Beachbum

yep ... we've emailed back and forth a couple of times. It's encouraging to know at least one person who has had this happen to them, and jumped quite a bit afterward without any problems. He is a lot younger than I am, but I don't intend to let that bother me ... LOL!! Thanks again for putting me in touch with him. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

No problem ... I most definitely understand the severity of this happening. One of my friends knows a few docs that jump, and is going to hook me up with one of them when the time comes that I think I MAY be ready to consider going airborn again. I still figure to find a flight surgeon also ... ought to be one around this area somewhere (Houston area) that has jumped ... with NASA and all here. I do appreciate your concern ... thanks. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

when I went thru AFF, the JM told me to just do it like you would in water ... worked well for me. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

interesting stuff ... and it looks simple enough for a rigger to make the belt changes to aircraft ... no need for highly expensive mods?? Maybe it's just where I've been, but it seems most of the larger planes I've been on have bench seats such that you have your back to the exterior of the plane ... are there tests that you know of on that seating arrangement? As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

this WAS a total collapse ... they showed me the x-ray ... just a little bag smaller than my fist hanging in the middle of the cavity the lung SHOULD be filling. They did the tube/suction, etc. to reinflate it ... was in the hospital for 5 days. Just having the needles stuck in between your ribs to deaden so they can put that tube in is STRONG motivation to try to avoid a repeat ... LOL!!! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

dunno where you got the idea I was writing off my doc ... no way am I QUITE that stupid ... LOL!! But .. I did want to hear info from other jumpers who have had this happen to them or people they know, and whether or not they were able to get back to jumping at a later date ... etc. I sure don't expect someone (doctor or otherwise) to stick their neck out by offering diagnosis, treatment, followup procedures or anything else on here ... I just asked for information and experiences ... and yes, I think a skydiving site is JUST the place for that. My experiences with doctors as a group is that they have a tendency to say "stop that" entirely too much for my taste. It is hard to find the ones who understand the drive to do things, and are willing to take more of a "well, you CAN keep doing it, if you do this, that, and the other ... and here are the possible consequences, things you can do to help decrease odds of problems, etc." Results of my friday visit are that I am still not allowed to do diddly squat for another 2 1/2 weeks ... basically nothing more strenuous than walking. Then I get to start back with very light exercise and VERY slowly work back up to try to get back into some sorta shape. I will be allowed to bike and swim .. that should help (if my knee will tolerate much biking, that is ... LOL). I asked about the possibility (WAY down the road from now) of hop-n-pops, since that way you skip the rapid pressure change ... said to come back and discuss it when I think I am TO that point, but he really doesn't have a clue about skydiving overall, so I think I will try to talk to a good flight surgeon when I think I'm ready to consider actually doing it. Thanks again for all the responses ... looks like I'm outta the air for a LONG time, if not forever ... As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

this is the part that is really troubling to me ... got to be SOMETHING that causes these ... especially if it is well known that people built like me are prone to them ... just hasn't been enough research done on it yet, perhaps. It's maddening that they can't tell me A) what caused it B) what to do to prevent it happening again (other than doing very little that I like to do for enjoyment!) Hope to have at least a FEW more answers after friday ... go in for a followup visit, and now that I'm off the pain meds, can ask some reasonable questions of the doc (he's the head of that department at the hospital). As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

I did that (land going backward) a couple of times on the student gear while going thru AFF ... 2nd time danged near ran it out backward ... LOL!! Same sort of thing ... no small student gear, and I only weigh about 145 (the dz had an 18 mph waiver because it is WIDE open). I agree that it sucks, but also agree that it doesn't have to be all that dangerous ... just inconvenient unless the wind is really strong, in which case students shouldn't be in the air anyway. I'm not so sure about trying to plf backward ... I did that on the first one, and found it is not easy to do backward even if you're planning on it from plenty high up. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

Thanks for all the input ...

Well ... not sure this is the best spot for this one, but seemed more appropriate than the general forum! I just got out of the hospital and am recovering from a collapsed lung. This was what is called a spontaneous collapse (as opposed to one caused by a trauma of some sort, or a puncture wound). It seems that tall skinny white boys such as myself are prone to this, according to the doctors I had working on me ... . They are also saying I have a 40% chance of it recurring no matter how well I take care of myself. I'm not supposed to do ANYTHING (literally ... ) for a month ... then I can start light exercise. Anyhow ... they're all telling me my jumping days are over with ... . I am not ready to concede this just yet ... tho I do expect that even if I AM able to return to the sky it will be after a very significant (year or more) delay. I just wanted to see if anyone with any real medical knowledge knows anything about any other jumpers who have gone thru this and been able to continue jumping at a later date. thanks! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

Dave ... sure am glad everyone is ok ... and hope you all had a change of britches handy .. I'm kinda glad I have car problems ... or I may have been up there this afternoon. If I can get the problem with the jeep figure out and fixed I'll be up to see ya'll sunday sometime. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

that's too vague to answer realistically ... you gotta classify what the diet has been, or something ... too much spicy stuff and you need more paper to keep it from soaking thru on the first pass ... too much meat and little else and you don't need much at all ... then there's always the range in between which is HOPEFULLY more normal ... As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

yeah ... I read that too ... yaks must be expensive up there ... I could get 3 for that money here!! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

I'd say naked, but you don't really want more stalkers. Lisa, take it from someone who had the unfortunate experience of seeing Dave boarding for a naked jump ... (luckily he did NOT turn around .. ) ... you don't want a naked pic . On the other hand ... Dave would probably welcome all stalkers .. LOL! Dave ... enjoyed seeing ya'll again .. will be working on those chords for ya as soon as I get hold of the tape. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

hmmm ... not sure I WANT to do this ... make sure the affected partner is NOT on top if you do ... ... "uh ... honey ... you're nose is dripping on me ... " As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

Was manning our booth at the fishing show and stumbled across this thing ... already labelled with my handle ... but they refused to let me drive if off for some reason http://users3.ev1.net/~Bchbum/Beachbum.jpg As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

JC ... thanks for the info! I've kinda written off afternoon jaunts down to Spaceland on weekdays after doing some once and discovering just HOW bad traffic was for me to get home in (out toward Katy). I think that from now on, that will be weekends only unless I can get out there early enough to LEAVE early!! Dave .. great! .. will see ya'll up there sometime after lunch - thanks for the info.

Anyone know if Aggieland will be flying tomorrow? Weather for this weekend isn't looking too good ... want to get one in this week before it hits the fan (sounds like thursday as of now). With Waller not open the first part of the week anymore .. I'd rather drive up there than deal with the evening traffic to get home from Spaceland. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

dangit!! ... and I was SOOO sure it was true ... ROFL!! Very few of these types of stories ARE true ... but that doesn't make them any less humorous to me!

Marine Corps General Reinwald was interviewed on the radio the other day by a female interviewer concerning guns and children. Regardless of how you feel about gun control this is one of the best comeback lines of all time. It is a portion of a National Public Radio (NPR) interview between the female broadcaster and US Marine Corps General Reinwald as he was preparing to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base? GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it? GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children? GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see how. We will be teaching them proper rifle discipline before they even touch a firearm. FEMALE INTERVIEWER: But you're equipping them to become violent killers. GENERAL REINWALD: Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you? The radio went silent and the interview ended. As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

nah ... 18 year old dreams don't do nearly as well starting with a 47 year old bod!! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

worthless weekend is right ... cloudy and cold here ... and I finally got my altimeter back from the shop this week .. . It's gotta be sunny somewhere ... SOMEBODY will get to jump! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

LOL .. no doubt about that ... no way it was THAT cold down here. Think I'd have to do the neopreme face mask and the whole works up in Co. Thanks! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?

The rigger I had used since I got into this moved this summer, and the new rigger has had me do something which I think is a VERY good idea when repack time rolls around. He has me put the rig on and pop the reserve. This is good in more ways than one ... gets me more familiar with getting the handle loose from the velcro, etc., and also with just how hard I have to pull to activate it. Does anyone else's rigger have them do this? If not, you might consider requesting that they let you! As long as you are happy with yourself ... who cares what the rest of the world thinks?