Hi, new poster here. I'm 32/M. I had spinal fusion surgery at age 16 for scoliosis. It was successful, and I've been trouble-free since, with no restrictions. I recently enrolled in a PADI Open Water course and marked "yes" to the corresponding question on the form. My GP said I seemed fine, but wouldn't sign off - he wanted to refer me to a specialist. I had to drop the course because this won't happen for another couple of months.
I truthfully answered "no" to all the other questions. I recently moved and hauled all of my boxes by myself. I regularly lift and twirl my 110-pound girlfriend while roughhousing, travel with a heavy backpack, etc. I've never experienced pain, before or after the surgery.
I would be OK with waiting to see the specialist, except they are going to want to blast me with x-rays. I had about a dozen of these before my surgery and it makes me uneasy. (Yes, I am aware of the concepts of ionizing radiation, dose equivalents, relative risk, etc.)
Furthermore, I am worried that this may become a routine ordeal, with different dive operators wanting doctor's notes and doctors wanting to take x-rays every so often in perpetuity. And of course it can't be just any doctor, it has to be a SPINE doctor, which are relatively hard to come by, and God help you if you aren't insured. (I am, for now...) At any point, if one were to decline to sign off -- assuming he is merely covering his own ass and hasn't discovered something like OMG YOUR SPINE IS ABOUT TO BREAK IN HALF -- I would of course feel strongly inclined to go elsewhere and lie on the form.
I guess it's like, what's worse: being honest and settling for a slightly elevated lifetime cancer risk on top of all the hassle, or being dishonest and risking the same kind of back injury that everyone else is risking, healthy or not?
I'm not asking for anyone to tell me to lie. Just venting. It is pretty irritating being in my situation, going through the eLearning, and watching that 90-pound pigtailed sister of the boy on the porch in Deliverance lifting the scuba kit.
I truthfully answered "no" to all the other questions. I recently moved and hauled all of my boxes by myself. I regularly lift and twirl my 110-pound girlfriend while roughhousing, travel with a heavy backpack, etc. I've never experienced pain, before or after the surgery.
I would be OK with waiting to see the specialist, except they are going to want to blast me with x-rays. I had about a dozen of these before my surgery and it makes me uneasy. (Yes, I am aware of the concepts of ionizing radiation, dose equivalents, relative risk, etc.)
Furthermore, I am worried that this may become a routine ordeal, with different dive operators wanting doctor's notes and doctors wanting to take x-rays every so often in perpetuity. And of course it can't be just any doctor, it has to be a SPINE doctor, which are relatively hard to come by, and God help you if you aren't insured. (I am, for now...) At any point, if one were to decline to sign off -- assuming he is merely covering his own ass and hasn't discovered something like OMG YOUR SPINE IS ABOUT TO BREAK IN HALF -- I would of course feel strongly inclined to go elsewhere and lie on the form.
I guess it's like, what's worse: being honest and settling for a slightly elevated lifetime cancer risk on top of all the hassle, or being dishonest and risking the same kind of back injury that everyone else is risking, healthy or not?
I'm not asking for anyone to tell me to lie. Just venting. It is pretty irritating being in my situation, going through the eLearning, and watching that 90-pound pigtailed sister of the boy on the porch in Deliverance lifting the scuba kit.