General Category > AN Issues

One Year Post-Op and Personal Decisions on Returning to SCUBA Diving

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Sheba:

Cary thanks for the scoop about cement vs. mesh closure.

So sorry to hear about your situation in Maldives :(

I have a mesh closure, I wish I had know that Cement is better before I had my op !
 
I don't need to go super deep, but a lot of the good stuff is between 30 and 60 feet.

Not sure if I will dive again, I may make do with snorkeling in the future.

caryawilson:
Keep in mind there are many factors here. I don't want to state that screen / plate would always have a 1 atmosphere limit. In my situation, which was a five cm hole, the bone cement provided a stronger seal.  Furthermore, this was according to the procedures used by John Hopkins, so another surgeon may have different recommendations based on their procedures. Just to let you know of some of the factors.

BTW.. I've been diving up to 70 feet and have NOT noticed any issues.  I plan to go deeper. Also, I will not mention my surgery in the future to a resort.

Furthermore, the choice of mesh or cement, I'm not sure is one of options available to the patient. At Hopkins the choice is dictated by the hospital. The hospital decided to use cement for the brain surgeon patients due to the belief it would reduce post op headaches, and complications. Diving was NOT a factor in their decision. I guess I was lucky.

Nine5:
Hi All,

Sorry - it's been a while since I checked back on this post.

Seahorse - I am blessed with excellent medical coverage in general but do also have dive insurance that I have had for quite a while.

Cary - I have no medical expertise to draw upon but am surprised at the notion of a new hole in the skull being an issue - given that our eyes, nasal passages, ear canals, mouths, and in fact the entire underside of our skulls are all openings to ambient water pressure.  I defer to others on the forum with more expertise, but my lay understanding is that as we dive down, our body tissues (including brain cavity are at equilibrium with the surrounding water pressure (except for air pockets which we then equalize as we decent and ascend).  No medical advice here - just my understanding from scuba training.  My surgical entrance was simply filled with stomach fat and is now a tough, thick layer of scar tissue under the skin in that area.

Follow-up note:  Referring back to my original post above about my own personal risk choices I've made, I have had a series of progressively deeper recreational dives.  Late last year, I dove the Blue Hole in Belize with a dive master.  We went down to 130' to the stalactites.  I was very mindful and self-checking on equalization as we went down (and honest with myself that I would abort if there was a problem).  Made it down comfortably and had a wonderfully memorable experience.

But I will repeat again that this is my own risk choice-making.  I am taking a risk with my one, last working sense of hearing.  This is very serious stuff.

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