Mantaray52
Registered
Before I lose you to a wall of text, know that I desperately want to SCUBA dive, but I want to consider all information, positive or negative, that is relevant to my situation and make an informed choice.
History: 7 years ago, I had two spontaneous pneumothoraxes six months apart, both due to blebs on the left side of my pleura. With the first, I worked for an entire week lifting, pushing, etc. at my job at FedEx before I decided to ask a Dr. why it hurt, when the second occurred I knew what it was right away so I got treatment right away. After the second collapse I had a surgical pleurodesis, which is a procedure that obliterates the air space in the pleura, on that side making a recurrence highly improbable. CT scan showed my right side to be healthy and bleb free. I haven't had any issues or discomfort since.
Last year on a cruise my wife and I went on a SCUBA shore excursion where we were at a depth around 24 feet for about 45 minutes. I hadn't read up on the details at the time, wasn't aware that a recurrence underwater would be much more sever than a recurrence on land because of the expansion when ascending. The guy doing the class was getting his money and basically told me to lie on the form when I asked about it. As it happens, I experienced no discomfort nor difficulty breathing during the dive or ascent.
Now my wife wants us to get SCUBA certified so I'm looking to get as much information as I can from anybody with experience on the matter. For safety sake, I'm going to my pulmonologist Monday to get a full lung function and capacity workup, CT scan, etc. but there are no diving medical specialists within a couple hundred miles of home that I can find. I know that DAN considers it an absolute contraindication for diving, regardless of any testing, etc, but I'd really like to hear from people who have actual experience with the situation. I'd also like to find any resources I can provide to my Dr that explain the action of the risk involved so he can make an informed opinion. All of the resources I've found just say "don't because the risk is too high" and don't really explain how the issues would occur. I know that over-expansion is a possible issue, but that's an issue even for healthy lungs.
If you've been diving after recovery and/or pleurodesis, know somebody who has and can give some detail on their experiences, or you have found a good resource explaining the issue more in depth, I would really like to know about it. Again, I want both positive and negative experience and information about SCUBA with such a history. I'm not expecting expert medical advice or anything, that's what the pulmonologist is for.
History: 7 years ago, I had two spontaneous pneumothoraxes six months apart, both due to blebs on the left side of my pleura. With the first, I worked for an entire week lifting, pushing, etc. at my job at FedEx before I decided to ask a Dr. why it hurt, when the second occurred I knew what it was right away so I got treatment right away. After the second collapse I had a surgical pleurodesis, which is a procedure that obliterates the air space in the pleura, on that side making a recurrence highly improbable. CT scan showed my right side to be healthy and bleb free. I haven't had any issues or discomfort since.
Last year on a cruise my wife and I went on a SCUBA shore excursion where we were at a depth around 24 feet for about 45 minutes. I hadn't read up on the details at the time, wasn't aware that a recurrence underwater would be much more sever than a recurrence on land because of the expansion when ascending. The guy doing the class was getting his money and basically told me to lie on the form when I asked about it. As it happens, I experienced no discomfort nor difficulty breathing during the dive or ascent.
Now my wife wants us to get SCUBA certified so I'm looking to get as much information as I can from anybody with experience on the matter. For safety sake, I'm going to my pulmonologist Monday to get a full lung function and capacity workup, CT scan, etc. but there are no diving medical specialists within a couple hundred miles of home that I can find. I know that DAN considers it an absolute contraindication for diving, regardless of any testing, etc, but I'd really like to hear from people who have actual experience with the situation. I'd also like to find any resources I can provide to my Dr that explain the action of the risk involved so he can make an informed opinion. All of the resources I've found just say "don't because the risk is too high" and don't really explain how the issues would occur. I know that over-expansion is a possible issue, but that's an issue even for healthy lungs.
If you've been diving after recovery and/or pleurodesis, know somebody who has and can give some detail on their experiences, or you have found a good resource explaining the issue more in depth, I would really like to know about it. Again, I want both positive and negative experience and information about SCUBA with such a history. I'm not expecting expert medical advice or anything, that's what the pulmonologist is for.
