[fivos]

Αρχικό μήνυμα απο GKAM

Που και πού όμως εμφανίζονται περιστατικά που μας βάζουν πραγματικά σε σκέψεις όπως η περίπτωση του Philip Greenspun και του John W. Burge, Jr. (WANNA KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE REALLY BENT?) ... Ιδίως η περίπτωση του John με εμφάνιση νόσου μετά από κατάδυση σε μέγιστο βάθος 12m.../GKAM

O John ήταν 65 χρονών με πολλές καταδύσεις (3500) και πολλές περιόδους με επαναληπτικές καταδύσεις (ήταν και εκπαιδευτής).
Βέβαια έχεις δίκιο ότι εξακολουθεί να μας βάζει σε σκέψεις η ιστορία του, μια και η κατάδυση που πυροδότησε τα συμπτώματα ήταν μόλις στα -12μ.

Αντιγράφω ένα τμήμα της ιστορίας του που μου φάνηκε ενδιαφέρον (τα bold δικά μου):

So far, this little episode of being “bent” on a simple, shallow dive has taken over four years from my life, and I still have much more hard work in front of me. I began diving at age 13. I will be 69 next week, 11 Sept. 2001. I have logged nearly 3500 legitimate dives (many teaching), nearly 900 of which were cave dives. I did not do anything stupid or careless during my last dive to cause my “hit.” My wife and my computer dive log substantiate that.
I have never had even the slightest symptom of any kind of DCS in my entire life. So why did I get a DCS II hit, and why did I “crash” after a one-hour commercial flight when I was recovering so well? No one knows, and no one will ever know. However, I have a theory, which goes as follows.

Over a number of years, I think I accumulated minuscule amounts of N2 in my myelin tissues which you might think of as the insulation around the nerve “wires” in the central nervous system & critical to proper nerve function. You might also consider your spinal cord as a twisted bundle of myelin insulated wires integral to your CNS. I accumulated more of my technical diving (deep, long, multi-gas, multi-stage deco dives) in my later years the 20 years after I was 45 yrs old. I did more and more teaching then as I had more time for diving, which increased the frequency and accumulation of my dives.

Normally, doing 16 O/W teaching dives in 13 days, none extreme, is well within the generally accepted safety envelope with plenty of margin. Hundreds of instructors do it. 54 hrs of out-gassing is certainly considered conservative, especially following the last two dives in two days of less than 60 minutes and less than 30 fsw. And I had gone a few weeks without diving at all prior to this trip. So what happened? DAN called it “hit and run” DCS with no explanation. Personally, I think I accumulated residual N2 over a very long period of time (years) and never absolutely, totally “out-gassed” my myelin tissues. Then, on a virtual “non dive” for me, I absorbed just a teeny bit more N2 enough to cause the residual N2 in those tissues to create a “shower of microscopic bubbles” in my spinal cord inspite of an 8-minute ascent. That one, simple shallow dive put me over the top.

With 20/20 hindsight, what have I learned that I can pass on to you for your safety?
This is the purpose of my sharing this experience with you even the personal stuff, and I’m not ashamed of it if it will help you. For those of you putting more and more candles on your birthday cake, you cannot be too conservative. When I first began mixing my own Nitrox, eons ago, Nitrox was a dirty word in the O/W community but it was common, and pure 02 was a standard in the deco procedures of our cave diving community. Frank Howard and I even went up to Terrytown, New York to Dr. Bill Hamilton’s home and engaged him to work with us in developing a “conservative” breathing mix catalog & philosophy for our ages which we incorporated into all our diving primarily for cave diving but for open water as well. It is well known that some folks on Bonaire would not dive with me. I was a “pain in the ass on conservatism” and went overboard on “being prepared.” Thank God I was. Also, looking back 20/20, Polly and I were prepared at our home, and we did everything right under the circumstances first aide wise. We had a full ‘80’s of 02 on hand, and Polly did exactly the right thing.

However, I should have insisted the physician put me in the chamber immediately rather “observe” me for recurring neurological symptoms. I think he (and I) erred seriously. The immediate 02 at my home gave me temporary and very misleading recovery symptoms. With my experience, I should have known better and insisted on immediate chamber treatment rather than “observation.” Who knows how many myelin cells were damaged beyond repair in that time? No one. My gut tells me that immediate chamber treatment would have changed my life. Point: If you have a “hit” and 02 relieves the symptoms, don’t think you are cured: stay on the 02 get to a chamber!!

Τώρα στο φιλοσοφικό κομμάτι που λες, προσπαθώ να είμαι πιο συντηρητικός όσο μεγαλώνω (έχω πιάσει ήδη τα 43), κάνω όσο μπορώ λιγότερες επαναληπτικές βουτιές κι οι περισσότερες βουτιές μου είναι ρηχά (μέχρι -25).
Αν μπορούσα να γεμίζω πιο εύκολα, θα έκανα σίγουρα τις πρισσότερες από αυτές τις ρηχές βουτιές με Nitrox.

Τελείως φιλοσοφικά τώρα (το λέω συχνά και στους δικούς μου ανθρώπους για να το θυμούνται): Αν μου συμβεί κάτι σε κατάδυση, τουλάχιστον το έχω ευχαριστηθεί όσο δεν παίρνει, έχω γνωρίσει ένα καινούργιο κόσμο που άλλαξε τη ζωή μου και την οπτική μου - δεν θα έχω πάει άδοξα όπως π.χ. σε ένα αυτοκινητιστικό.

Υπάρχει σίγουρα ένα ρίσκο, αλλά μπροστά στη μαγεία της κατάδυσης λέω: ΝΑΙ αξίζει τον κόπο !