Grounded - what did you do?

[AndyM]

Summer is arriving, and here in Michigan it means the beginning of the all too short season where those of us who aren't ice certified can get into the water. I had spent much of fall and winter dreaming about getting wet again. I bought a new wetsuit that I am dying to try out in the water and I had signed up to go with my LDS to Tobermory in July.

Then came the bad news. I have been diagnosed with Graves disease. It's not as bad as it sounds - basically an overactive thyroid. (I personally don't think they should use the word "grave" in the name of any illness) But it causes my heart to race at weird times and both DAN and my doctor say no diving until it's under control. Which may take the whole summer.

All of this to ask a silly question. Has anyone else been "grounded" temporarily, and what SCUBA related pastimes did you use to pass the time? (Other than surf the discussions at scubaboard of course)

 

[fairybasslet]

Luckily, I've never been grounded (knock wood) except that I'm a www living in a cold water world. Man, that totally sucks. I hope you get it under control quickly. I don't know much about the condition except my cat has an overactive thyroid. She never told me if her heart raced but she did get awfully skinny until she was put on meds. Her vet didn't say she couldn't dive though. I never asked DAN.

 

[TSandM]

Well, there's a ton of scuba related stuff on the web to read . . . Just going through what's available on decompression theory could keep somebody busy for weeks.

There are several good magazines, like Underwater Journal and the Advanced Diver e-zine.

There is enough scuba video on line to keep any of us busy all summer.

You can take marine ID classes, or Nitrox (if you don't have it), or an equipment class.

You can go to the gym and swim laps with your fins on, and work on learning a back kick. (Believe me, it's a great trick to have in your bag!)

If you haven't read Shadow Divers or Dark Descent or Sheck Exley's books, those are great ways to pass time as well.

See? All is not lost.

 

[spectrum]

First of all good luck getting squared way. If I'm not mistaken this puts you in the company of Barbara Bush.

When I have had setbacks that prohibited diving I refocused my energy to pave the way for future diving. It may be that neglected project around the house or some other sort of thing I had always wanted to do and was waiting for a "rainy day" to do it. Basically I set myself up to feed the obsession latter on. Have you been wanting to build that gear locker?

There are also some out of the water courses such as First Aid/CPR or Oxygen provider that you can knock off in preparation for Rescue Diver.

I know for me diving can be an obsession and it's healthy to turn that inside out from time to time.

Pete

 

[shotthebreeze]

If I'm not mistaken this puts you in the company of Barbara Bush.

Lucky you! lol.

Anyway, I just started the South Beach diet a few weeks ago and my body is continuously going through sugar withdrawals. My heart races when I climb stares and do silly things like walk to the mailbox and I feel dizzy. It's getting better, but I won't be diving until late June. I hope you start feeling better soon, my friend!

 

[sberanek]

I have a friend with Grave's and it took him more than a year to get stabilized. He had a hard time getting a good mix of meds that worked with him so his doctors had to keep changing them. Unfortuantley, his weight fluxuated badly. First he got super skinny, then really big, and now he's normal.

I hope yours gets stabilized faster, and listen to your doctor(s)...they do know what they are talking about most of the time.

--Shannon

 

[sporket]

Microsoft needs some super cool X-BOX game for times like these. No really I wish you the best of luck. I would pour myself into books. And get any cert I could get above water.

 

[AndyM]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and support.

Microsoft needs some super cool X-BOX game for times like these.

You can say that again.

What are the certs that you can get above water? Can Nitrox be done without getting wet? That would be a good idea.

TSandM - I've read Shadow Divers and The Last Dive, but not Dark Descent or anything by Exley - time to hop on Amazon!

Thanks again!

 

[boat sju]

Andy,

I took an SSI Nitrox class up here in Lansing this winter. No dives required.

 

[spectrum]

What are the certs that you can get above water? Can Nitrox be done without getting wet? That would be a good idea.

Most agencies including PADI (that I see you are with) no longer require dives for Nitrox certification. The most notable exception is NAUI.

Is it a good idea? Well it's something that you may have use for someday. Nitrox becomes valuable when your dives become limited by your NDL. For this to occur you need to be making moderately deep dives and either have good usage or a lot of gas with you. The other time of need is a dive intensive vacation, generally in the tropics.

If you don't see these scenarios in the foreseeable future then you may forget most of it by the time you need it. It's good knowledge for the sake of knowledge but it's best for when you will dive nitrox.

If you are allowed to skin-dive, even if you need to stay on the surface then get out there and kick butt. It can do wonders for your diving.

Pete