Gary's Gulf Divers go to Cozumel

[wjefferis]

I am glad you are ok after that scary episode, but I have a couple questions to ask if I may. Did you have ear bends or just strictly ear barotrauma? You never mentioned having to spend any time in a chamber so the medication will take care of everything? Did you have to blow super hard to get your ears to clear at depth, which caused the problem? Sorry for all the questions, I was just curious.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Kristal, I'm glad to hear you are OK, but so sorry to hear about the problems that you had to go through. Hopefully you'll get some good news from DAN.

 

[AuTgrDvr]

Thanks guys! To clarify, I didn't have to do a chamber ride this time...the doctor at the clinic in Cozumel diagnosed me with inner ear barotrauma (spontaneous nystagmus grade 1; Romberg positive). In hindsight, I did notice a painful equalization of my ears a couple of times on the last dive, but it wasn't terrible. The thing that concerned me the most as far as understanding fully what happened is the concurrent soreness/tightness in my abdomen, chest, and shoulders preceding and during the incident followed by swelling in the same areas (subcutaneous emphysema?) that didn't subside until a week later. So, I am kind of wondering if I had a mild case of the bends as well?? I welcome any clarification on the subject and suggestions on an eventual return to diving or not?

 

[wjefferis]

I do not want to totally steal this thread so if we need to we can create a new thread to discuss this further. I have experienced ear barotrauma before (albeit nowhere near as bad as yours) from helping divers in a pool during a basic class. I was watching a student and she dumped her air and just starting sinking like a rock in the deep end. I just took off down to her and felt a pain in my ear. I went up a bit and cleared my ears, but they still felt a bit “tweeked.” The next day when I got out of bed I started stumbling and just felt weird like I was a little drunk. Went to the doctor and barotrauma was the culprit. After being required to take antibiotic ear drops and an anti inflammatory for a week things seemed to clear up within about three weeks. I have never suffered anything close since. If you just majorly tweaked your ear you most likely have a good chance of being able to return to diving. Since your doctor is clueless to dive medicine my recommendation to you is to find a hospital with a chamber in your area or a regional hospital that treats injured divers and go see a doctor that really specializes in dive medicine to take a good look at things. My guess is if the doctor in Mexico didn’t jam you into a chamber immediately and cleared you early to fly home there wasn’t anything that screamed DCS or any other dive injury except your ears, which is the most common dive injury by the way.
You stated in your original post that you were congested already which could have accounted for some of the tightness in your chest from things draining from your sinuses into your lungs as it commonly does as well as being your sign that you might have wanted to sit out that dive. I can totally understand why you went as I think I would have found it impossible to not find a reason why I should dive after paying for the trip and being in a dive paradise. I think learning when to call things off and not to dive is one of the hardest diving skills to learn. Being in a foreign country can also cause havoc on you intestinal tract, your stomach pains could have easily been caused from eating the local cuisine, which Donna talked about having as well. Regardless best of luck in your recovery and I hope you hear something from DAN soon. If you are a member try calling them and ask for a doctor. When I called them they connected me right to a doctor when I asked and he was very helpful with my inquiry.

 

[seadoggirl]

I have NEVER been called an Angel but I know you scared the CRAP out of me! (Or maybe it was the bad hamburger. HA!) Love you girl! As far as the rest goes... listen to your doctor and your mother. You may need to be the Boat B$tch for a while. I'll teach you now to make the world famous hot dogs while bumping along at 18 knots on four foot seas!

 

[AuTgrDvr]

Being the boat b$#!ch would actually be nice to me. If I can't be in the water, I can still be on it! Would love to learn about what to do on a boat as far as ropes/etc. I can also be pressured into wagging a tank or two
From what I have read on perilymph fistula/barotrauma (think this is why I asked our leader if I was going to live....i.e. one of those moments when you worry and think you might not make it and then you begin to worry that you will) on the American Hearing Foundation website, a 6 month break is recommended from diving, but I think I can be a die hard snorkeler/cooker/deckhand extraordinare Also, I have never thrown a mullet and am wondering if you are perhaps in town that weekend? Btw, I did find the other roll of film and am hoping to salvage a picture from Cozumel to share....cross your fingers as I pick them up this evening.