11months post brain surgery

[SandySal5]

Can anyone tell me if they have returnes to diving after having a tumor removed. I have a 17 yr old who would like to become a welder and is interested in getting certified to be a diver to weld under water. He had a thumb nail tumor on his right frontal lobe never had any muscular weakness, he was having seizures here and there presurgery. His last seizure was last june. He has been off of antiseizure meda since Nov. with no seizure activity and his last MRI was in March and is clear, with no reoccurance. How ever his surgeon said no to scuba diving bc of the pressure changes. Is she right or does she just not have factual info when it comes to diving. I read of others online that had more invasive surgery returning to diving. I do not want to squash my sons dreams so I need to know where to get info to find everything I can on the subject to make sure we make an educated decision on what's best for him and not have our decision based on presumptions.

 

[TSandM]

I am not aware of any effect that pressure changes have on sites where brain surgery has occurred.

However, I would not argue with a physician who wanted a longer period of being seizure-free before clearing him to dive. Seizures underwater are very difficult to survive, and there are a number of things about being underwater that can raise the risk of seizures, elevated levels of oxygen being one of them. Unless his pre-op seizures were extremely frequent, I'd want at least a year or two of no seizures and no meds before considering him safe to dive within acceptable levels of risk.

 

[SandySal5]

Thank you so much for replying so fast... I already signed him up and paid for the lessons not thinking about seizure reoccurring bc hes been seizure free 11months and i was thinking in terms of diving being a "non-contact" sport. :/ I only talked to the nurse not the dr directly. I will call the diving school and hopefully I can get my $ back.

---------- Post added April 16th, 2015 at 03:21 PM ----------

I contacted his Dr again and asked if she wanted to wait an extended period of time to see if he has any reoccurring seizures and the nurse said no it would be for life! My son NEVER had seizures b4 this thumbnail size grade 1, non cancerous tumor showed up. And it all happened in one yrs time. But since removal He hasn't had any seizures since last june post op I contacted DAN with the same msg as my intial post on this site to see if they have any info at all... I've read about ppl who have had more invasive brain surgery getting back to diving, I am trying to understand why she wouldn't point me in any direction towards getting info on it or just saying she isn't knowledgeable in that area.

---------- Post added April 16th, 2015 at 04:17 PM ----------

I forgot to mention in sept he had an EEG done on his brain and it showed no seizure activity.

 

[Imla]

First of all, I would give a divedoc a call and ask about what information would be needed for a divedoc to properly assess the situation. Then I would talk to the neurodoc (not the nurse) and get the relevant information.

However... One thing is recreational diving... the other is professional diving. I have a hard time seeing that he would ever be allowed to work as a diver.

 

[TSandM]

I think you got some additional information on the other thread. I do think the neurosurgeon may be being a bit conservative, but then again, I don't know the cell type or location of his tumor. There is really, as far as I know, no way to be absolutely sure that the tumor was causing the seizures -- he had never had seizures before the tumor was found, but nobody had looked in his brain, either. I don't think it's reasonable to assume that resection of the tumor has CURED the seizures, until he has passed a significant test of time, and the two years off meds mentioned in the other thread sounds like a minimum acceptable to me. I am extremely surprised that the licensing agency in your state will allow him to drive. Ours wants more time off meds and seizure free (I think it may even be five years in WA, although don't quote me.)

I believe we had a similar case here a while back, where someone wanted to get into commercial diving school and was turned down by both. They are very conservative about medical problems in their divers.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

The medical standards for scuba are different than those for commercial diving. He will need a dive physical if he wants to go to commercial diving school, and a recreational diving instructor will likely require a medical clearance for him as well. SUNY hospital in Syracuse is a bit of a haul for you if you're in Buffalo but to my knowledge it's the closest place with physicians who can evaluate divers. You can contact their hyperbaric unit for more information. If the tumor is gone, he is seizure-free and off medication, and has no other medical issues, he may be able to pursue diving, but he should definitely be evaluated in person.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[SandySal5]

Im not sure whst i left out from the other post, however my sons tumor was thumbnail size, grade 1, non cancerous meningioma located at his right frontal lobe. It was just sitting right on top the surgeon said there weren't any blood vessels running thru it, & it was best case scenario for brain tumor surgery. He lifted himself off of the operating table post surgery to get his MRI. There was never any muscle weakness or cognitive issues pre or post op! He was perfectly healthy and fine for 16yrs of his life never had a seizure. This came out of no where we do not have any family history of brain tumors

 

[TSandM]

Well, that's good news, and he may well be entirely cured. However, we still don't know for sure if the tumor caused the seizures, and we won't know until sufficient time has passed to feel confident that he will not seize again.

I know he wants to dive, and I know you want to help facilitate that for him. But you would feel beyond horrible if you pushed his doctors into clearing him, and he seized underwater and drowned. He is young, and he has a lot of life ahead of him. He can wait a couple of years to dive.