Info Returning to diving after brain surgery

[Mermaid212]

Dear fellow scuba divers,

A friend from my scuba group underwent endonasal endoscopic brain tumor removal last year. His ENT surgeon cleared him for diving already after 3 months, the brain surgeon phrased it "you can absolutely do everything you were able to do before". He is otherwise young, healthy individual with over 1000 dives on his belt, no side effects, no seizures, sinuses better than before. He plans on starting slowly - first in the 15 ft pool as soon as weather allows, then shallow dive (33 feet), then 60.
Can anybody share similar experiences with returning to diving? Any advise ?

 

[Marie13]

He should call DAN (Divers Alert Network) for their input.

No one can just say yep he can go back to diving. Lots of variables - medical history, reason for surgery, etc.

 

[Mermaid212]

...and he has, DAN provided contacts to local docs.
I am just asking here to share similar experiences from other brain tumor survivors. I see that people share many other afflictions stories and their return to diving. I only found very positive story regarding vestibular schwannoma. His was meningioma.

 

[js1221]

When my wife and I met she told me her bucket list was to dive in the Maldives. She was not scuba certified at the time, so I took her to a dive shop and got her signed up. Before class started she found out she had an aneurism on an artery leading into her brain. My wife is a ER/Trauma nurse and knew all the lingo as they explained it to her. The aneurism was small, but the neurosurgeon recommend against her diving as long as it was there. That was all she needed to hear and told him to fix it. It took about a year, following the surgery for him to clear her but he did. She is now a rescue diver with well over 150 dives. She knew the risks and the gains, followed the directions of her neurosurgeon and gets regular follow-ups. She also consulted with DAN and spoke to a neurosurgeon in her hospital who is also a diver. Hope this helps.

 

[Mermaid212]

Yes, thank you so much for sharing your wife story, it gives us some hope. Diving following opening of the scull or brain membranes seems to be rare, as it is hard to find cases published on the internet or on DAN page.
If I may ask - what were the neurosurgeon direction in regards to diving? How did that first "test" dive feel for your wife? and also - did DAN charge for consultation or was it within their regular scuba insurance?

 

[Hoyden]

My wife also dove for years after having an anuerysm clipped. She had no issues from that.

Jackie

 

[pasley]

A couple of years ago I certified a diver who had a brain tumor removed. He is paralyzed as a result (incomplete quadriplegic) of it but loves his diving. Met a lady in Honduras while on a dive trip there and is now a married man. His biggest issue was keeping the regulator in his mouth. He now dives FFM. Give the skull time to heal and get the surgeon to sign off. Increased oxygen often helps things to heal. Partial Presues do interesting things in the world I teach in.