Getting back to life-- scuba diving anyone?

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backtohealth
backtohealth Member Posts: 8
edited November 2015 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hi All,

I was diagnosed with stage 2b breast cancer last august. Like in a roller coaster I had mastectomy with lymphonode dissection, chemio, doctor visits, reconstruction and since February 14 I am on Tamoxifen and trying to go back to normal life w/o focusing on the possibility of a relapse.

I am back to work and to the gym and I would like to go back scuba diving but I am afraid that this may cause lymphedema. There are no published scientific data, so I am wondering if anybody has done it without sequelae. I know this is something small that I could avoid but is something that I love to do and it would be great if I knew I can go back w/o risks…. any experience to share?



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  • octogirl
    octogirl Member Posts: 2,804
    edited November 2015

    Hi backtohealth:

    Always great to meet another scuba diver here! We even have a thread, though it hasn't been active, but it might be a good place to post the question:

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/58/topics...

    I haven't had lymphedema, knock on wood, but for what it is worth, my bs sent me to be evaluated to a certified LE therapist,who was quite pleased to hear I was a diver! She told me that based on her observation of her patients, scuba is an excellent activity for those with LE, or at risk for LE: first of all, the coolness of the water helps, and secondly, the compression of a wetsuit helps. She also told me that while I would need to be careful LIFTING a tank, that carry a tank on my back in the water shouldn't be an issue. This was all good news to me, because I am not going to give up diving even if it does increase my risk!

    My only big concern would be whether diving with LE would increase the chance of DCS, since any swelling may increase the chance of nitrogen bubbles getting stuck in the swollen location. I've tried to research that question and DAN really doesn't have any data to speak of. My solution will be to dive very conservatively: will try to stay shallow, stay well within my computer limits, and do very long safety stops. At my age (62) all of the above is probably a good idea in any case...

    Let us know how the diving goes!

    Octogirl

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  • backtohealth
    backtohealth Member Posts: 8
    edited November 2015

    Thanks Octogirl! Happy to hear that I am not completely crazy in worrying about this! You are right this is the wrong section, I am going to repost in a more appropriate board section

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