Medical Clearance letter needed?

[doctock993]

It's been a while since I was last on a dive trip and I just booked a little re-wetting for March.

Since I was last diving a lot has changed (major improvements I will add) in my health.

I've had:
- Bilateral inguinal hernioraphies with mesh (Feb 08, Sept 08)
- Upper abdominal hernioraphy with mesh (Feb 08)
- Previously undiagnosed Glaucoma now treated with meds (March 07 - present)
- Right cataract surgery (April 07)
- lost almost 40# via diet and exercise with now a decreased need for BP meds

The last thing I want to have happen is to get to the dive shop and have a DM shake his/ her head "no" with regards to diving based on a PAST history.

Do I need to "fib" on my application and show up in a wetsuit to hide the abdominal scar?
[My many apologies to the DM in the past (2005) who I lied to, yet survived a dive trip even with that hernia showing - whoops.]

From whom do I need a letter?
- Ophthalmologist?
- General surgeon?
- Internist?

I'm a physician myself so I do understand need for health for safety - heck, I make surgeons get medical clearance on some patients before we anesthetize them!

 

[Bratface]

Congratulations on the big weight loss. I was cleared to go diving several weeks after cataract surgery (a few years ago) and also was diving 6 weeks after a big abdominal surgery this past April. For your own safety NEVER lie about your medical history. You even admit that you are a doctor and make others get medical clearance. I'm an RN and say shame on you for telling the BFL (big fat lie) to the DM.

Get the opthalmologist to clear you especially since you take eye meds for the glaucoma. Get the medical doc to give you clearance with the other issues. And don't gain the weight back, you'd hate to pop your mesh and have to have surgery again.

My only other suggestion is take a refresher if you've been out of the water for over a year. You've improved your health significantly and want to enjoy your dive trip. Have fun and dive safe.

 

[geokr]

Obviously, you got the hernias working out on the weight bench as you were losing all that weight. I would contact DAN (http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/physicians.asp) and have them recommend a physician near you who is familiar with diving-related issues and who could give you a complete evaluation. It's the only way to be sure that you're covered adequately and you'll get not only a letter but a proper evaluation that's suited to your specific needs. An example - I have recently been prescribed a BP medication and just found out that beta blockers are not the medication of choice for divers. My doctor, good as he is, was not aware that ACE inhibitors may be better so I'm switching. With your specific issues and as much as you want to go get wet I think a proper evaluation beforehand is wise. Contact DAN.

By the way, a good article on BP medication and other cardiovascular issues for divers can be found here:

DAN Divers Alert Network : Cardiovascular Fitness and Diving

See ya out there!

 

[Web Monkey]

I've had:
- Bilateral inguinal hernioraphies with mesh (Feb 08, Sept 08)
- Upper abdominal hernioraphy with mesh (Feb 08)
- Previously undiagnosed Glaucoma now treated with meds (March 07 - present)
- Right cataract surgery (April 07)
- lost almost 40# via diet and exercise with now a decreased need for BP meds

The last thing I want to have happen is to get to the dive shop and have a DM shake his/ her head "no" with regards to diving based on a PAST history.

Do I need to "fib" on my application and show up in a wetsuit to hide the abdominal scar? [My many apologies to the DM in the past (2005) who I lied to, yet survived a dive trip even with that hernia showing - whoops.]

From whom do I need a letter?

With all due respect to the DM, they're not going to have a clue whether or not you can dive with any of that stuff. What they'll do is see if you checked any of the boxes on the medical form and if you did, they'll want a signed medical release saying you're OK to dive.

The point isn't the medical release, the point is whether you can safely dive. In order to figure that out, you should give DAN a call for a referral to someone who knows if what you have, what you're taking and what you had fixed would be OK for SCUBA, and have them sign an "OK to dive" release if they think you're OK to dive.

Terry

 

[doctock993]

Actually, I know from a health standpoint, that there should be no restrictions on my diving.

I'm not planning on any super-immersion dive profiles, just simple, no-deco, diving.

I know enough about gas pressure laws and physiologic effects, along with healing and dive medicine, to not risk MY life doing something I shouldn't be doing.

In addition, the hernias were not from working out - but from prior surgeries as a child.

Because I should, in all truthfullness, check some of those boxes on the form, I was wondering, to stay "honest", whom I should get the clearances from. I absolutely would rather be honest on the form, than lie, but I don't want to have a whole dive trip nixed based on something from the PAST.

I hope this clarifies my OP.

 

[geokr]

I was just kidding about the hernia. Seriously, if you think there may be an issue with the DM I would call the operator beforehand and discuss the situation with him or her one on one. Pre-approval will give you peace of mind and denial will give you the opportunity to look elsewhere before commiting to a trip.

 

[k4man]

the issue will be how honestly YOU fill out the medical form, as stated above. Any questions answered "yes" will require a medical release. If you get this signature and medical approval first, you should have no problems.

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, I would NOT falsify the form. Go through the correct, and safe, channels and then enjoy your diving!

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi rkburton,

As regards truthfulness in completing the standard diving medical questionnaire, IMHO it is both prudent and the proper thing to do to be completely forthcoming.

Organized scuba has done a near miraculous job of self-regulating, thereby almost entirely staving off the imposition of laws, regulations, standards and other intrusions by federal, state and local governments.

This accomplishment is in no small part due to divers following industry rules in an honest and ethical manner, such as being forthright in completing medical questionnaires.

If and when enough divers are untruthful, accidents will occur and they eventually will catch the eye of government. When that happens, laws will be passed, such as the mandatory medical examinations in Queensland (AU), Malta and other venues.

It's instructive that a number of preventable diver deaths due to medical reasons have occurred in Australia over the past several years. Many of these were the result of divers not being truthful about their medical status and made the news. Now the Queensland government is considering even more rules and tighter enforcement.

Even though the releases dive ops make you sign appear to absolve them of any conceivable liability, these releases can be and are challenged in court, sometimes successfully. If it can be demonstrated that a diver lied on the medical questionnaire, and believe me their attorneys almost certainly would discover that s/he did, any suit would be dead on arrival no matter what the merits.

Failure to report your medical condition could result in harm not only to yourself, but also to a dive buddy, another person in the group or to the dive op. Suit could be brought against you as a result of such harm.

It is the smart and right thing to do to report diseases and disorders because these are the uniform rules of organized scuba, a pursuit in which we have voluntarily chosen to participate and whose overall welfare is in our best interests.

I agree with the prior posters that contacting DAN is a good place begin sorting out your fitness to dive status. And, I suspect you eventually will be cleared for SCUBA.

Helpful?

Best of luck,

DocVikingo

PS: Please keep the board posted on your progress.

 

[geokr]

Here, here....

 

[doctock993]

I guess I was not clear enough in my OP, nor in my attempt at clarification.

I have been cleared to dive by my surgeon, my opthomologist, and my cardiologist.

Because there are different health issues (which lead to different "yes" answers on the PADI form) from WHOM do I need to obtain a letter of clearance to dive so that a DM with far less medical knowledge does not cancel my attempt to dive? All, some, one, etc?