|
45
After experiencing pain and loss of
sensation in his legs after diving,
Allan Jones underwent follow-up
tests that revealed displaced discs
in his spine.
physician for a follow-up exam upon returning home.
This was also a requirement of my volunteer work at
the aquarium, which required a medical release after
any pressure-related accident or overnight hospital stay.
Upon returning home I underwent a previously
scheduled procedure to correct a minor abdominal hernia.
After several weeks spent recuperating from that surgery
I began working with a local hyperbaric doctor to obtain
medical clearance for diving. He recommended a full
spine MRI. The MRI showed some bulging discs in my
thoracic spine. (Editor’s note: Bulging discs are not caused
by decompression stress or decompression sickness.)
In mid-October we traveled to the north coast of
Papua for two weeks of diving with whale sharks.
During this trip I dived very conservatively, but I did
enter and exit the water in full scuba gear.
After I returned home I took my medical reports to
my family doctor and scheduled an appointment with
an orthopedist who specializes in investigative and
therapeutic spine treatments. Upon seeing the MRI he
said, “There is nothing I can do for you; you need to see a
surgeon immediately. You have two discs, T8/9 and T9/10,
compressing your spinal cord, and if they continue to move
you will be paralyzed from the waist down.” Ten days later
I was in surgery for the removal of the two discs and fusion
of three vertebrae with mechanical reinforcement.
I have always been active, diving for 35 years and
off-road motorcycle racing for 16. In all that time, I
experienced back pain only for the few minutes after the
dive in June. It was not an easy decision to go into surgery
without having pain, but when faced with the potential of
being paralyzed I knew it was the right choice.
It has now been 60 days since my operation, and
while I am sore from the procedure, which included
rib cutting and lung deflation, I remain free of spine
pain. The experience left me with many questions,
including: Was it actually decompression sickness
after my dive, or were the displaced discs irritated by
heavy dive gear or the massage I had at the resort the
day before? If I had been diving EAN would I have
experienced the symptoms? I do not have the answers
to these questions, and I am no longer seeking them.
My wife and I are longtime DAN® members. Renewing
our membership and insurance was something we did
automatically each year without thinking about the
ramifications of a dive accident. But I can assure you
that when I felt the pain after that dive, the foremost
thoughts in my mind were, “oxygen, chamber and DAN.”
The hospital billed DAN directly for all the costs of
my treatment, and upon returning home I submitted
and was fully reimbursed for the costs of the boat trips
between the resort and the hospital. There were no
questions about these costs — “just send us the receipt,”
they said. DAN fully paid for the entire two-day episode.
Later this year when I return to the water, I will modify
my dives to include always breathing EAN using air profiles
(with an eye on the maximum operating depth of the mix)
and skipping dives on the third day of extended trips. I am
exceedingly grateful to the medical personnel who did not
just write off my symptoms as simply DCS and conduct no
further diagnostics. Had they not examined my situation in
greater detail, I might have slipped a disc at some later date
and permanently damaged my spine.
For the past 19 years DAN has been a silent partner
on our trips, but when I needed help, DAN was there
for me.
AD
