OP
My back surgery...
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OP
Wekiva is Mayacan for "Clear Issue", or a spring. Wekiwa means "Clear Flow" or river. I always wondered why the two different spellings until a Scout steeped in their lore told me. The Mayacas were hunter gatherers along the St Johns River basin, and were infamous for building many of the shell mounds in Florida. Most of the islands in Puzzle Lake are such burial mounds.
Because a lot of Native sounds don't transliterate into ASCII. So much so, that some of them don't even try and just use numbers for sounds. If interested, look up e.g. Ojibwe writing systems on wikipedia
OP
It's a common question I ran into while living in that area. "Which is correct?" The answer depended on whether you were referring to the spring or the river. Most rivers in Florida are black water, filled with tannins and some sediment. The water looks red when viewed from below. There are maybe a dozen or so spring fed rivers that are absolutely clear. Certainly less than 20.
One of those rivers is the Itchetucknee, and for the fifth straight day, I found myself swimming in its head spring. I woke up a bit on the late side, so I arrived just a bit before 9am. The regular crowd was already in as well as a few newcomers. Well, they were new to me. Instead of doing 2 5-minute kicks on the steps, I just did one 10-minute stretch. I also spent 10 minutes of breaststroke, with no kicking, working out the arms. A bit over ten more minutes was devoted to stretching, floating, and chillaxing. Funny thing, is that while there was plenty of activity when I got there, I was the last one out. It looks so peaceful.
To keep up with things, both the pulmonologist and the hematologist have now cleared me to swim my heart out. The former and I talked yesterday, and again, he's cleared me for diving to recreational levels. He's actually talked with a "diving doctor" he knew from Duke. I forgot to ask who that was. I will, the next time I see him. I have reached out to a personal friend and physician. I don't want to push this, but I'm more than ready to splash, even if only to fifteen/twenty feet. Again, I'm showing absolutely no symptoms of PE. No shortness of breath, no dizziness, no decreased balance, no scintillating lights, no nothing. My stamina and fitness, as well as my flexibility are all increasing at a good pace.
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Andrew D Pitkin » Department of Anesthesiology » College of Medicine » University of Florida
He may know someone close that can help you.
OP
After much consternation and a talk with a great friend and physician, I decided to chance it and went for a dive in the Ball Room at Ginnie Springs yesterday. His opening line was "Doctors are paid to worry..." Still, I kept it shallow, only hitting a depth of 35 ft. I dove with one of LP120s, couldn't find my Atomic Regs, so I had to cannibalize one of my side-mount regs. Assembling all the gear took some effort. Most, but not all was in the trailer, so that was cool. Stacy was trying out a She-Pee, which was quite successful, so it took her time to don her drysuit. I was ready just to walk in.
It was a Saturday, so it was crowded and there was lots of Hispanic music in the air. I would say at least half of the peeps at the spring were Hispanic. The steps down to the spring, while sporting my BC/Tank was crowded. Tons of floats of all sizes were headed down or already in the water. The river is up, and I was worried if this would exacerbate donning my fins. Nope, I was able to do that easily by myself. It took a long, long time to get my mask clear. I use my tongue, and I bet I spent 10 minutes or more before I got it to be clear.
I entered the ballroom with only one light and used it sparingly. Stacy is headed to Tulum in a couple of weeks to learn side-mount from Nat from "Under the Jungle", aka "Mighty Mouse". She's an awesome guide and instructor. Anyway, Stacy has almost finished Cavern, so she took time to practice some skills. She ran a fairly flawless line to the big rope. I played the dutiful second, providing light as tied in. I also did so on the way out, taking up slack in the line as needed.
I was nice to be trim and neutral and my breathing felt normal throughout the dive. I did experience some queasiness and seemed to burp incessantly. I wasn't dizzy, and I've felt this before from time to time before. I ended the dive after a half hour, took a really long safety stop, and an even longer surface stop. Getting up the stairs was difficult. The right leg could only follow. I almost fell going down off of the boardwalk and after walking about 20 feet, I actually lost my balance and fell, tank and all. Ouch. I have a bruised knee, a mortally damaged ego, and am pretty achy. No real damage though and plenty of people rushed over to not only help me up, but to carry my gear to the car. I was able to get up on my own though, which was good. I swam again in the head spring at Itchetucknee today. The cool water felt good on my aches, and I worked out some soreness.
It was a Saturday, so it was crowded and there was lots of Hispanic music in the air. I would say at least half of the peeps at the spring were Hispanic. The steps down to the spring, while sporting my BC/Tank was crowded. Tons of floats of all sizes were headed down or already in the water. The river is up, and I was worried if this would exacerbate donning my fins. Nope, I was able to do that easily by myself. It took a long, long time to get my mask clear. I use my tongue, and I bet I spent 10 minutes or more before I got it to be clear.
I entered the ballroom with only one light and used it sparingly. Stacy is headed to Tulum in a couple of weeks to learn side-mount from Nat from "Under the Jungle", aka "Mighty Mouse". She's an awesome guide and instructor. Anyway, Stacy has almost finished Cavern, so she took time to practice some skills. She ran a fairly flawless line to the big rope. I played the dutiful second, providing light as tied in. I also did so on the way out, taking up slack in the line as needed.
I was nice to be trim and neutral and my breathing felt normal throughout the dive. I did experience some queasiness and seemed to burp incessantly. I wasn't dizzy, and I've felt this before from time to time before. I ended the dive after a half hour, took a really long safety stop, and an even longer surface stop. Getting up the stairs was difficult. The right leg could only follow. I almost fell going down off of the boardwalk and after walking about 20 feet, I actually lost my balance and fell, tank and all. Ouch. I have a bruised knee, a mortally damaged ego, and am pretty achy. No real damage though and plenty of people rushed over to not only help me up, but to carry my gear to the car. I was able to get up on my own though, which was good. I swam again in the head spring at Itchetucknee today. The cool water felt good on my aches, and I worked out some soreness.
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I can't visualize that.
Is this a Gene Simmons thing, or you
Regardless of that interlude, It is awesome that you got back to some diving!!! Getting up with all that extra mass up high takes some time when your strength is recovering and kinesthetics are changed.
Somehow, a windshield wiper pops to mind.
OP
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