Diving after thoracic surgery (w/surgical hemotorax)

[TimCA]

Good evening,
In December of 2016 I developed Thoracic outlet syndrome with a resulting subclavian aneurysm. To fix it they removed my 1st rib and put in an arterial graft. As a complication I got a hemothorax of the L lung requiring a chest tube and surgery. Also paralysis of the L diaphragm. With all that said I have recovered quite well and am back to work as a full time firefighter to give you an idea of activity level. The pulmonologist, at Stanford (not a SCUBA diver) said I can dive last year.
So my question is this I am returning to diving and I see that a lot of the dive shops want me to fill out the SSI or PADI medical form if I rent or book day trips with them in witch I have to answer yes to hemo / pnemo -thorax, requiring a Dr. to sign off. How often will I have to get this signed off? If I go on three trips a year is that three times or is a "doctors note" good forever.
Thanks,
Tim

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Good evening,
In December of 2016 I developed Thoracic outlet syndrome with a resulting subclavian aneurysm. To fix it they removed my 1st rib and put in an arterial graft. As a complication I got a hemothorax of the L lung requiring a chest tube and surgery. Also paralysis of the L diaphragm. With all that said I have recovered quite well and am back to work as a full time firefighter to give you an idea of activity level. The pulmonologist, at Stanford (not a SCUBA diver) said I can dive last year.
So my question is this I am returning to diving and I see that a lot of the dive shops want me to fill out the SSI or PADI medical form if I rent or book day trips with them in witch I have to answer yes to hemo / pnemo -thorax, requiring a Dr. to sign off. How often will I have to get this signed off? If I go on three trips a year is that three times or is a "doctors note" good forever.
Thanks,
Tim

Hi Tim,

Some cautious operators might require something more recent, but medically speaking, if you've completely recovered from this and you have no complications that could be problematic with diving, then a single clearance note should be sufficient.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Altamira]

Many dive operators would like to have your doctor's letter written within the past 12 months. Also, it is a good idea to email your doctor's letter to the dive op before you book the dives to reduce the likelihood of the dive op not accepting your letter when you show up for the dives. Being proactive might be very helpful, especially with a prior condition that is not the usual medical issue (such as high blood pressure) that dive ops are used to seeing.

 

[TimCA]

Awesome thank you guys for the ideas and input. And for moving the thread to the correct for thread.

 

[tursiops]

I would not risk sending the doctor's letter, because it may be too much info, or musunderstood. What counts is his signature on the medical questionnaire. That signature is valid no more than 12 months (I get one signed at my annual physical) but some dive operators may only accept one that is 4 or 6 months old.

 

[JackD342]

Good evening,
In December of 2016 I developed Thoracic outlet syndrome with a resulting subclavian aneurysm. To fix it they removed my 1st rib and put in an arterial graft. As a complication I got a hemothorax of the L lung requiring a chest tube and surgery. Also paralysis of the L diaphragm. With all that said I have recovered quite well and am back to work as a full time firefighter to give you an idea of activity level. The pulmonologist, at Stanford (not a SCUBA diver) said I can dive last year.
So my question is this I am returning to diving and I see that a lot of the dive shops want me to fill out the SSI or PADI medical form if I rent or book day trips with them in witch I have to answer yes to hemo / pnemo -thorax, requiring a Dr. to sign off. How often will I have to get this signed off? If I go on three trips a year is that three times or is a "doctors note" good forever.
Thanks,
Tim

To expand a little on the advice from @Altamira & @tridacna - do find out ahead of time what the dive operation will be requiring. I would expect most/all to just be looking for a recent (< 12 months) copy of the RSTC form used by PADI, SSI, and others, including the 2nd page with the MD info & signature. Get that specific form (or whatever is required by the op) signed by your doctor rather than relying on some more general letter composed by their office - that way they know the wording meets their liability compliance standards and they don't have to make any judgement calls, and you will avoid supplying extraneous information that may cause escalated concerns. And don't go gabbing about your medical history on the boat. I am not saying to lie or withhold information, but no need in causing pointless concern if you and your doctor have agreed upon your course of action. Now... if you have a 12" scar down your chest on full display while changing in and out of gear, be prepared for that to possibly start another conversation.

Also, if your doctor starts writing any conditions on the form, see if he/she feels that is really necessary. Conditional approval is NOT accepted, at least by PADI, but I would need to check with PADI on whether or not they consider what was written as being a conditional approval.
If I correctly remember some examples, a statement such as "no deeper than 30 feet" would be a disqualifying conditional approval, but a statement that mentions the need to maintain a standard medication regimen would NOT be considered a problematic condition.