DrDom

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Everything posted by DrDom

  1. I'm willing to put beer on the line you are very happy with it. Trust your surgeon, not some lay person with a vendetta against LASIK. If you needed more encouragement, procedures like this carry a lot of liability from lawsuit. If he tells you its "OK" to skydive and you have a problem and sue he knows he opens himself to HUGE liability. So he is even going as far to betting a few million dollars that you'll be fine. Let me tell you something about doctors (if any of you other doctors out there want to chime in I'd love to hear it). Doctors are not these malicious money grabbers you think they are. They do procedures they believe in and care about their patients. I've see it from the other side and also as a patient. They will not bullshit you, and they have to contend with people bored enough to search the internet for conspiracy theories and angry patients who simply had a bad outcome. LASIK has come a long way, and there is a reason it is still widely done without issues. Sure, there are a few bad cases and they are VERY vocal. But this is about risk management and mitigation... kind of like skydiving. All procedures carry risk. Since you guys insist on bogus websites, here is one for you about the "evils of PRK". chew on that: http://www.lasikcomplications.com/PRK-complications.htm I can post as much internet drabble that says PRK is worse. Your argument is not based on science, training, or experience... unless you're an ophthalmologist and I missed that somewhere. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  2. Beware that you are a guinea pig for your lasik doctor! When he told you the possibility about writing an article about jumpers, it prove the information available about lasik and jumpers is very little. Lasik flap never fully heals and that is an huge contra-indication for skydivers. Do you have a science based resource for LASIK being a contraindication in skydiving? I can not find one and as a doctor I do not see it as a true contraindication, only a consideration. As for those websites, they are biased garbage but we see this a lot in healthcare. You know once we did not use an electrical union in our hospital and they made up websites about every doctor and administrator on staff talking about how "evil" they are. I was noted as having a malpractice claim against me. In reality I was a witness in a med-mal case but they didnt care. You can post anything you want on the internet. Yes there is a flap that never completely heals. THere are bones that never completely heal after surgery. My valve will never "completely" heal. Are these all contraindicated? No. I've talked to two professionals who have no financial interest in this particular case (and don't know any skydivers) and said it should not be an issue, and you should still wear eye protection. So, lay off the OP, he made his decision and just because you did not convince him to go "your way" doesn't mean you need to harass him. His decision is not yours. I believe he is making the right decision. My wife got LASIK, the doc who did her LASIK had it, and much like that other office discussed, most of the staff (nobody there wearing glasses... not a coincidence). 1/2 of the nursing staff in my ER have had it, and 3 of the 8 docs (the rest of us just did not need it). Lay off, he made his decision. Any discussion after that is just obnoxiousness. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  3. I'm 99% sure SNE has free recurrency training but not 100%. I thought they told me I could do it in the spring. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  4. There is a MUCH higher bar to entry for soloing a plane than jumping out of one. It took me some 16 hours behind the controls to solo a plane and someone had to be comfortable with you having ridden in the plane for extended times training you. After my FJC (6-8 hours?) I was tossed out of a plane with two instructors who had never seen me in freefall, had some ability to control or dump me, and I had never operated a canopy except a few seconds on my tandem The difference should be pretty obvious. For us, the learning curve is as steep, but you're left alone rather quickly after your ground school. No FAA regulated group would let you solo an airplane on your first flight, even with a radio strapped to your head. Skydiving to model aviation would have to require so many "hours" (jumps? minutes?) of tandem instruction before a first jump. Could you imagine making 10 tandem jumps before your FJC and 2 instructor dive? So we can not use the model of aviation completely for skydiving. But with that in mind, are there responsible 14 year olds? sure. Are there irresponsible 20-somethings? You bet. I think this was in response to the outcry from the fatality recently and much like everything in the US we response defensively instead of evidence based. It probably would have been more reasonable to make membership in the USPA 18+ but allow DZO's to train those under 18 and maybe not license them until their 18th birthday? Or if so inclined DIRECTLY mirror the FAA pilot requirements and use it as a "tried and true design". So if USPA makes this statement could a non USPA DZ still train people? I don't know what the right and wrong answer is. WE have a high risk sport, and there IS some liability for the DZ, instructor, and USPA in how they write the rules. We also combine that with a super litigious society. Despite my insistence that aviation and skydiving are not entirely the same, I will say it always struck me as odd you could solo at 14, glider license at 16, PP at 17, but you can't even do a tandem until your 18th birthday. My rant, your mileage may vary. I'm still new to jumping but not flying and as such, I'm just playing a bit of devil's advocate as well. As a pure libertarian I say "Parent's and DZO's decision" and leave it at that. But what do I know? I think the whole world should operate under the guise of "if you're not hurting anyone else..." You are not the contents of your wallet.
  5. I would jump there just for the fact it is called Jerry's Skydiving Circus... thats awesome. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  6. I'm not a lawyer but when I worked at nightclubs in college we used to have gear "walk off" all the time. Usually when they let some new sound guy in to "fix" the system that I tuned into awesomeness. Anyhow, this is why you keep records of anything you have that has value and can be stolen/resold (i.e. firearms, cars, jewelry, skydive gear). if you have that record file a police complaint since the evidence is in your favour. We used to get our amps back all the time since we had the purchase receipts You are not the contents of your wallet.
  7. I can not speak for all places but they were very up front about the difference between "group" and "single" animals. I told him I'd pay for a whole days worth of cremations if he could make sure we got only our felines' ashes, he said "no need to overpay, I do this for everyone". My vet was like yours and reassured us "I'd have mine there because I know they do this". I'd trust your vet, last thing they want is to be the bad guy, and vets are a special kind of people (probably more compassionate than most human doctors...) That is wonderful that your vet will accomodate you in that way... you are doing the last kind thing you will be able to do for your faithful friend. He will appreicate it both in this life and the next. We should all be so fortunate to have that much love given to us in our lives and in our passing. It is the right thing, the kind thing. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  8. This is what we did for both Gia and Diego; I held them on my lap and patted them for hours, the vet came by, we spend a little more time just patting them and then we allowed them to pass peacefully with our faces as their final memories of life. It was heartbreaking, but they lived in our home, and I wanted them to move to the next life in our home. Its what I would want for myself, i'd do them no different. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  9. I'm singing the song "If I had a Million Dollars" right now. What a beauty. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  10. I was trying to sort it out from SDR but it wasnt clicking, this ^^^ makes more sense and is fascinating... Thanks for the patience in the question, I know it is a bit amateur but hearing the lingo is one thing, understanding it is another :) You are not the contents of your wallet.
  11. Hey guys, I keep hearing all about "angle diving" and have no idea what it is. I understand what tracking dives are and I thought that it was the same but then I was listening to SDR and heard them listed separately. Help a noob out... what does this terminology mean? Cheers! You are not the contents of your wallet.
  12. There is nothing wrong with tunnel time and nothing wrong with retaking your FJC. Cost sucks, yes, but what is the downside? None that I can imagine honestly. The plus? Hear something twice and retain more. The sport is expensive, if you're into it, redoing FJC and/or AFF is kind of good for me. Your mileage may vary. You're still in the sky! Pretend its really boring RW if you need ;) You are not the contents of your wallet.
  13. I was one jump from cleared solo.. 6 mos off... I'll be back in FJC I think from what they had on the wall last year (if I read it right) Not the worst thing really. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  14. Good find. It escaped me the lack of venous return from the lower extremities not moving... it would have a similar effect to compressing the femoral veins as well! Cuts the venous return and preload... This totally makes sense though and if that is the ONLY reason for the syncope then the user could probably pump the legs a bit under canopy and improve return. Compressive stockings could also help but it would just decrease the venous capacitance... Staying well hydrated will also help since it increases volume. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  15. It is not quite that black and white of a decision though. Many people get LASIK who will never be in a sport event or anything high risk. My wife is one of those people. She is a nurse. She was getting eye irritation from contacts and her glasses were perpetually uncomfortable and made it hard for her to enjoy being outdoors (uncomfortable glasses or possibly lost/dirty contacts). She got LASIK and is happy as she could ever be. Now, for high risk sports its a risk/benefit issue. Risk of complication (early or late) vs a potential lifetime of being free of required lenses. for the record, a lot of docs have LASIK, both eye specialists and non. Everyone needs to weigh their options and risks. If it were me I'd wear glasses but admittedly this is because I usually wear safety glasses at work to prevent the blood/vomit/spit in the eyes. I don't know how I'd feel having to wear glasses all the time skydiving or paramotoring. Contacts arent an option... I could never touch my eye. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  16. I have to say this is a very interesting topic. Assuming it is the leg straps I'm not sure why compressing the artery would be the issue. 2 arteries to the legs, no more no less. If you clamp them you then would just redirect blood flow around the body like when we cross-clamp an aorta during trauma to save the heart and brain. Maybe the real pathology is actually the femoral veins being compressed. You would then have flow INTO the legs but there would be no return, it would starve the voena cava and decrease preload which would lower cardiac output under Starling's law, and you could black out. Fascinating, I wonder how one would even study it... maybe I could get a hanging harness and try it... You are not the contents of your wallet.
  17. I do not have time to address all your statements but I'll highlight a few. Medicine is as much experience as it is research. I gave you an opinion from two clinicians that practice in the field in question, its the best I can provide. The opinions are theirs and not my own (the entire post was from what they informed me since I know only a surface of the LASIK/PRK/Glasses debate). At the end of the day I got the info free, and distributed it free, and you get what you pay for. I could never go through either procedure because anything with the eye freaks me out. Therefore looking too deep doesn't interest me, I tried to do a favour by asking. I clearly will not do that again. What is the reality? Both work, both have problems. Just like everything else in medicine. I did not take you as mean spirited, you used evidence and that is what my field is founded on. Your tone is admittedly a bit condescending and unappreciated but it is your own and the internet is rife with misinterpreted tone so I don't take it to heart. I don't have the time or inclination to sort through the data since its outside of my field of Emergency Medicine; so I asked an expert(s). I can only assume they know the literature, and I fed that forward. If you want to yell at them I'll give them the info. As for my knowledge of DoD, that, again, was from one of my ophthalmology colleague who works part time for the VA system. Again, their professional opinion was that the kind of injury that would result in flap dislodgement would already have caused a fairly tragic eye injury. Their opinion, not mine. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  18. phenylephrine I assume; its a good idea. If you want a more long term solution you could even use Flonase (Fluticasone) daily. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  19. You do your friend proud. Clearly you love him. And I'm sure he knows it. Sometimes that's all that matters. Spoil him, hold him, and you'll never forget him. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  20. If you look at the connector links they're 'mismatched' as far as the line set lengths left to right...canopy was twisted in a way it's now loaded funky, may or may not be able to get her untwisted period- much less waste a lotta time playing. Dan did the check list . .spread the risers - held 'em together - kicked...SEE YA! Gotta admire the effort put in to correct it. He did it all and at the end you could almost see him thinking "damn... damndamndamn... oh well..." You are not the contents of your wallet.
  21. Theres so many variables its tough. Really its about how much pain you have. Maybe try wind tunnel time first; work back into hanging harness, see how your pain is. Go to a rock gym and climb up (test strength) and then let go at the top (can you handle a harness) Ask yourself how much it will hurt if you hard open. Or have to PLF. I was trying to find my journal after my surgery, I remember it was 6 months before I went back to weights but was doing cardio before that. In hindsight, if you were my patient... or if it were me again... I'd probably take at least 6 months off, maybe more. I feel like that much surgery and recovery... I'd not want to jeopardize it. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  22. I've been in healthcare for 15 years now, started in EMS and then as an ER Doc where death is easily part of the job. I had to take a sabbatical after my cats passed. I was a mess for weeks. No matter what you see or what you are used to, losing a pet is one of the hardest things we will endure. But allowing your loved one to not suffer is the best thing you can do. These animals come into our lives so we can love them intensely for a short time, and they can give us their love in return. I am hoping all my loved pets can someday be buried with myself and my wife. Its another great reason for cremation since we also wish to be cremated. Since we have no children and the rest of our families will be gone by then... we hope to be buried in a place we both love, and a tree planed so that we may become part of the world again. Now i'm getting all choked up. I'm so sorry about your dog; its heartbreaking and there is simply nothing I could say to make it easier.... but remember you're not alone here and you're making the right decision after doing everything possible. I'm so sorry... You are not the contents of your wallet.
  23. DrDom

    I'm gettin' old

    That's never been more true than now. That, and all these street pharmacists trying to make them in their trailers... the quality suffers compared to a proper lab. Or plant derived drugs. You are not the contents of your wallet.
  24. And the cool thing is: Billy is never distracted by the screaming of his passengers! I've had to wipe clean the passenger seat a couple times. That's the way it goes sometimes. I do that every time I have a passenger. I bet you would have done it even if they hadn't piddled. You are not the contents of your wallet.