Scuba Diving

[ckays82]

This may seem like an eye-roll question but..... has anyone any issues attempting to scuba dive after surgery? My boyfriend and I were avid scuba divers prior to his heart condition. He has a pig valve instead of a mechanical one to replace his aortic valve. One surgeon he met with said he was fine to continue pursuing diving 6 months to a year after the surgery. The other surgeon he met with, the one that preformed the surgery, said his scuba diving days were over. He admitted doesn't know much about it, but would look into it. Even DAN (Divers Alert Network) said it would depend on his strength and if he is strong enough to do after a full evaluation at 6 months and he's only at 11 weeks. It wouldn't be the end of the world for us if he had to stop diving to keep his new valve working as long as it can before it finally has to be replaced, but he's very a active guy and living in a beach town in Florida its hard to ignore the call of the ocean.

 

[pellicle]

Actually it is not a roll your eyes question at all.

There are a couple of divers here. I got my PADI denied by a dive Dr but Skeptic here got to keep his. There are threads here to search on (go to Google and as the first part of the search enter site:www.valvereplacement.org XXX yyyy

Where XXX and yyyy are your search words. There must be no spaces in that.

Bottom line is that it depends on the doctor so shop around. After my surgery when I was 28 I was ditched by a dive doctor who demanded a cat scan for adhesions to the lung. If you understand dive physics and anatomy that issue would make free diving more dangerous. Well I went out on a reef trip and did a couple of free dives to prove it to myself. 18 meters and no torn lung.

Surgery is to save your life, so keep on enjoying it

I moved from Australia (back again now) to Finland where XC skiing was more the common thing,, so for 10 years or so I haven't had much opportunity to dive. But here in Oz again I still enjoy the surf

 

[ckays82]

Oh! I thought I had searched through this forum and didn't find any originally. Thank you! Finding the right doctor seems to be the biggie. He's looking to get in touch with a cardiologist that focuses in dive medicine. One surgeon said that once that new valve graft is on there, its on for good and diving shouldn't effect it. The one that performed the surgery was more concerned, so thats good advice to check around. We missed on a great opportunity to go diving in the Bahamas in July with Blackbeard's Cruises and would love to go with them in the future. If you just spend the rest of your life sitting on the couch, you're not living.

 

[almost_hectic]

I wonder what the surgeons concerns were. I also live in a Florida beach town and have never dived but really want to. I've been waiting til I recover more but have been contemplating this same question about whether I'll ever be able to get cleared to scuba dive or not?...

 

[pellicle]

I wonder what the surgeons concerns were. I also live in a Florida beach town and have never dived but really want to. I've been waiting til I recover more but have been contemplating this same question about whether I'll ever be able to get cleared to scuba dive or not?...

its usually Thoracic adhesions to the inner chest cavity. If the lungs are shrunken (by pressure as you dive) they can then tear at that point ... however (if you understand the physics) the lungs shrink more free diving (as the pressure compresses the air) while using SCUBA the pressure of the air your breath in with each breath normalises it more and the lungs deflate less.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Oh! I thought I had searched through this forum and didn't find any originally.

yes, almost all site searching tools are useless ...

I put the following into google:
site:www.valvereplacement.org/forums/ diving after surgery
(don't click that, but copy and paste that line into the search)

or follow this link (by clicking it):
https://www.google.com.au/webhp?ie=U...+after+surgery

...If you just spend the rest of your life sitting on the couch, you're not living.

I totally agree ...

an older thread with my opinions
http://www.valvereplacement.org/foru...740#post850740

 

[gregjohnsondsm]

Hi. I am a diver and am 8 months post avr and ascending aorta repair. I will be diving soon. I just got my FAA pilot medical yesterday. I have done some research and there are some reasons to be concerned. The lung issue mentioned. Deformation of the heart / aorta. But I have found no hard evidence that one shouldn't do it. I personally will keep depths reasonable. 40' or so. Remember that unless your in Mexico many dive operations will not take you if you fill out the form honestly.

 

[ckays82]

His was also a AA, so thats good to know. Very glad he never followed through with his scuba tech certification, which typically pushes the 200 mark. Keeping it at much shallower depth seems much more reasonable and safe. Typically all the wrecks around our area are at 60ft, so I don't know if thats pushing it. We have a local areas for shore dives that are about 40ft, so that could be a good starting point when he's healthy enough. If anything, its encouraged him to look into cardio rehab so he can start building his strength back.

 

[skeptic49]

Prior to surgery I asked my surgeon point blank about diving after surgery. his response: "no restrictions." That said, you do have to be strong enough to dive, e.g., climb back up onto the boat, etc., and in decent physical condition. Know your limitations and dive with a margin of safety. In my case, I will not do repetitive dives or dives greater than 60 ft.

 

[carolinemc]

He needs to talk to his cardio about any restictions. The cardio is the better person to talk about restrictions than the surgeon. Good luck and pray that he will be able to get back to it. Hugs for today.