Back Diving After Infection/Injury

[Blueringocto_73]

So I successfully completed my first and second checkout dive and called my third and fourth checkout dives for the next day. Wetsuit jacket was too tight. Well to add insult to injury I ended up in the hospital for 5 days due to a strep B infection on my left big toe. 2 days later I was shivering uncontrollably/violently.

I had a blister under a callous and it burst and got really badly infected. In the hospital they asked me to sign a waiver to have the toe amputated on the second day. I declined and had to sign another waiver saying that I understood that a lethal infection may occur without amputation. So I signed it.

After 2 months on a Penicillin pick line inserted into my right bicep I was quasi cured. It still took 2 months of swimming with fins/snorkel gear to get my toe completely healed. The swimming was the "only" exercise that was vigorous enough to get that toe fixed. So I swam 45 miles in the last 60 days. Swimming most every day. But I took a couple of days rest here and there.

Did a pool dive with scuba gear to get back into the swing of things a few days ago. No problems at all. Now I'll be purchasing a 7mil Aquaflex and getting checkout dives 3 and 4 done at Breakwater. I know I'll be doing some compass navigation on those dives. What else?

 

[2airishuman]

Wow.

Typically checkout dives 3 and 4 are just review and enjoying the dive with an instructor present. If there are skills that were skipped for whatever reason in the first two then you'll do those.

 

[Neilwood]

Glad to hear you recovered ok.

I would make sure the instructor knows the full story so he knows you might be a bit rusty and maybe allow for a bit more time for drills (in your place I might actually ask the instructor to go over some of the drills you have already passed just to make sure they are familiar as you have had a long time out).

Good luck with it.

 

[SeaHorse81]

I'm so sorry that you went through all that. Congratulations on winning on the gamble to save your toe. You sound like a beast (in the best possible way).

 

[yle]

I know I'll be doing some compass navigation on those dives. What else?

Heck of a story; congrats on your recovery. To answer your question at the end, skills for Dive 3 and 4:

If you are doing the PADI OW course, there is a summarized list of skills for Dive 3 and Dive 4 in the OW Manual on page 243, right before the Section 5 Knowledge Review. Essentially Dive 3 includes establishing neutral buoyancy using the oral inflator, and remove & replace mask (underwater, of course.) There are no "class" skills for Dive 4 beyond what you will do on every dive anyway (e.g. dive planning, assemble gear, predive safety check, enter water, 5-point descent, etc etc...)

There are a list of skills that are "flexible"; your instructor can place them with any of the four dives. If you haven't already done these skills, you'll do them on Dive 3 or Dive 4. They are:

tired diver tow snorkel-reg exchange cramp release

CESA remove & replace gear at surface deploy SMB

remove & replace weights at surface surface compass swim

underwater compass swim emergency weight drop

Hope this helps... good luck with finishing your class!