Hope to be back in the water soon

[Mark Vlahos]

I had the good fortune of diving with several of you at the little get to gether at Ginnie Springs a few months ago and wanted to let you know some news.

Earlier this week I was unfortunate enough to suffer acute appendicitis, which required hospitalization and emergency surgery to remove the offending organ. Fortunately for me the surgery went very well and I am recovering nicely. The hard part was it happende while I was away from my home in Virginia visiting California. I was planning on being here for many months and was in the process of getting an apartment. My wife was able to fly out to be with me, and is here for my recovery but the cool thousand dollars for the last minute ticket is a nice kiss on the lips from the airlines.

So, it will be some time before I am back in cave country. but I am still looking forward to it, and to diving with many of you agian.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Thanks for the update. Hopefully the recovery will be quick, and we will see ya diving again (with us of course) very soon!

 

[simbrooks]

Hope you get better quickly. You'll probably be in shape by the time the nice "wintery" weather comes along to send this heat/humidity packing.

 

[happybuddha]

Speedy recovery Mark, how long did the doctor tell you to stay out of the water? I can empathize, I had mine out 13 months ago and my doctor told me to stay out 2 months, primarily to prevent unnecessary strain so the muscles and nerves would recover properly. I made it 7 weeks before I jumped back in and all went OK.


Cheers,
Drew

 

[scubafool]

Sorry to hear about the problem, but happy to hear that your recovery is going well.

Come back & dive with us as soon as possible.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Speedy recovery Mark, how long did the doctor tell you to stay out of the water? I can empathize, I had mine out 13 months ago and my doctor told me to stay out 2 months, primarily to prevent unnecessary strain so the muscles and nerves would recover properly. I made it 7 weeks before I jumped back in and all went OK.


Cheers,
Drew

I will make my first appointment for some time around a week and a half from now when the doctors office is open on Monday. The annoying thing is, since this was emergency surgery in California and I live in Virginia I did not know the doctor and only met him for a few minutes in the prep room just prior to the operation. I was not able to do any research on him or his technique. But I guess it is better than doing nothing. Normally I am pretty thorough on this sort of thing. I picked a doctor for my Hernia that got me in the water in doubles in three weeks!

Today I have the joy of moving from hotel to apartment (with lots of help). Soon I will be able to relax and just chill out.

Thanks, to all.

Mark Vlahos

 

[happybuddha]

I will make my first appointment for some time around a week and a half from now when the doctors office is open on Monday. The annoying thing is, since this was emergency surgery in California and I live in Virginia I did not know the doctor and only met him for a few minutes in the prep room just prior to the operation. I was not able to do any research on him or his technique. But I guess it is better than doing nothing. Normally I am pretty thorough on this sort of thing. I picked a doctor for my Hernia that got me in the water in doubles in three weeks!

Today I have the joy of moving from hotel to apartment (with lots of help). Soon I will be able to relax and just chill out.

Thanks, to all.

Mark Vlahos

An appendectomy is not something you usually have time to plan for. When I was hit with appendecitis last year it was midnight in Tianjin, China where I was living and I had no clue where to find a doctor I could trust (poor planning on my part for not having established a relationship with a doctor in the 1+ years I was there). I was able to find one through friends the next morning and it didn't take long for him to have me on the road to Beijing to a hospital I had not clue about (and there really wasn't time for me to consider evactuation outside of China) and I went under the knife by 8:00pm. Turned out to be a really good facility and my surgeon was a Chinese doctor that had worked in Texas for 20 years.

Take it easy and good luck recuperating.

Drew