Premature retirement from diving

[Kaos]

Hey everyone

I'm presently nursing a knee injury and it almost looked for a while that it would be possible for me to quit diving... not a happy thought. I was just wondering if any of you had to either stop or limit your diving activities because of a change in your life (social, physical, financial).

Of course, I may not get an answer because if you stop diving, you might don't want to hang out in the scuba board, but I'm still too curious that I had to post this.

 

[Arnaud]

Had to stop diving for 2 months after my ankle did a 90° angle following a dive. This also caused a light degeneration in the meniscus. This was a highly frustrating time for me, but I used it to better my diving knowledge.

Yesterday, in the pool, my knee cracked and it's been out of whack since then. Looks like the meniscus is torn for good. I have to wait until Monday to get an actual medical advice but it feels like surgery's in the air... I guess there's not much to do about it. Knees are not as complex as shoulders and seem to heal quickly.

Best of luck.

 

[victoriawtx]

the possibility of not diving. I think that I might blow a fuse crutial to life support and cease to exist. LOL

Frightening thought.

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

I had to stop diving a year ago due to a surgery that I underwent, now one year later I had to redo that same surgery because the first surgeon botched it. Now i'm dry, land locked and wraped up in legal crap. the outcome looks good, hopefully one day i'll be able to get back into the water, at least for freediving.

I keep telling myself that diving is only the means to acheive a goal and the earth does not revolve around diving.

Ed

 

[JustAddWater]

I didn't dive for a few months last year after my daughter was born. My wife and I did the teamwork feeding/diaper changing routine, and I didn't want to leave them for a length of time.

 

[Jersey]

Currently out of the water recovering from knee surgery (last week). Should last 8-10 weeks. Looking forward to a complete recovery & many more happy years of diving.

Already started my own rehab program - started swimming 5 days post-op minus the fins - didn't want to put too much stress on it. Didn't want too much muscle atrophy to set in & the puncture wounds had closed over. Felt great.

 

[Kaos]

That's very encouraging. No surgery needed for me, thank God, but I did try a couple of dives last month, and you don't know how important your legs are when diving until one fails you.

As for JustAddWater, good for you, you're in the minority, most couples in my dive club who give birth to a first child end up MIA. Their equipement make a return on the outings within a year though, but under the property of newly certified divers .

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I had to stop diving for about six weeks last year due to knee surgery ... a torn lateral meniscus with "complications". The doctor told me it would be six to eight weeks before I could even contemplate scuba diving.

My surgery was on Nov. 14, and I returned to diving on Dec. 27.

The key for me was working hard on the physical therapy. Strength and flexibility conditioning are very important for that kind of surgery.

For those of you going through knee surgery, don't skimp on the PT. Today my knee feels stronger than it has in years ... and I've done about 180 dives since returning to the water.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Diver Lori]

I was out of the water from September 01 to mid November 01 in a cast. I broke my ankle on a liveaboard in the PNW on a Tuesday the last week of August. I was climbing back onto the dive skiff and my foot went one way and my tanks and weights went the other.....SNAP! I didn't dive the next day as there were some helacious high current dives planned, but I did do some kayaking and dived the following day (Thursday). Got back into port on a Friday and went to a Canadian hospital to be told "Yup, your ankle is broken, go see your Ortho in the States." By the time I was scheduled to get the brake set it was a week old accounting for travel home, Labor Day, 911, etc. Even with that.....my ortho did a nice job.

My ortho got me patched up and healed just in time to head out to go cave diving in Akumal in December 01!

 

[Popeye]

Kaos once bubbled...
Hey everyone

I'm presently nursing a knee injury and it almost looked for a while that it would be possible for me to quit diving... not a happy thought. I was just wondering if any of you had to either stop or limit your diving activities because of a change in your life (social, physical, financial).

Of course, I may not get an answer because if you stop diving, you might don't want to hang out in the scuba board, but I'm still too curious that I had to post this.

I'd rather be dead or injured.

I started diving late in life, and it's as important or more important than any other aspect of my existance.

I dive with at least one permanent medical contraindication, and have dived against a doctor's advice many times.

I'm not saying you should, or anyone should.

I'm just saying that I know more about me, and my limits, than that doctor ever will.

Most doctors quote butt covering recovery times that are rediculous, and not remotely related to diving in specific anyway.

The vast majority of them have no clue how diving would affect any particular condition, if it even would.

I've gone diving the day after surgery three times that I can remember, once cutting a cast off a broken foot so I could get my dive boot on.

My first trip to Gilboa (from Tenn) was less than 24 hours after having a pin put in my leg. My pals though the stitches were hilarious.

I dove a Saturday boat after a Friday knee surgery (maniscus thingy).

Talk to your doctor, and if he doesn't tell you what you want to hear, talk to another.

Talk to DAN.

If parapalegics, asthmatics and diabetics can dive, I don't see why someone with a knee injury can't, if they want to.

You need to do what's right for you.

Not your doctor.

As far as financial, I work to dive, spend 6-8 grand a year on my "jones".

That's vacation costs, ect.

My goal for this year, which I will not reach till next year, is to dive the Saratoga.

But I'll get there.

As far as social, I make my priorities clear.

ps: I'll be happy to haul your tanks when we dive, if that's what it takes.