OP
Stephen McCallister
Registered
Thats the test that they said I should take in 6 weeks.
MSDT Prep Questions
- Thread starter Stephen McCallister
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Thats the test that they said I should take in 6 weeks.
UCFKnightDiver
Contributor
If they find you do have one, I believe there is a surgery that can be done to close it. A buddy of mine had his closed awhile back.
Sorry to hear things didn't go as planned. You mentioned that when the current medical issue has been resolved, you're going to find a different centre for your course. Just interested to know why that is? Were they willing to let you resume at a later date, or have they refunded some / part of the course fees?
OP
Stephen McCallister
Registered
I honestly dont think I have one. It would have come up before.
UCFKnightDiver
Contributor
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective), sometimes people don't have issues with a PFO until they are really pushing up against the limits such as with big decompression dives or many many dives over a relatively short period of time where your nitrogen loading is pretty high
OP
Stephen McCallister
Registered
The center here just churns out numbers and lots of dives. If you do the elearning the class is 5 days if no elearning then the class is 10 days. Some places make it 14 days so your not as rushed and they make sure you have a firm grasp on what you are learning. Its the same way with the IDC, its 10 days and then right to the test. Other places will have a couple of days off to work with the instructors to make sure that you are well prepared to take the test.
The one thing that i dont have to worry about is getting the dive numbers. i am at 92.
OP
Stephen McCallister
Registered
Yeah 24 dives in 6 days. some on nitrox and some on air. a couple deep dives.
I'm not a Suunto expert, but what does the manual say a "tissue warning" is? the profile you show also has a tissue graph over on the right, with nothing exceptional, nothing to give a warning. Is it possible the "tissue warning" came from a very rapid ascent after your safety stop? (I understand Suuntos don't like this.)
The dive log on the left, if I'm reading it correctly, shows very short surface intervals. 24 dives in 6 days is not a big deal, but short SIs are, especially on a Suunto, so I'm told.
wstorms
Contributor
Sorry to hear about your rough start, I hope you have a good recovery. Make sure to see a doctor to discuss the future options.
As far as the PFO is concerned, you really don't have enough dives to jump to any conclusions. There are divers doing thousands of big dives before they find out they have a PFO.
I don't mean to minimize the effort, but there are plenty of people who do 4 dives a day, 6 days a week for months at a time. As a full time instructor, that kinda is part of the job. Since you mentioned it's your ambition to turn diving in a career, that is something to consider. Purely the diving itself might have been too much for you at that time (I assume it's your first full week of diving, so that in itself is a new experience), but let's not forget there were quite a few extra things stacked against you (purely based on your earlier posts, obviously I don't know you personally so some of this might not be applicable to you):
- you mentioned this was a real defining moment for you, packing up everything and going is brave and adventerous, but can also introduce quite a bit of stress. maybe you lost some sleep over it. Both (subcontious) stress and lack of sleep can increase your suseptibility to DCS
- you moved to Florida right? I have never been there, but I understand it's hot and humid. A change in climate can seriously dehydrate you before you even know it. Dehydration is a massive DCS risk factor, especially if you dive full time.
- you drove over and got started. it didn't sound like you had a few days to recover from driving long distance. Fatigue is yet another risk factor. And after a long drive, how were your muscles? Any stiffnes, pains etc? all risk factors...
There might have been more factors, all summed up as doing too much, too soon.
The point of all this? DCS is a nasty beast. There is no way to tell who and when DCS hits, even if you are doing everything by the book. Talk to your doc about your recovery, and take it slower in the future keeping all risk factors low and slowly work on experience.
As far as the PFO is concerned, you really don't have enough dives to jump to any conclusions. There are divers doing thousands of big dives before they find out they have a PFO.
I don't mean to minimize the effort, but there are plenty of people who do 4 dives a day, 6 days a week for months at a time. As a full time instructor, that kinda is part of the job. Since you mentioned it's your ambition to turn diving in a career, that is something to consider. Purely the diving itself might have been too much for you at that time (I assume it's your first full week of diving, so that in itself is a new experience), but let's not forget there were quite a few extra things stacked against you (purely based on your earlier posts, obviously I don't know you personally so some of this might not be applicable to you):
- you mentioned this was a real defining moment for you, packing up everything and going is brave and adventerous, but can also introduce quite a bit of stress. maybe you lost some sleep over it. Both (subcontious) stress and lack of sleep can increase your suseptibility to DCS
- you moved to Florida right? I have never been there, but I understand it's hot and humid. A change in climate can seriously dehydrate you before you even know it. Dehydration is a massive DCS risk factor, especially if you dive full time.
- you drove over and got started. it didn't sound like you had a few days to recover from driving long distance. Fatigue is yet another risk factor. And after a long drive, how were your muscles? Any stiffnes, pains etc? all risk factors...
There might have been more factors, all summed up as doing too much, too soon.
The point of all this? DCS is a nasty beast. There is no way to tell who and when DCS hits, even if you are doing everything by the book. Talk to your doc about your recovery, and take it slower in the future keeping all risk factors low and slowly work on experience.
OP
Stephen McCallister
Registered
Most of the dives were two tanks on the boat. You would come up from your dive the boat would head to the next dive site which would be a 5 minute ride, during which you would be changing over your gear to the new tank, get the briefing and then get in the water. Then lunch of approx 2 to 2.5 hours then 2 more dives like that. Most dive sites out here are 50 ft or less. The only time I sucked more than half my tank were the deep dives to 102 feet.
Since the stones I have been drinking my water bottle of 25 ounces and filling it 5 times a day. Have to keep those stones out. Perhaps it was doing too much too soon. The risk management officer for the dive shop came by to do the paper work and was almost dismissive about it. But with diving, better to be cautious than careless. Had one guy here that finished his IDC with two ear infections and the instructors knew about it....
The climate here is very close to the one back home, the only difference is the elevation, (I think at home i am right at 1000 ft) and the difference in the air, IE pollen, mold, etc. I could feel a pressure difference in my sinuses when I started to get here.
I do think I will not be coming back here to do the DM and IDC and go some place where it is a bit more relaxed. Even the huge muscle bound room mate was getting worn out with the dives and schedule.
I did get to 94 dives so I am good to do the DM and IDC.
Thanks for all of the well wishes. Think I might go see the sights around here and enjoy the break.
Since the stones I have been drinking my water bottle of 25 ounces and filling it 5 times a day. Have to keep those stones out. Perhaps it was doing too much too soon. The risk management officer for the dive shop came by to do the paper work and was almost dismissive about it. But with diving, better to be cautious than careless. Had one guy here that finished his IDC with two ear infections and the instructors knew about it....
The climate here is very close to the one back home, the only difference is the elevation, (I think at home i am right at 1000 ft) and the difference in the air, IE pollen, mold, etc. I could feel a pressure difference in my sinuses when I started to get here.
I do think I will not be coming back here to do the DM and IDC and go some place where it is a bit more relaxed. Even the huge muscle bound room mate was getting worn out with the dives and schedule.
I did get to 94 dives so I am good to do the DM and IDC.
Thanks for all of the well wishes. Think I might go see the sights around here and enjoy the break.
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