OK, so last Sunday myself and Chas49 arranged to meet at Stoney for a couple of simple dives. Nothing strenuous, nothing near the edge of tables. Just bimbles, and a chance for me to do weight checks on a new drysuit, as well as rigging up my singles and testing them ready for a holiday.
So we both arrived at Stoney at just after 9:30 and got into the bottom car park. Great!
We very casually kitted up, and decided to take the same approach as we had a few weeks ago with another TDF'er in that the best bet to do my weight checks would be for me to kit up, take the extra weight down to the waters edge, and get in and do the weight checks with Chas49 suited up on the quayside carefully watching, and ready to hand weights down.
So I got in with what I assumed wouldn't be enough weight, and although I could just get my head under, I couldn't get down. I added a kilo and got down to 4m, but it was obvious on the fin pivots etc, that I wouldn't be staying down for long, so I surfaced, added another kilo and successfully descended back down to 4m. I stayed there about a minute checking things over, and all seemed OK. So I exited the water and sat on the slipway nice and comfortably whilst Chas49 went and finished kitting up.
About ten minutes later, we were both in the water and ready to descend. The plan here was to descend to 4-5m and do bubble checks on each other before continuing, as I was on a completely different set of kit and a new suit, and had been swapping regs etc around. We descended and did the bubble check, I knew I had a very small leak from my BCD hose at the connector end, but Chas49 spotted a leak on the cylinder/1st stage, which we couldn't communicate properly, so after about 2 minutes, we surfaced, discussed it and decided to continue the dive.
Back down we go, and we made our way down the road, along the bottom of the wall at 20-21m over to the Wessex, before slowly coming back up the wall before completing a safety stop at 6m, and gently working upwards. I knew I was going to struggle to hold the last few metres as I hadn't allowed quite enough weight, and sure enough from about 3.5 metres, I knew I wasn't going to hold it, so very gently let myself surface, making sure to exhale etc. No problems. Total dive time 33 minutes, max depth 21.0m and about 15 minutes of the dive at depth.
We left the water and spent the interval messing around with my kit, I replaced the O ring on the 1st stage, which cured the leak from there, and greased the nipple on the BCD inflator which nicely sorted that minor dribble.
A couple of cups of coffee later from the flask, and sandwiches, we decided to kit up and do another dive to make sure my kit was now functioning properly, and to allow me to get some more practice in the new suit etc, with another kilo added. We were a bit cold on the surface, but once we were in the water I felt pretty good warmthwise. The surface interval was 1 hour and 21 minutes, not as long as I normally have, but not ridiculously short either.
The second dive went without incident, a very similar profile to the first one, total dive time 35 mins, max depth 21.3 and only about 10 minutes at depth. No problems with the ascent, or the safety stop, but at 2.5 metres having completed everything I had 55 bar left in the cylinder and was still a fraction light, so again I gently surfaced, no rush, I just wasn't going to halt that gentle ascent.
We left the water, and over the next 20-30 minutes put all the kit away, I stayed in the suit so as not to soak my clothes putting the kit away.
Finally I went to remove the suit, and as I pulled the neck seal over my head, I felt a shap pain in my right shoulder, exactly as if I had tweaked a muscle, or trapped a nerve. It blooming well hurt. At the second attempt I removed the neck seal and my right arm, but got Chas49 to help remove the left arm (I had freed it from the suit, but it hurt to reach my right arm over that far).
I didn't consider it to be anything that a muscle or nerve niggle, and we went to the bar for a single pint before heading home. In the bar the shoulder was sore, but only if I moved it to certain positions, it didn't hurt otherwise, exactly like a pulled muscle.
We went home, and I was quite uncomfortable overnight, as I sleep on that side, and all day Monday was a similar score at work. I was still 100% convinved that it was a tweaked muscle or nerve.
Tuesday at work, just after lunch I noticed a change in the feeling in my shoulder, it changed from being sore when I moved to certain positions, to being sore all the time, and also seemed to start feeling hot in the area around it. For the first time I began to wonder if this could be something other than a standard tweak. This is the first time I even considered a DCI hit.
When nothing changed in the next hour or so, I dug out the number for the advice line for the Midland and London Diving Chambers and made the call for advice. I gave the profiles, and a few minutes later the Doctor there gave me a phone call back and asked me some more questions. He immediately told me that it sounded like a stereotype of a bend, and was concerned enough to ask me to head over to the chamber at Rugby.
I finished work 20 minutes or so later, and went home, grabbed the log book and computer, and headed over to Rugby to the Midland Diving Chamber.
On arrival at the chamber, I was introduced to the team who had been assembled on the assumption that I would need to be potted, and we went through all the standard tests, and I gave full details of the profiles, ascents etc. The Doctor immediately comfirmed that I would be being recompressed, so after donning the scrubs, went in to the chamber for a standard table 62 (I think its called) on the Royal Navy Tables, but with an extension. It consisted of being compressed to 18 metres, then doing five 20 minute spells on O2, with 5 minute air breaks. After the fifth O2 spell I had a 15 minute air break, and the pizza arrived. (Choice of pizza or chinese for those who are interested!). Somewhere in this area of the treatment there was a very slow ascent to 9 metres, then it was time for another hour on O2, another 15 minute air break and then an hour and a half before a very slow surfacing over the final thirty minutes. (Apologies for any inaccuracies in the profile but it was late at night by now and my brain was a little addled and I just do what I'm told when something like that is happenning!) I think the complete profile was 5 hours and 45 minutes.
The Doctor did the neuro tests again, and concluded that my motor and co-ordination etc was improved from how it was when I had arrived, only a small change, and I had not even noticed that they were at all impaired!
Over the treatment there was a marked, although not complete improvement in my shoulder, but the improvement proves it was indeed a bend.
I then went home, and into work this morning, before returning at lunchtime for a second treatment, consisting of 3 x 30 minute periods on O2 at 14 metres, with a slow ascent during the last spell.
This has improved the shoulder still further, although I can still feel it as I type, and I am back in the chamber for a third treatment in the morning, which I think is going to be the same profile as the second one.