Hello all and diving info request!

[LI Diver]

Hello all! My name is Ed and I'm 45 years young and from LI NY. My 12 yr old son and I were certified in June and we have been bitten by the dive bug for sure.We only have 11 dives under our belt. 4 ck out dives in the Fl. Keys and 7 dives in Curacao in July.We may be in Florida around Thanksgiving and were toying with the idea of diving in the Keys at that time but we have been told that the conditions at that time are really hit or miss. If anyone has any suggestions of somewhere a short flight from the southern Fl area where the conditions are more reliable I'd appreciate it greatly!We don't like cold water and are looking to find as low a stress diving as possible. No strong currents,bad vis or excessive depths etc. I understand there are no guarantees
but are trying to get our best odds. Also we plan on going on a dive dedicated vacation in May or June and can't decide between Bonaire or Honduras and if so what dive resort.Again we have safety as our first concern and ease of diving. I don't really care if the coral is as pristine or the sea life is the most abundant. Right now we would be happy to be submerged and just staring at the ripples in the sand or playing tic tac toe on our slates.We just want to log some bottom time and become proficient at our skills.Neither one of us is in great physical condition but we had no problems on our previous dives.I had a stress test prior to getting certified and had no problem with it.My son is about 30lbs overweight and I am about 50 lbs over and with a BMI of 30. I work out at the gym 3-4 times a week and get some kind of exercise at least 2 other days also. I can get my heart rate up to 140 without any discomfort but occasionaly during times of emotional stress I get a very mild ache in the left side of my chest.All my tests have come back negative and the cardioligist suspects it might be digestive. The only test I haven't had yet is a angiogram. If there is any diving doctors out there with some advice other than to go for an angiogram I'd love to hear from you.Thanks,Ed

 

[scubajoe]

Welcome to the board!
Good luck with your questions.

Joe

 

[speedhound]

Hi Ed,
Have you looked at the freshwater sites in Northern/Central Florida. Some buddies and I are planning a trip early next year. One of the places we've found is Ginnie Springs. A couple of buddies have been there said it was really cool, I've found the website if you want to take look:
http://www.ginniespringsoutdoors.com/
My dive instructors always say the best exercise for diving is diving...failing that try and log some time doing laps in the local swimming pool.

Take care and dive safe

 

[Spoon]

hello there and welcome to the board!

 

[DandyDon]

Hehe, the Keys are always iffy, but then they're great. You go, hope for the best, and if you get blown out, you tour the area. Done it a few times.

I'd certainly suggest going to our Florida forum and asking about boats that cater to newbies. And to our Medical forum, about the weight thing. I've seen morbidly obese divers on boats, but it can be helped.

:biggrinba don

And don't be shy about posting. Click Forums above, tour the long list of choices, and jump in anywhere you're qualified. PM me with any questions, and I'll try to find a pretty good answer.

 

[cmt489]

Welcome to SB Ed!

 

[TSandM]

All cardiac evaluation is risk stratification. Unfortunately for the public AND for us doctors, there is no single test and no combination of tests that will allow us to pinpoint with 100% accuracy what a given individual's risk of a cardiac event is, and that includes an angiogram.

We use a combination of factors: predisposing factors like family history (do you have a lot of family members who have had cardiac problems in their 40's?), elevated cholesterol or other lipids, high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking; historical factors like the location, quality, duration and circumstances of chest discomfort; and objective measures like treadmills, nuclear medicine scans, echocardiograms, and arteriograms, and combine all that information into the best risk assessment we can make. Of course, the tests have their own risks, both of complications and also of false positive and false negative results, so we don't use all the tests on every patient. The decision to proceed to angiogram is based on enough suspicion to warrant the risk and expense of the test. Your cardiologist, who has seen you, knows your history, and has seen your treadmill results, is the best person to decide if there is enough evidence of possible coronary disease to warrant arteriography, and apparently he doesn't think so.

Unfortunately, that isn't equivalent to being able to say that you have no coronary artery disease or that your risk of a heart attack is zero. We have no way to do that. Even an arteriogram, unless it is absolutely stone cold normal (unlikely in anybody over the age of 12 ) can't do that.

So you have to get the best information you can from your doctors and decide whether you are willing to live with the small risk that cannot be excluded by the workup you have had.

Don't know if that helps at all, but I hope so.

 

[shortyjrt]

Hi Ed, Welcome to the

!

 

[theskull]

Depending on what you mean by "cold water" when you say you don't like it:

You could dive gin-clear springs such as Ginnie Springs in North Central Florida (70 F) or go to Crystal River FL and dive with the Manatees (again, 70 F). Both are very reliable conditions and very easy.

theskull

 

[LI Diver]

Hey skull thanks for the reply, Well I've been cold in the Bahamas in August snorkeling on the surface a couple of years ago and it felt like it would take my breath away. (it was a colder than normal year but how cold could it have been?) I won't go in my swimming pool unless the water hits 80 deg. Would a 3mm shorty bee enough??