Rebreathers and Rotator cuffs

[doctormike]

Right, exactly. Some of this is just aging (I'm 61). Ironically, both my skiing and diving were at higher levels than I had ever been at before, when I was younger and not in very good shape!

Oh, well... as my dad used to say, "getting old is terrible until you consider the alternative".

 

[kissonerga.ccr]

Yeah, was thinking of that. But I really don't like the loop coming from the side like that - I have a buddy who dives a liberty. I guess you can get used to anything!

Choptima?

 

[doctormike]

Yup... a few options out there. I really love my JJ, hope I don't have to give it up. But good to know that there are options!

 

[tomfcrist]

How long have you been rehabbing the shoulder? It’s a long process, but I’d guess if you focus on that you’d eventually get the majority of your ROM back. If for some reason it doesn’t, are you able to reach a SM tank valve on that side? Maybe switch to a dilout config? Or a SM rebreather?

 

[-JD-]

This would probably be a little finicky during gear-up, but can you just "off-board" and sling the O2, like a deco bottle?

 

[Posinator]

Hang in there with the PT. When I had my rotator cuff surgery it took me almost a year to get 95% of my range of motion back. Shoulder surgery is the worst to recover from. I can reach the valves on an inverted backmount CCR no problem but have difficulty with manifolded doubles. Don,t let your insurance determine how much PT you need. A good a physical therapist will help fight for more more sessions. I had 70% recovery in the first 3 months but it took 5 more months and a better physical therapist to get the next 25%.

Very sorry to hear about your injury. I had this four years ago and concur it is brutal. Range is key. PT and doc both told me I had a six month window to get range of motion back or it's pretty much gone. So I show up on day one to PT saying "I need to be able to climb a boat ladder (not hard in retrospect) and I need to be able to reach my valves behind my neck/shoulders (MUCH tougher)." I was in PT for 7 months at age 51. PT and working on range is crucial but very doable. I'm happy to say I have about 90% of my range compared to the good shoulder. It is a very slow process. Hang in there!

 

[grf88]

Keep up the PT it is a long haul but you should be able to get there. I tore 3 tendons which had to be re-anchored with pins ten years ago when I was 65. It took 8 months before I could do warm water diving with some assistance and 14 before cold water diving. I now have full range of motion. Full recovery took over 2 years.

 

[missionmtb]

2) Get rid of the JJ and find some sort of CCR that doesn’t require the valves to be in the standard inverted position. Yes, I know about the GUE de-inverted configuration, but I can’t reach there either. Tried with a set of doubles, which used to be my backup when I didn’t have cells, but I can’t really reach the right valve on doubles either. Could probably reach the isolator with my left hand, but doesn’t seem like a great option.

Have you considered a slob knob? I considered this for doubles because of range of motion issues before settling on a CCR, might be something unique you could do with this and your JJ in the standard config...

I wonder if (gasp) a remote inline shutoff would cover you in most scenarios as well?

 

[doctormike]

How long have you been rehabbing the shoulder? It’s a long process, but I’d guess if you focus on that you’d eventually get the majority of your ROM back. If for some reason it doesn’t, are you able to reach a SM tank valve on that side? Maybe switch to a dilout config? Or a SM rebreather?

yup, all options! Not giving up yet. Started PT at week 6, started strength training at week 12..

 

[doctormike]

This would probably be a little finicky during gear-up, but can you just "off-board" and sling the O2, like a deco bottle?

Yup! JJ is very flexible. Lots of different configuration options... but of course, I don't want to reinvent the wheel and hoping to use it in it's standard config.