Hello From Tulsa! 3rd dive = Decompression Camber

[dlndavid]

Yes. I got it in Grand Cayman. To fuel the fire even more. That watch broke on that dive. It didn't like the depth either. I took it back to the store and exchanged it.

Matt

I thought I recognized it, I have the same watch, but have only had it to 105 ft.
But as for the flamings, some may opine that the depth you did was beyond your experience level. I did 100 ft on my first dive as OW certified, lost control of my last 15 ft of ascent, but no DCS.

oh btw, welcome to scubaboard Matt.

 

[munkispank]

Hey mattr762, thanks for posting your experiences and for having such a postive attitude on the situation. I imagine all the 'thrashings' everone is reffering to will be about going so deep so soon etc , but I am sure you have no need of all that. Glad you are OK, althuogh it sounds like you had a 'hell' of a time, at least you can say you actually went to hell!!!

 

[Ain'tDeadYet]

on your first three dives your DM allowed you to go 100-plus feet?? and you thought that was "cool"?? hey matt, that's a way to die. my sincere advice: take some training before you get in the water again, get at least your Open Water cert, and then dive with control and respect for the ocean. cozumel's a great place to do your training. or get the classroom part done while you're waiting for april, then do your open water dives in coz. you'll like diving a lot more if you know what you're doing, and other divers will have more respect for you if you're not endangering your life and theirs. (if you pass out from decomp illness in the water, some rescue diver has to go fish your bloated body from the depths and bring it back to your wife and family)
you want to hot dog around, get a go-kart. sheesh.
ADY

 

[Aquawookie]

OK, here’s my $0.02 worth and I promise not to burst into flames…...much.

After the stress of your flight to Cayman and however many hours in the plane during the flight you would have been dehydrated. If you were drinking alcohol or coffee after you arrived in Cayman this would have dehydrated you even more as coffee and alcohol are diuretics and cause the body to loose fluids.

As a general rule in warm climates you should drink between one to two liters of water a day, more for heavy activity such as diving. On flights I usually suggest people drink about one liter of water to try to replace water lost thru evaporation.

By the time you started your dive on Sunday I would guess you were badly dehydrated. The dive profile you described is an aggressive one and you may have just dodged a DSC hit on Sunday.

Once again were you were drinking caffeine or alcohol on Sunday night/Monday morning? Did you drink sufficient water to replace your body’s fluid losses? If you did not, then perhaps you should try a more aggressive hydration routine for your next trip.

At this point if your ascent was anything but slow and cautious on your Monday morning dive then the nitrogen pressure gradient on your ascent could tip just far enough to cause a DCS hit.

Current dive research seems to indicate that dehydration is a significant factor for DCS.
My suggestion is to drink enough water so your urine is clear. If you can get to this point then you are sufficiently hydrated to dive. Do not drink alcohol or coffee. Try to stick with water and fruit juices if you can. If you want to drink alcohol then please drink in moderation.

As my last point I would suggest that 3 successive dives to 100+ feet on your 4th 5th and 6th OW dives were a tad ambitious. Perhaps some pointed questions on your part to the dive operator such as "How deep is this dive" or something like "I only have 6 dives under my belt right now, do you have any dives for someone like me" might keep you from a return trip to the chamber. Remember, YOU are responsible for your own life!

I hope this helps you plan your next trouble free dive trip.

Happy and safe diving,
Paul.

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy!

And welcome to SB - the biggest, the best, the fastest growing, and the friendliest! If you'll click ScubaBoard.com above, you'll be taken to our long list of forums, a wealth of information and resources. At the bottom, be sure to notice the Local & Singles Dive Club forums.

2 suggestions: DAN insurance for everyone, as suggested in training, post your accident on Dr Deco forum. I suspect PFO possibilities, but I don't our search engine will handle it.

PM me if I can help you learn your way around; that is - click my username to the upper left, then follow the prompts to send me a "Personal Message."

don

 

[mattr762]

Don,
Thanks for the warm welcome.

Paul,
Doctor pointed in the direction of dehydration because there seems to be no other reason. He said it could be my body type. Over the past 9 years I have consistantly gotten kidney stones every 2 years. Could that be part of it? My kidneys not working properly? Several years ago I stopped drinking pop, and I don't drink coffee. I may have had one glass of beer for dinner the night before. But more than likely I didn't have enough water.

I got PADI certified the week before we left for the caymans. So you'd think everything was fresh on my mind. But I didn't recall anything saying I should not go to 100ft. What is the difference of me going 100ft and a person with 10 dives under his belt?

Ok, my first dive was 110ft sunday at 8:30am. Bottom time was 20 minutes. Second dive was 60ft at about 10:00am. Bottom time was 30 minutes. Then we took the rest of the day off.

Monday morning we dive at 8:30am again. 7 of us descend to the ocean floor at 60ft. We slowing follow the ocean floor to about 80ft where the drop off starts. We descend down the wall and swim under an archway of coral at 119ft (guy behind us had a computer to confirm depth). We then slowing ascend just staying with the ocean floor which takes us to about 80ft. We all stay together taking our time then we continue up to 60ft where the anchor rose is tied to the ocean floor. 4 of us hang there for at least 2 minutes then me and Ryan start up the rope. We saw the others being loading into the boat so I hung around 20ft untill they and my partner (Ryan) got in the boat. So I went up slower than 4 other people. They were fine and I get the DC. Doesn't make much since to me. That whole dive took around 20 minutes and we were under 100ft for only a few minutes (less than 5).

 

[mattr762]

on your first three dives your DM allowed you to go 100-plus feet?? and you thought that was "cool"?? hey matt, that's a way to die. my sincere advice: take some training before you get in the water again, get at least your Open Water cert, and then dive with control and respect for the ocean. cozumel's a great place to do your training. or get the classroom part done while you're waiting for april, then do your open water dives in coz. you'll like diving a lot more if you know what you're doing, and other divers will have more respect for you if you're not endangering your life and theirs. (if you pass out from decomp illness in the water, some rescue diver has to go fish your bloated body from the depths and bring it back to your wife and family)
you want to hot dog around, get a go-kart. sheesh.
ADY

As mentioned above, I am PADI certified. And I never said going 100ft was "cool". I said swiming with a turtle was cool.

Seriously, whats the difference of me going 100ft on my first dive and someone that has 10 dives? Aren't they at the same risk of DCS as me? I know exactly what I was doing. I didn't do anything different from the couple that had 75 dives.

 

[mattr762]

miketsp,

Well lucky you weren't insured with DAN because they specifically exclude suicide attempts.
I have DAN now!

Anyway, to be constructive I am really curious what was the planning behind this dive. Can you give us a bit more detail about this?
See above post.

Did you really not stop again above 60ft?
See above, I did stop at 20ft for a few minutes.

Have you any idea what your ascent rate was?
Slower than 4 other people. Can't give an exact measurement, but I felt it was pretty slow.

Did you have a computer? If so any chance of posting the profile image?
No computer. Another guy had one but I did not get his profile, except for the maximum depth we all went.

Did the DM know you only had 5 dives? Were you not accompanied?
Yes, he know. 7 of us dove together.

PS. re-reading this makes me convinced it has to be a TROLL!!!
WHat do you mean?

 

[Kim]

I am a little confused. You said that you are PADI certified so I presume that you did some dives for that. However in your first post now you say that you have only 3 dives - and they all appear to be as deep or deeper than 100ft - you even said that it was your 'very first dive'. If I may ask - how and where did you get certified?

 

[mattr762]

I am a little confused. You said that you are PADI certified so I presume that you did some dives for that. However in your first post now you say that you have only 3 dives - and they all appear to be as deep or deeper than 100ft - you even said that it was your 'very first dive'. If I may ask - how and where did you get certified?

Let me clarify...
The 3 dives mentioned above were my first ocean dives.

While getting certified I did 4 open water lake dives at Bever Lake in Arkansas. Each was no more than 20ft and a bottom time of 20 minutes. So in reality I got DCS on my 7th dive. I guess I just wasn't counting my lake dives. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I got certified through divetulsa.com.

Dive depths and locations:
1. 20ft lake
2. 20ft lake
3. 20ft lake
4. 20ft lake
5. 110ft cayman
6. 60ft cayman
7. 119ft cayman (got DCS here)