A life altering dive
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:52 pm
The short version: I was pulled out of the water, unresponsive, lungs filled with water, not breathing. I received CPR and survived.
If you care about details: Last Monday night I did the popular manta dive off the Kona coast of Hawaii. I hit it off with a group of physicians on the boat and we joked around on the way out. I have done this before, and had found it an easy dive. Upon entering the water, I found I was struggling to keep up on the surface swim. Wierd. During the dive I was breathing hard and consuming air. Unusual. While swimming back to the boat underwater, I realized something was wrong so I surfaced and called for help from a nearby diver. My next memory was awakening on the deck of the speeding boat with my new doctor friends leaning over me and delighted that I was awake. One was crying. Speaking through the oxygen mask, I thanked them. They told me later that one chose not to make the dive so he was on the boat when they brought me aboard. He started CPR. The others came aboard and relieved him. They told my wife it was the longest they had ever given CPR and have the patient recover. Next came an ambulance ride to the Kona ER. This was the most frightening time of this whole episode. The worst car crash on the island in years and a gun shot victim put these guys on overload. One of the boat crew brought Sharon to my ER station. I tried to tell her I loved her and realized I couldn't speak nor move. I was desparate for air but couldn't breathe. I knew I was losing consciousness and thought,"This is it." The staff scrambled with drugs in my IV and I started to recover. They told me I had atrial fibrillation. The air ambulance flew me to the nearest cardio care unit on Maui. I am now home. I didn't expect this. I have been going to the gym and doing a hard hour of cardio on an exercise bike followed by weights. On alternate days I do yoga and some form of exercise. In fact, one of the nurses when attaching the blood pressure sleeve to my arm quipped,"I see Obama hasn't taken your guns." The catheter angiogram found no blockages and my arteries clean. My prognosis looks good, my enzymes never spiked and only slightly elevated. The echocardiogram was "essentially normal" after two days. The cardiologist says I should have complete recovery, but he has no explanation for what caused this. Diving is out for now, but right now that is unimportant. I awoke this morning next to the woman I love. My sons and grandkids have all contacted me. My mom didn't have to bury another son. My extremely sore chest from the CPR reminds me to be thankful. I could write a book about all of the professionals and complete strangers who have helped Sharon and me make it through the last week. I will miss my friends that I know only through diving.
-Curt
If you care about details: Last Monday night I did the popular manta dive off the Kona coast of Hawaii. I hit it off with a group of physicians on the boat and we joked around on the way out. I have done this before, and had found it an easy dive. Upon entering the water, I found I was struggling to keep up on the surface swim. Wierd. During the dive I was breathing hard and consuming air. Unusual. While swimming back to the boat underwater, I realized something was wrong so I surfaced and called for help from a nearby diver. My next memory was awakening on the deck of the speeding boat with my new doctor friends leaning over me and delighted that I was awake. One was crying. Speaking through the oxygen mask, I thanked them. They told me later that one chose not to make the dive so he was on the boat when they brought me aboard. He started CPR. The others came aboard and relieved him. They told my wife it was the longest they had ever given CPR and have the patient recover. Next came an ambulance ride to the Kona ER. This was the most frightening time of this whole episode. The worst car crash on the island in years and a gun shot victim put these guys on overload. One of the boat crew brought Sharon to my ER station. I tried to tell her I loved her and realized I couldn't speak nor move. I was desparate for air but couldn't breathe. I knew I was losing consciousness and thought,"This is it." The staff scrambled with drugs in my IV and I started to recover. They told me I had atrial fibrillation. The air ambulance flew me to the nearest cardio care unit on Maui. I am now home. I didn't expect this. I have been going to the gym and doing a hard hour of cardio on an exercise bike followed by weights. On alternate days I do yoga and some form of exercise. In fact, one of the nurses when attaching the blood pressure sleeve to my arm quipped,"I see Obama hasn't taken your guns." The catheter angiogram found no blockages and my arteries clean. My prognosis looks good, my enzymes never spiked and only slightly elevated. The echocardiogram was "essentially normal" after two days. The cardiologist says I should have complete recovery, but he has no explanation for what caused this. Diving is out for now, but right now that is unimportant. I awoke this morning next to the woman I love. My sons and grandkids have all contacted me. My mom didn't have to bury another son. My extremely sore chest from the CPR reminds me to be thankful. I could write a book about all of the professionals and complete strangers who have helped Sharon and me make it through the last week. I will miss my friends that I know only through diving.
-Curt
for those that helped you and 
that you are ok!