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T
he sleek nurse shark shot out of its
lair as we swam by the coral ledge.
We followed it along the Key Largo,
Fla., reef, swimming through thick
clouds of colorful tropical fish. This
familiar experience felt extraordinary
because it was my first dive after two years of breast
cancer, tests, surgeries, setbacks, treatment and
reconstruction. Last year some people weren’t sure I
would ever dive again.
I have been an active diver and DAN® member for
28 years, and I’ve logged around 2,000 dives during
that time, at home in South Florida as well as abroad.
Since 2007 I have been a trained buddy assisting
Diveheart divers with various or different abilities,
never considering that I would one day be challenged
myself. When my doctor said, “You have invasive
breast cancer” and “You are not a candidate for a
lumpectomy,” I knew I’d have a long trek back
to diving.
The following strategies for getting back into the
water after breast cancer (or any lengthy illness) might
be helpful to other divers:
•
From the start, let your doctors know you are a
scuba diver and you want to get back into diving
after your return to wellness.
•
Use your love of diving to lighten difficult
moments during treatment. I sat through hours
of chemotherapy looking at diving websites on
my tablet. During tough MRIs and biopsies, I
daydreamed about memorable dives for distraction.
•
Be positive. Attitude is everything. An upbeat nature
influences everyone, even your caregivers, and
creates a positive atmosphere for recovery.
•
Join a support group for information, sharing, caring
and humor. In my groups we laughed more than we
cried.
•
Request physical therapy. Along with continued
exercise, this was a cornerstone of my recovery.
Physical therapy also provides an opportunity to learn
about lymphedema and managing your risk of it.
•
Keep your dive buddies. Stay in contact through social
media, phone calls, visits and social events.
•
Remember your dive gear that’s languishing in the
garage. Have it serviced, and do a trial run in a pool
before using it in open water. I had to replace my
buoyancy compensator, wetsuit, gauges and several
hoses. Everything else needed only a tune-up.
My doctors and therapists established benchmarks
for returning to diving: completing chemotherapy and
treatments, tissue healing, recovery from complex
reconstruction and rebuilding sufficient strength and
range of motion for diving. My oncologist approved me
for diving while I still had a port implanted in my chest.
“Your attitude, enthusiasm and determination to
return to diving were a great part of your spectacular
recovery,” my physical therapist told me. “After your first
dive, you quickly moved to another level of wellness.”
My reconstruction involved a deep inferior epigastric
perforators (DIEP) flap, which is a complex 10-hour
plastic surgery and microsurgery to sculpt flaps of
abdominal tissue into breasts. Candidates for breast
implants require less downtime for recovery — two to
three months compared to my six months.
This summer, with my doctor’s permission, I dived
often, during the day and at night, shallower than 40
feet. I am planning many more dives, including a trip
to Tahiti in 2017. My next challenges are returning to
deeper diving and to again assist Diveheart divers for
their (and my) physical and psychological therapeutic
benefit and for the joy of being underwater.
AD
106
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FALL 2016
MEMBER
TO MEMBER
SHARE YOUR STORY
Do you have tips, advice, travel strategies, dive techniques,
lessons learned or other words of wisdom to share with your
fellow divers?
Alert Diver
wants your story! Email it to
M2M@dan.org,or mail it to “Member to Member,” c/o
Alert
Diver
, 6 W. Colony Place, Durham, NC 27705.
RETURNING TO DIVING
GETTING BACK UNDERWATER AFTER
COMPLEX BREAST CANCER SURGERY
By Connie Crowther
RACHEL HANCOCK DAVIS