ago and tell me the clot in my father's brain WILL kill him. There is nothing we can do.

 

[denisegg]

I'm thinking that this thread, while starting out heart wrenching, has become heart warming ... First of all, to see that Denise is still with us
... is still seaking a path to a goal that she has.
... has the support of so many people that care about her
... is determined to come to grips with this and to fit it into her plans when that time is right

You are right D_B. Somehow I know I will be a better person and a better diver for this.

 

[denisegg]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/823973/i_can_only_imagine/