Jim Gordon
New
Last fall, I was vacationing in St. Lucia with my wife (non-diver), and signed up for 3 days of 2-tank dives. After the 5th dive, and using a by-the-book ascent with rest stop, I got on board the boat, and about 5-10 minutes later, my left foot refused to move. In another 5 minutes, I was paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately, my dive buddy for that trip was formerly a scuba diver for the French Navy (20 years' experience). He helped me get immediate attention aboard the boat, oxygen, feet elevated, lying down, etc. I spent three 5-hour sessions in a nearby recompression chamber, and when I got back to the States, had a battery of tests, including MRIs of my brain, and ultrasound imaging checks for a patent foramen ovale (PFO), which it turned out I had. Fortunately again, Dr. Warren Strickland of Huntsville's "The Heart Center" is one of the nation's most experienced physicians in the procedure that is used to close the hole in the atrial septum. My wife, an RN at The Heart Center, assisted in some of the ultrasound testing - "the bubble study" by name.
I went to the local quarry - Madison Quarry - yesterday, and had a 30-minute dive without incident. Planning to dive off Myrtle Beach, SC next weekend.
Advice to people experiencing weird post-dive neurological symptoms, like mini-stroke, difficulty moving parts of the body, migraines, migraine auras, etc.: Get tested for the PFO. Sometimes they wait a long time to manifest themselves - mine waited 65 years, because the foramen ovale is supposed to close when you're born. Mine didn't, and kept hidden until last fall. PFOs can trigger strokes and, of course, the associated symptom, death. Good diving to you! Jim Gordon
I went to the local quarry - Madison Quarry - yesterday, and had a 30-minute dive without incident. Planning to dive off Myrtle Beach, SC next weekend.
Advice to people experiencing weird post-dive neurological symptoms, like mini-stroke, difficulty moving parts of the body, migraines, migraine auras, etc.: Get tested for the PFO. Sometimes they wait a long time to manifest themselves - mine waited 65 years, because the foramen ovale is supposed to close when you're born. Mine didn't, and kept hidden until last fall. PFOs can trigger strokes and, of course, the associated symptom, death. Good diving to you! Jim Gordon