jumping after a collapsed lung

[moodyskydiver 0]

So after all of my talking about my past memories of jumping and how great that time in my life was my husband has gone from "its cool but its not something I'd ever want to do" to "I'd like to do a tandem when we get our tax refund $ in".

Heres the deal, his lung spontaneously collapsed (Spontaneous Pneumothorax) in 1991.Luckily the doctors were able to get it fixed without any form of surgery.But after his release from the hospital his doctor told him to take it easy and gave him a list of "Do's and Don't".On that list,it said he could not ride in a non-pressurized airplane for atleast 5 years because the walls of his chest and his lungs had to have time to heal and regain strength.Well,his doctor has since passed away and he has a new doc who we havent talked to about this yet.Its been well over 5 years.Do you think he'd be safe doing a tandem?

Note: I'm not asking for medical advice here in place of going to a professional.We are going to talk to his doc and the S&TA at the DZ.I just wanted a general opinion from those who understand the physical requirements of jumping first hand.With a general idea I'll be more able to answer my husband's questions and concerns.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."

[AggieDave 6]

PM Beachbum, he's quite versed in the way of the broken lung and skydiving. That and he's a cool guy, so if you haven't met him you'll enjoy meeting him.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[moodyskydiver 0]

Cool, thanks I'll do that.After we get some solid info from a doctor I'm still going to talk to Todd about it (because you KNOW I'm taking him the Aggieland.)

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."

[Beachbum 0]

ok ... first thing BEFORE all the explanation, etc. ... my take would be that yes ... he ought to be good to go if it's been that long. Now, a bit of explanation as to why I feel that way:

Thanks to the below stuff, I've done a lot of research into collapsed lungs and jumping. I had a total collapse - left side - in the fall of '03 ... spontaneous (which I've since learned really means they just don't know enough to pinpoint the cause ... any collapse that isn't the result of a puncture or severe chest trauma is called spontaneous!!). They just did the typical thing ... put a suction tube in between the lung and the chest wall to reinflate it (and for those who thought otherwise ... no ... they do NOT blow it back up!). My lung doc (the specialist at the hospital) told me skydiving was definitely out for good. I wasn't willing to accept that, so I waited about a year (until near time for the AOT memorial boogie) and started looking for other opinions. I was fortunate enough to talk to a guy who works with NASA and helps train their flight surgeons. He told me that if I got a detailed CT scan done and it came up clean, that I should be ok. I did that, and did a few jumps then ... no problems. THEN ... late last year I was working over in N.O. processing Katrina claims as an adjustor ... was in too many moldy houses (another matter !!) and started to experience shortness of breath and coughing ... just before christmas it collapsed again. The docs told me that since it had done it a 2nd time, odds of a 3rd were over 90% (check online sources, and they'll bear that out), and that I would have to get a procedure done to keep it from going anymore. I started checking into that ... before I GOT it ... the 3rd collapse happened ... so it became NOW. Surgery in march ... I was back in the air in May ... the recovery after the surgery is much less than if you do not have it. I've got 12 jumps "post surgery" ... and so far ... so good!! The thing I really learned from it was that you need to find the right doctor. The guy I had the first time in ... very conservative, cover-his-ass type ... wasn't willing to say I could do much of anything afterward. The doc I had this time had a much different attitude, and we discussed jumping ... he said as long as the surgery worked I should be ok. But ... he DID keep stressing that I still have to be concerned about my other lung possibly going ... LOL ... I told him to stop bringing that up and it'd be just fine!
If you let me know when he will show up to do it, I'll come up to lend moral support, and discuss it with him if he would like. Any problem that might take place would most likely be on the ride to altitude ... when the air is expanding due to the drop in pressure. That is when any blebs (the little bubbles in the lining of the lung) that are weak could be a problem. Freefall is ok, since you are coming back down and increasing the pressure once again (which would shrink any blebs).

As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

[moodyskydiver 0]

Thanks for all the good info.I (we) really appreciate it.

I'll let you know when we go so I can meet you and thank you in person(buy you a beer atleast).Most likely it will be sometime next spring when we get him up in the air since he wants to set aside tax refund $ for it.But I've got about 2-3 other people including his mom who want to go as a group and make a day of it.Hopefully those people wont back out on me like most people like to do when you start getting a group together to do first tandems.

It'll just be good to be hanging around a DZ again even though I cant jump with them.Jeez,its been 3 years since I've been to a DZ.

"...just an earthbound misfit, I."