Local takes a hit

[rockjock3]

Jay,
Glad to hear you are doing fine now, glad to hear you were with Sherm, he has a cool head when things go south, remembering my incident with the vision. Hopefully we will still get to dive next month, if not, there's alaways the Sand Bar! I'll give you a hollar later........
Jimbo

Got your call this morning. Thanks so much for the support. Yes, Sherm is da man. I don't think I'm gonna be cleared to get back in the water by the time you get here, but hey, maybe I can snorkel around on the surface. Naaaa, too much temptation for me. I'll just have to stay out, but we can always hit that local dive the Sand Bar, like you suggested.

 

[rockjock3]

Hey Jay, So glad to hear the chamber rides have helped. Undeserved hits have happened to a number of board members and I'm glad it hasn't turned you off to diving. Best wishes as you finish healing up. Would I be right to assume a PFO test is going to be forthcoming for you?

Thanks for keeping us all in the "loop" and it's good to hear your friends have taken good care of you.

Aloha, Tim

Thanks Tim,

Something to note from my side. I will not be calling this hit "undeserved", as something obviously caused it, and I hope we find the cause so that I know for sure how to stop it from ever being a cause again. I'll call it an "unexplained hit" for now. We know what it was, but not what caused it. Many dive experts, and I have gone over the dives with fine tooth combs so far and not found any obvious causes that jump out. We were very safe with both our dives is all that I know.

Again, thanks.

Jay

 

[rockjock3]

I have a few lessons learned from this, and I am sure Jay does as well. Some I will not put in writing on a public forum (Come see me in person and talk to me if you like). The ones I will are--if you are military keep the number of the Hickam Chamber with you at all times: It is 808-471-9292. The other is if something doesn't seem right, call them...they are the most responsive people I have ever met.

Other then that, glad you are doing better Jay.

Sherman

Thanks again brother. I second the chamber information. If you are military join Sea Lancer's DOD sponsored dive club. Then you don't even have to write the numbers down. They put them all on the back of your membership card along with local SAR numbers. WAY TO GO MOBILE DIVE SALVAGE UNIT CHAMBER. Those guys rock.

Jay

 

[rockjock3]

Wow, what an ordeal! I'm glad you are on the mend. See you in the water soon.

You and me both. As soon as I'm cleared, I'll be wet. My wife said she is worried my gills might recede some, but hey I can throw som salt in the bathtub and snorkel there to keep them wet.

 

[ScubaDiveMaui]

Jay,

I wanted to jump on the bandwagon of thanks for posting your experience.

IEDCS was one of those things I hadn't heard much about and promptly forgot about. After reading this thread I wanted to learn more about IEDCS... thought I'd share my findings of a similar thread on Rebreather World forum with lots of great references:

Inner Ear DCS - Rebreather World Forums

 

[Cacia]

Glad you are okay, Jay---Jeez.

I haven't read the link yet, but I am hoping that a microbubble would be all it takes to mess up your inner ear.

Did they see any emboli or anything visible on your other tests?

You need to settle down bubba with a baby on the way.....

Did you say what mix you were sportin'? Hmmm... I have a vivid imagination, you know, Sherman.

Look at the bright side, at least in did not happen off the back wall of Molokini just as you were fished from the water by the Dive Shack! :11doh:

Happy recovery--maybe you could "make something" while you recoup?

 

[rockjock3]

Jay,

I wanted to jump on the bandwagon of thanks for posting your experience.

IEDCS was one of those things I hadn't heard much about and promptly forgot about. After reading this thread I wanted to learn more about IEDCS... thought I'd share my findings of a similar thread on Rebreather World forum with lots of great references:

Inner Ear DCS - Rebreather World Forums

Thanks, you definitely gave me some good reading to sift through. Some other buddies have as well. I wanted to post my experience to ward off rumors in our local area as well as to hopefully remind people that just like the books say "it can happen to anybody at anytime". I was lucky. We haven't found an exact cause yet, but hopefully we will nail it down with some time. Thanks again.

Jay

 

[Lopaka]

Some good quotes from the Rebreather Forum discussion:

"Furthermore barotrauma can also cause injury to the middle and inner ear entirely independant of any decompression related bubble formation. This can cause symptoms identical to IEDCS and the two can coexist in the same patient." Oh, great..(my comment)

"Separating the three potential etiologies in a patient with putative inner related symptoms can be difficult or impossible."

"I had experience of treating vestibular bends when I was supervising air range diving in the north sea many years ago now. In neither case did there seem to be any reason for the hits, "

"One of the problems you face in trying to understand this process, is that you are dabbling in an area that is at the limits of our current understanding."

I never figured out what really happened to me six years ago, and it looks like it is still very murky. Hopefully Jay's case will further understanding of the what and why of all this. I'll be downloading the papers listed in the discussion for more reading.

 

[Sloth]

Glad you are back on your feet Jay.

On another note, if you aren't in the military get DAN insurance! Most insurance companies will not cover a chamber ride and with the current medical fields mantra of "do no harm.... to the bottom line" it's a safe bet that a doctor in an ER might do all he can to NOT put you in the chamber. Let DAN fight that fight for you.

 

[rockjock3]

Glad you are okay, Jay---Jeez.

I haven't read the link yet, but I am hoping that a microbubble would be all it takes to mess up your inner ear.

Did they see any emboli or anything visible on your other tests?

You need to settle down bubba with a baby on the way.....

Did you say what mix you were sportin'? Hmmm... I have a vivid imagination, you know, Sherman.

Look at the bright side, at least in did not happen off the back wall of Molokini just as you were fished from the water by the Dive Shack! :11doh:

Happy recovery--maybe you could "make something" while you recoup?

Messed up is definitely another way to say it.

I was just diving air. Right now nothing on all tests, but still more to run that might give insight (MRI, Echo, Hearing, etc).

Maybe I'll see if I can build a chamber out of PVC duct tape. Hmmmmm.