Brooke and I just returned from Dr. Neubauer's Ocean Medical Center, in Florida. We were there 3 months and Brooke received 120 treatments: 2 times per day, 6 days per week. She had very good results. Brooke was walking with a leg/foot brace and using a cane before treatments, but was able to come home without either. Her gait is remarkably better. We have noticed her spasticity reduced in her leg and somewhat in her arm. Her PT who has been with her 3 years remarked that her gait improved more this summer than it had in the past 2 years. Her voice is stronger and her speech is faster. Her memory and balance are very much improved.

She has been getting cranio sacral therapy from a physician here in our home town for 2 years and he just saw her yesterday for the first time since her HBOT. He saw very positive results and noticed a significant degree of healing and changes in Brooke. (He had been fairly skeptical when we left, so it was great hearing his positive feedback.)

Dr. Neubauer referred Brooke to Dr. Brucker's biofeedback program in Miami while we were there. It was remarkable. I would strongly urge anyone with any neuro/physical impairments to check it out. Dr. Neubauer is a very kind and compassionate man and I felt Brooke was in excellent hands. His technicians were very knowledgable and considerate of all of the patients they treated. She really got top-notch care.

Jan Mother of Brooke age 19 Motor Vehicle Accident /Traumatic Brain Injury 7/96

Report about Hannah after her hyperbaric oxygen treatment from the Physical Therapist, the Speech Pathologist and the Occupational Therapist

Overall hypertonicity is reduced, with no loss in head and trunk control.

Less overflow and associated reactions with speech and with upper extremity retraction pattern.

Much more spontaneous use of right upper extremity and hand.

Greater endurance with assisted walking and more motivation to do so.

Easier to achieve optimal alignment in positions, particularly half-kneeling.

Easier onset of voicing.

Rib cage appears more descended and properly angled; therefore scapula better aligned on trunk.

Less nasality in phonation.

More normal respiratory pattern without breath holding.

Sensory patterns appear to be less. She appears less jumpy when trying new things.

Left hand use is more graded during grasp and release.

Therapy activities require less input from the therapist than prior.

Hannah is more motivated for independence and for trying things on command.

More consistent ability to keep arms down on tray at rest.

Easier and more consistent in hand to mouth patterns during feeding (less humeral extension interfering with successful independent feeding).

We returned from Florida a few weeks ago. Gabi received 37 treatments and she is doing great. Many thanks to Dr. Michael Capria and his office/staff. He was supportive during the treatments and we appreciated his patience, kindness and knowledgeable expertise. Our first experience with HBOT, Dr. Mike made a pleasant one.

Gabi started back at school. She transitioned well which is progress for her. Her second day of school, her teacher sent us a note stating Gabi said her name, counted to five and was communicating with others. Last year in school, Gabi didn't communicate much at all. This was great news to us. We have noticed she is vocalizing more at home as well. We are able to communicate more with her. She is following multi-step instructions. We were all excited to be back home and look forward to getting more treatments for Gabi.

My son Garrett has just finished 80 HBO treatments and the changes are amazing (thanks to God.). We were seeing changes at 20 treatments also, but the major ones we saw were at about 60.(pulling up to standing on his own, long attention span, verbal communication increased, etc, etc,!) Keep up the treatments ....... hopefully one day every cerebral palsy and brain injured child will have this opportunity. If there is anyone who needs any info from me please contact me through my email address.

I would like to help in the pursuit to helping this being an approved treatment for CP in the U.S.

Faye Miller

To Dr.Carolyne Fife, President of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society

Today I watched the two presentations by Drs. Harch and James at the advanced HBO symposium in April of this year. You said, "Scans are irrelevant; how they do functionally tells the story--like, can they feed themselves--"

My son began HBOT on May 17th. On Father's day he picked up a fork and began eating with it for the first time. His SPECT-scans showed a change in the functioning of his brain. Three years ago a Johns-Hopkins recommended neurologist told us Jimmy's dysfunction was because brain tissue was either "dead or missing".

That neurologist was wrong.

The tissue is not dead, and it's not missing--and right now in your heart--in your heart as a wife and a mother (In the video I could see the wedding band on your finger)-- and in your heart as a doctor you know what that tissue has been doing until it was exposed to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

It's been asleep.

You also said, "It's impossible to be against the salvage of brain cells in an acute setting." If you believe that, then stop acting like a pediatric neurologist. You took an oath to help people in need. Help them.

You also asked the question, "We've got to decide whether we're practicing medicine or we're doing research." Doctors like Harch and James took their oath seriously and they've been doing research because nobody else will--nobody else, as in neurologists. This is not your problem. You already know hyperbaric oxygen therapy works for brain-injury. This is Neurology's Problem. You've got the greatest asset on your side: The Truth--and that's God. And if God is for you, who can be against you.

Again, if you believe your words, "Scans are irrelevant; how they do functionally tells the story--like, can they feed themselves--" go look at some great emotion pictures from the online Before-HBO/After-HBO

video found at http://www.hyperbaric-oxygen.com/headinjury.html

What the UHMS needs is a good strong PR push. You're sitting on top of the sort of thing they give out Nobel Prizes for. You don't have the problem here. It's Neurology and the rest of medicine that has the problem. In your last comments you spoke of the frustration in just trying to get hyperbaric oxygen therapy mentioned in medical schools. Do you realise how crazy that is? Oxygen is not just any element--it is The Key Element--yet people are getting out of medical school--medical school--and they don't know the first thing about the one element that without which healing would be impossible.

So practice medicine. Open the floodgates. Advise doctors to treat. Okay some protocols. Let the insurance companies reimburse. Let patients and their families experience changed lives for the better. You'll be on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the BBC, Time, Newsweek--you name it.

But the folks that will be getting the questions will be the neurologists and the rest of medicine and the insurance companies.

My son Matthew has had 41 treatments with Susan Rodriguez of Rapid Recovery, San Bernadino, CA. USA. His speech has improved a great deal. This started to happen the day after his 40th treatment. Prior to the treatment, he was able to say maybe 5 words. He would never try to copy what someone was trying to get him to say. Or if he did it would be very infrequently. Now he has about 100 words, and will try to copy just about everything he hears. Conversation around him, someone trying to get him to say a word, or the TV or radio. When he gets tired his words start to become very hard to understand. Is this normal? Some days he is clearer when speaking than other days. Is this normal? Have you heard of this type of improvement reversing?

His personally has improved very much. He is so much happier. Everyone has noticed it, including his therapists. I would think this is because he is communicating with the human race now. What do you think, if you have an opinion?

The main purpose of the email is ask about Botox injections (Botulinum Toxin). Susan Rodriguez thought I should run this by you. I noticed little improvement in his tone.

He is crawling better, in that the cross patterning is more defined. But any tone release is really not there. I would like to try the injections prior to another round of HBOT. I feel that while he is finally starting to feel better about everything and is so happy that this would be a good time to try. The results could be positive, since he has such a good attitude. He is only 3 years and does not understand this all, but he is such a cherful little boy now. A true pleasure to be around, lots of giggles, and interactive playful play with his twin sister and everyone he knows. I also though that a good gait study could be done while under the affects of Botox. Please advise.

Also, Susan has said that we might get another round of treatments on weekends starting in September due to my schedule. 2 on Friday and 2 on Saturday for a total of 40 in about 10 weekends.

Ian’s diagnosis is * Cerebral Palsy associated with neonatal kernikterus * mixed form of

CP with spastic quadriplegia and choreoathetosis * Reflux, g-tube (placed Jan 27, 1999), inflamed oesophagus

We were very pleased with his improvement. To understand his improvements you would need to know Ian before treatments. He had little ability to control any movement, had very poor head control, didn't interact with many people and when he did it was for a very limited time, He would just look at things and not be able to tell his body how to get anything so he wasn't interested for very long looking at a toy. He loved videos though (something that didn't ask him to get it) He didn't make many sounds except screaming. Could make a weak mm and uh sound but that was all. He could not make any other consonant sounds. He has fluctuating tone so he was either very stiff or very floppy. He couldn't maintain any stability to trunk when in a flexed sitting position. He had to be standing using his spasticity to maintain trunk and head up.

His main improvements were :

**increased alertness-able to listen better, look me in the eye, understand more and follow simple commands-" Look at me. Get this toy. Put it in your mouth. Push the button. Stop screaming" He interacts with people more, interacts with computer and he can hit a switch to activate and change pictures, hit toys and switches to activate toys.

**better head control-able to lift head up when asked, better able to maintain it and for a longer time, 5 min. on lap -able to hold head up when in sitting position.

**better trunk control-able to hold trunk more stable, pull arms in with intent to balance and maintain balance for 5 seconds.

**increased fine motor skill, can put hand to mouth with concentrated effort, reach for toy, hold on to toy for several minutes, wiggle fingers for “hi”

**Babbles more- effort made to say words, says a strained ma and poo tries to repeat other words but can't form them yet. Can say d, g, h, p sounds

**can lie on tummy where before he would just go “ballistic” extending all extremities in extensor tone-can sleep on tummy now--can also pull up knees and push and scoot forward a bit.

**Can suck on candy sucker-better mouth control, can move food around in mouth better and less gagging.

These are the main improvements and we see continual improvement in all these skill he has inquired. We are planning our next 40 treatments in July.

Tad and Susan Johnson

My son Micah, was diagnosed with mild-moderate CP around 11 months old. At 14 months (early April into mid May), I took him to England for 40 HBOT treatments. I know, I always love to hear Moms report back upon returning from treatments, so let me share with you the significant improvements we have seen in our little guy since coming home. Upon returning his Physical and Speech Therapist noticed dramatic improvements and I requested them to document these in letter format for my files. The Physical Therapist said, and I quote, "I notice dramatic improvements in his upper extremities" she also noticed that the extensor tone in upper extremities was gone. She said in her letter, "before treatments when placed in quadruped position, Micah resisted position crying, extending into tall kneel completely dominated by his tone. After returning from leave, when placed in quadruped position Micah was able to maintain this position for approximately two minutes with minimal assistance and without any influence of extensor tone and even actively extending his head and trunk enabling him to reach out to a toy." She also writes "he is able to sit for one minute independently, and when placed in supported standing using a “Theraball,” Micah is able to fully weight bear on the soles of both feet, extend his knees, and actively extend his head and trunk without exhibiting extensor tone. He was able to keep both hands in a relaxed position enabling him to interact with toys."

Micah's Speech Therapist noted, "Micah now demonstrates the ability to tolerate upright seating for up to 45 minutes" -prior HBO 15 minutes max, she writes "he now has increased vocalization, cooing, smiling and gesturing." She notes "he now tolerates room temperature food and bottles"- prior to HBO all had to be warmed.

From the Mom now ,

Micah this past week has even tolerated cold bottles straight out of the fridge. This past week he sat up for 2 minutes on several different occasions - prior to HBO could only sit up by himself for 30 seconds and then he would promptly fall right over. He can do 5-6 Medik exercises he could not do prior to HBO. He uses his hands a lot more and outstretches his arms now fully extending them -prior to HBO he would not voluntarily outstretch his arms- he would keep them bent. He is also much, much more verbal now.

I have done a before and after video showing these changes and have the Therapist's letters in my files. We are very excited with Micah's improvements and have already booked for 40 more treatments in late July early August.

Aged 56 and 59 at the time of treatment

My husband and I both suffer from different forms of Cerebral Palsy. We have at present, undergone 13 sessions of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBO) and are already identifyng significant improvement in our quality of life, which can only be attributed to the treatment itself, as after 50 years of living with our conditions, they had not been evident before.

There has been a noticeable improvement concerning the power of my husband’s voice. Whereas before people struggled to understand him which could lead to misunderstanding and therefore frustration on his part, now he is finding increasing confidence in his communication skills. This is very important in his public as well as private life. This area has also been referred to by working colleagues who do not know about the treatment and so provides a totally independent and valid observation.

Linked in with this is also the improvement in head control. . The treatment has helped strengthen his neck muscles and so raised his head up and together with his strengthened voice, this to has had a positive effect on his self confidence in public and the way other people approach him, now with much more confidence themselves.

Shaving is now also easier. He can now shave one handed rather than needed the support of both hands due to his hand tremor. This has benefits both in terms of saving him time and energy.

Snoring has been a long-term problem leading to interrupted sleep. Since the treatment I have observed noticeable improvement in his quality of sleep and fitness and sense of well being in the day.

The main improvement I have noticed in myself concerns my improved balance and ease of movements. As a person who suffers from rheumatism I have found that the negative effects of this in terms of hampering my movement have decreased. My walking has also become more even whereas before I tended to plod a bit I now walk much more evenly which is better for my hips and feel that my level of flexibility has been maintained and improved since the treatment.

This was a 17 year old male patient who had been hospitalized for one year at a major rehabilitation center in Texas. His mother heard of HBO treatment and insisted that he be brought for treatment. The institution allowed this. The patient suffered from akinetic mutism, marked spasticity and had received excellent care since his accident, over a year prior to treatment. The patient’s scans before and after hyperbaric oxygen again showed recoverable brain tissue. He was treated with HBO along with continued physical therapy and made a marked recovery. He was able to speak again. His intelligence, which had been masked was still intact and upon return to the hospital he was able to name everyone and their positions at the institution. The patient then took twenty further hyperbaric treatments at another HBO treatment center closer to home and the last we heard, the mother said that she had picked him up at his high school graduation dance at 2 o’clock in the morning. The patient had made a complete return to society.

I have a 5 year son, Trent, with Cerebral Palsy spastic quadraplegia and Periventricular Leukomalacia. We have just completed 35 sessions of HBOT in Southern California. We saw improvements in the following areas. 1) Substantial reduction in spasticity 2) Increase in cognitive abilities 3) Increase in language 4) Minor increase in balance and coordination. 5) Increase in awareness/understanding of computers.

We did not see any improvements in drooling. He was in the chamber once a day, 5 days a week. It took approximately 8 minutes to get to 1.5 ATA and we spent 1 hour at pressure. My son tolerated this very well. He learned to clear his ears the first week.

We just got back from being out all day, 8/10/99. Matthew and Stephanie went to their therapy today at Henry Mayo Hospital. The Speech Pathologist was so impressed she is going to write up her evaluation of Matty and credit HBO to the truly speedy progress he has made since she last saw him approximately, June 24th, l999. He is doing so well Susan. Did I tell you that he says my name now? In fact, he can say just about every thing asked. He is improving every day. It is so incredible. He is even changing in his personality. He is so happy, he is getting more patient and less frustrated. The staff at Henry Mayo Hospital even noticed it, and my Dad cannot mention it enough. He is really blossoming into a happy little guy. How can people doubt this treatment, or deny it when it helps even one child in any way.

From the Physical Therapist and Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist

Overall hypertonicity is reduced, with no loss in head and trunk control.

Less overflow and associated reactions with speech and with upper extremity retraction pattern.

Much more spontaneous use of right upper extremity and hand.

Greater endurance with assisted walking and more motivation to do so.

Easier to achieve optimal alignment in positions, particularly half-kneeling.

Easier onset of voicing.

Rib cage appears more descended and properly angled; therefore scapula better aligned on trunk.

Less nasality in phonation.

More normal respiratory pattern without breath holding.

Sensory patterns appear to be less. She appears less jumpy when trying new things.

Left hand use is more graded during grasp and release.

Therapy activities require less input from the therapist than prior.

Hannah is more motivated for independence and for trying things on command.

More consistent ability to keep arms down on tray at rest.

Easier and more consistent in hand to mouth patterns during feeding (less humeral extension interfering with successful independent feeding).

My son Henry has now done 65 sessions of HBO. He was ABOUT to get a Baclofen pump due to his severe spasticity (He was on 3 antispasmodics--Baclofen, Dantrolene and Klonipin at adult doses and e is only 9 years old). Henry has this spasticity as he suffered a stroke and cardiac arrest after his 6th open heart surgery (May 1998). He is a spastic paraplegic, mute, g-tube with fairly good cognition. He has a very sick heart and will require more open heart surgery in the next 2-8 years (pacemaker, artificial mitral valve, subaortic stenosis, failing aortic valve). I am an ICU nurse. I decided to do HBO to hopefully help Henry's spasticity and maybe his heart. I purposefully did not tell his cardiologist nor his rehab doctor of my plans for HBO. I know his cardiologist very well and knew he would scare me into not doing it. I feel I know his rehab doc well enough that I could guess he would be wary of HBO as well. These doctors both work at U.C. San Francisco, a major city hospital and teaching university. So off we went. Henry had realitively good improvement after the first 35 sessions (Perlmutter Center, Naples Fl.) He had an echocardiogram 2 months prior to HBO which showed an ejection fraction of 35% (poor functioning heart-would need surgery to correct aortic insufficiency in next 6 months to 2 years). He had an echocardiogram 3 weeks after HBO showing an ejection fraction of 45%!!!!! Dramatic improvement for this heart! I then

told his cardiologist about the HBO, he was amazed. We go back for another echo (every 3 months) in September and I am hoping for an even better result. His neuro exam has improved--another story. My point is that you need to follow your heart and your common sense. Many, many doctors are unfamiliar with HBO and it's results. (Oh, yeah, thanks to HBO I was able to wean Henry off Baclofen and am almost off Klonipin --his spasticity WAS reduced). I am a nurse but I did HBO as a mother and you know what I can't imagine any organ or system in the body oxygen could hurt--and remember, Henry has a pacemaker and an artificial mitral valve, more metal I am sure than a Baclofen pump. YES! HBO did help my son. After the first 33 sessions he "woke up" (became much, much more alert and lost his "stroked out" look), focused better, ate better, swallowed better, had minor improvements with O.T. and more improvements with P.T. With speech (he was nonverbal) he improved by being able to do new movements with his tongue ( a "tongue bowl" and licking whipped cream from a tongue blade). After his last 31 sessions he is now sounding out words (still indistinguishable for the most part but he has BREATH in his sounds and a willingness or ability to make sounds--a marked improvement). This improved his quality of life and I feel it was worth every penny. I want to do more but can't afford it for now.

Spastic Diplegia. born 17-12-1993

We started HBO treatment on 22-1-1999. Within the first 30 treatments, her muscles seemed to be more supple, her speech improved, her confidence level was raised. We did another 40 treatments with a few breaks in-between treatments due to influenza. We then took a break of 6 weeks. We restarted treatment in June 1999. By mid-July Catiana started walking with her walking frame. Her legs crossed slightly sometimes, she managed to sit by herself and still does, picking herself up by holding onto tables, chairs or her walking frame. She even manages to lift herself onto a toilet and get off by herself. Early September, 1999 her legs started to cross more. In her walking frame she was not walking, but hopping on both legs, a week later she was complaining of 'pins' under the sole of her feet. She would only crawl to her destination. If we forced her to use her walking frame which she would do, she complained again of 'pins' under her feet - even at creche she would complain and rather crawl.

To date, we have done 102 HBO treatments. We stopped treatment on 10-9-1999 but we will continue after a months break.

This is a report documenting Diana's progress from late April, May and June , which is after her treatments began. I have been Diana's teacher for the last two years and I can report that Diana has made more progress in these last two months than at anytime previously. In general, Diana has been more alert and responsive in her school environment and she has been sleeping less.

More specifically, In regards to her IEP goals Diana has met or exceeded several of them. Overall her gross Muscle strength and control has increased. I attribute Diana's new found success to her oxygen therapy, which has allowed greater access, and benefit form her school intervention activities.

Gross Motor: She is now able maintain a sitting position unassisted in a pre-school chair for several seconds, she can tolerate Taylor sitting while using her own hands to prop herself up for several minutes at a time. She is using her trunk muscles to lift her torso off the table or ground, in other words she is trying to sit up. She was unable to do any of these activities two months ago unless she had full physical support.

Fine Motor: During morning circle Diana is able to hold instruments without, dropping them for several seconds and she is reaching and grasping for objects with much more intent and purpose. The most exciting aspect of Diana's exceptional progress is that for all of her short life Diana has had everything done to her or for her, Now for the first time Diana is showing some independence and self determination, which in turn, positively affects her self esteem and motivation for the future learning.

Paula C. Miller, EDCU specialist

Classroom teacher.

Communication Specialist Report:

I have been Diana's communication specialist for the pas two years and have observed more improvement in the past two months than at anytime before. Diana's IEP goals in the area of communication relate to using switches independently. This is an important step leading to the use of an augmentative communication device in the future. In the past tow months, Diana has become much more proficient at activating the radio, the computer, various toys and voice output using Big Mac, Big Red, and Jellybean switches. When activation the computer and radio, her movements can be described as very purposeful. For example, when activating the radio she will purposely disengage in touching the switch when a commercial begins as opposed to when the music is playing. Frequently other children will join her at the computer and when given a verbal prompt she will hit the switch to play music for her friends, Diana has been babbling much more than before and Diana's mother reports that she says "wa" before drinking water, and that she has said "mama" on a few occasions. Recently, Diana laughed for the first time at school when tickled by her teacher and classroom aide. Over all a significant amount of growth is evident since she began hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Diana's recent ability to communicate through vocalizations and body language is very exciting for her mother and teachers.

Cristina Stryker, Communication Specialist

Vision specialist report:

Diana has shown significant improvement in her visual awareness since she began treatments her head control has improved and allowed her to gather information from her environment visually. She will look at an object of interest and will also shift gaze. She will also visually locate or relocate objects. She willvisually search for something that has been moved. Diana is able to track but time must be allowed for her eyes to move toward the object. Diana does track to both sides when interested. Diana is consistently aware of light sources and does react to the sun. She will turn away from light sources that are too bright.Her use of vision should be encouraged. Diana has been seen for her vision needs since infancy.

She had no consistent visual responses until she began these treatments. Her responses to visual stimuli have allowed her to gain form her school and home experiences. This is exciting not only for Diana but also for her parent and teachers as well.

Toni Gardner

I have some great news about Connor. We just had an audiology appointment for Connor yesterday and his hearing is better in both ears. His hearing is better than it was when he was first diagtnosed with a hearing loss in 1997. I had hoped to have an improvement in some area that was pretty remarkable. Something the doctors could not deny. I don’t care how we get back into the chamber just as long as we do. The para that worked with Connor last year is working with him again and said he has no coughing spells or acting tired when he walks to gym or lunch, like he did last year.

Connor’s Mother

Now for the GREAT news - Susan, you would not BELIEVE the improvements in Julia, or maybe you would! She's talking so well now and she hasn't had a seizure in almost 6 weeks!!! NONE!! NADA!!!! ZIPPO!!!!!!!! And she's stopped repeating - AMAZING!!! And she's so much more curious now about EVERYTHING!!! We can't even go to the supermarket without her wanting to touch and smell every piece of produce in the store, asking 'what's this? what's that?' And something else - she's rediscovered her tears!!! Oh my God, can she cry up a storm now, at the drop of a hat!! It's like this release or something. It's not that she's unhappy, just that she's so much more in touch with her feelings now. It's so wonderful, honest to God!!! She hadn't cried for YEARS!!! It's just the most precious thing to see her tears. I hope that doesn't sound weird. I'm not making her cry just to see them LOL. She just cries so easily now, whenever she feels 'sad', as she says. And her talking is just amazing now. The aphasia has improved dramatically!!! Her teachers are in shock, Oh, almost forgot to ask - is this related to new blood vessels forming, do you think? You said within two months of her last treatment we'd see the biggest improvements, and it's been like clockwork!!!

The changes in Julia are even more than I hoped for, Susan! She's memorising things like you wouldn't believe! Check this out - she was at her dad's in New Hampshire last week and wanted to call me, so instead of dialling like he usually does, he wrote the phone # down for Julia to dial. Well, she stares at the paper for about 15 seconds, then turned away from it and dialled the # !!!!! She actually memorised the 11 digits within 15 seconds!!!! And not only that, but she STILL remembers the phone # !!!!! That's just a small sample of the amazing improvements in her cognition, memory, moods, EVERYTHING!!! She's even DANCING with me now!!! I put on some Tracy Chapman and the two of us go to town!!

I am so eternally grateful to you!!!

Linda, Julia’s Mother

I know some of you are considering Botox injections for your child's spasticity. I just want to give you a personal experience.

It seems that Botox is now being recommended as the first course of treatment by many doctors and PTs to reduce spasticity. It was recommended for Rory for his abductors (he had scissoring) and his left foot (it turned in rather severely). I was told he would likely have to have it again and this did not necessarily preclude surgery.

We took him to Bowman Gray in Winston-Salem to Dr. Koman (I think this is his name) for a second opinion since he was the doctor who first began using Botox to treat spasticity. After examining Rory he told us not to ever give him Botox, that it wouldn't help him one bit. His comment was, "Why put him through all that for little, or no improvement." He said his already considerably contractures were permanent and the only recourse was surgery. Rory also had severe lordosis and could not lie down flat on his back. The doctor recommended hip surgery, foot surgery, and possibly abductor surgery -- not all at the same time, of course, although he wanted to do the hips and left foot at the same time. A feeding tube was also recommended since he would have been in a full body cast for so long and cannot eat lying down.

Eye surgery had been previously recommended because of alternating strabismus.

All of these recommendations overwhelmed us but we were told there were no other possibly choices and if we left everything alone he would get even worse and would eventually be in pain. We scheduled the surgery for the feeding tube and also his hips and foot. Then we heard about HBOT. Although the surgeries would have been fully paid for with our insurance and HBOT and the trips to California would not, we decided to try anything rather than put him through all the surgeries. We took him to Monterey October 99 and he had 40 HBOTs. The first thing we noticed were his eyes were focusing so much better. He started looking at people as they came into the room and started turning his head to voices. His head control and upper body control started improving and he could sit in my lap and on the potty for short periods of time without total support from me. His hands started relaxing (they had opened up from some previous therapy) and he started using his left hand more. On the plane coming back to NC from California he spit his pureed sweet potatoes all over my white sweater and then ate my (finely chopped up) steak! He has really never been able to chew like this before and feeding him was more like, 'suck, choke, swallow.'

In February we took him back to Monterey for 40 more treatments. After 20 treatments we noticed that his left foot was completely straight for the first time since his injury and after about 30 treatments we realised that the severe lordosis was almost completely gone and we could now put him flat on his back. Now he could sit in my lap supporting his head and upper body for up to 20 minutes. These are HUGE improvements and he has not had either Botox or any kind of surgeries. He just returned from Miracle Mountain where he had 40 more HBOs and we have seen even more improvements. He can now lift a cup and spoon to his mouth 16 times before tiring. His head control and upper body strength are improving daily. His speech, which is limited to a few words is becoming more consistent. He is definitely communicating to us about what foods he wants, when he has to go on the potty, when he is through eating, and when he wants to go to bed (or doesn't, as the case may be). No, he is not walking, but his life (and ours) has been improved dramatically. He is proud of himself and what he can do and he tries harder because he knows some things are now possible that weren't before. He no longer has alternating strabismus, extreme contractures of both hands and left foot, severe lordosis, or scissoring. All of this was accomplished with NO SURGERY AND NO BOTOX. I understand that, in some cases, surgery may be the only answer but I would recommend that, if your child has any of the problems that faced Rory, if there is any way you can, try HBO first.

Shoshana

My son injury per CT scan "punctate hemorrhages seen in the left basal ganglia, thalamus and periventricular white matter with small amount of surrounding edema."

He was born at 31 weeks gestation & was diagnosed with the "bleed" at age 5 days.

He was age 2.5 when we started HBOT. He did show great physical improvements - - increased awareness & usage of right extremity, explosion of vocabulary & speech patterns, decreased spasticity, more even gait, improvement in fine motor skills . . .Started noticing these changes after about 20 txs, with the greatest

improvements seen during the 2nd set of 40 tx. This correlated with the changes we saw on his SPECT scan.

Dr. Harch is not "on-line" but is available to parents for phone consultations. As far as I know, he is still collecting data & has not published any results from the current study, although does have some published articles on related topics. He is a VERY dedicated physician who has spent many hours studying HBOT & has helped countless people with minimal compensation.

My son is participating in Dr. Paul Harch's on-going study of HBOT/Brain Injury. The protocol followed by him is base-line SPECT, one HBOT tx, SPECT, evaluate results. We saw minimal change in SPECT after one tx but chose to continue. After 40 tx, SPECT showed minimal (but some) improvement; after 80

tx SPECT changes were very obvious to even my un-trained eye. The SPECT scans are read by the radiologist at the hospital where they are done.

We are continuing HBOT on a booster basis: 5-10 tx every 6-8 weeks & will eventually obtain another SPECT scan. Some in the medical community can continue to debate whether this is an appropriate indication/application of HBOT. Meanwhile, my son will continue to receive HBOT because I can see the change it has made in his life.

Sincerely, Beth H.

I can say so many good things about HBOT, I could just talk forever about all the improvements I have seen in my son, but I just wanted to quickly talk about the other improvement in my son that doesn't get mentioned much. Self esteem. My son is 6 years old with the diagnosis of stroke in utero, CP, Right Hemiplegia. He has had two separate sessions of HBOT. He did 38 treatments the first time and then another 32 a couple of months ago at Rapid Recovery Hyperbarics. (I have lot's of nice comments about Susan too.) After the first 38 we saw lots of improvements in him, but most of it was lost to regression. With the second set of treatments all the improvements came back and then some. (it's been two months now, with no regression, looks permanent this time.) It's just amazing to see your son do things he hasn't ever been able to do before. It brings tears to my eyes every time. But the most important thing, the thing I really didn't think about, is how proud he is of himself. I can't even begin to explain the feeling that go through me when I see my son smiling and giggling because he just but together a lego car for the first time. Or when he climbed up that ladder to the slide at the play ground that he could never do without my help. He stands up there on top of that slide with his chin in the air and a grin from ear to ear. How great it must feel for him not to have to ask for help with his pants at school when he need to go to the bathroom. Or how about the fact that he can cut his own food at dinner time, or buckling his own seat belt in the car. I never see my son anymore screaming "wait!" with tears rolling down his cheeks as his friends speed away on their bikes. That's right, he's right up there with the rest of them now. HBOT not only has given my son some more physical control over his body, but it has also boosted his self esteem. He has so much self confidence now, he is always running in the house asking for Band-Aids because he is doing courageous things that he never would have tried before. In short, he is being a little boy. I sit outside and just watch him and joy just fills my heart. What I gift my son has received, a gift that I always have dreamed would be given to him.

Tracy

My daughter Haley and I just returned from 90 hours of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Mission Viejo, CA. Haley is 6 years old, with left sided spastic, hemiparetic cerebral palsy as a result of stroke she had at birth. I have been reading about and studying HBO for more than a year. After speaking to several parents who's children with CP had experienced success, we decided to take the plunge. To avoid disappointment, I would not allow myself to build false hopes about how Haley would benefit from HBO. After talking to other parents, I felt safe assuming that we may get some physical improvements such as increased range of motion and decreased spasticity. I prayed to myself that we'd see some cognitive improvements, but I was so afraid of setting myself up for disappointment, that I voiced those hopes to no one. Including my husband.

The first thing I noticed was a decrease in her spasticity. Her third and fourth fingers of her left hand have always been "stuck" together with spasticity. After a few weeks of HBOT, she discovered one day that she could spread her fingers at will. She is not drawing her left arm up to her chest and fisting as often and she is carrying it more relaxed at her side. Her gait has improved. She is able to supinate her wrist for the first time. Overall, she is brighter eyed, and is generally carrying herself better.

Cognitively, we are seeing many changes. Her attention span and reading comprehension have increased dramatically. Many of these changes have been very subtle and some of the improvements in her cognition weren't obvious to me in California since I was with her constantly. It wasn't until we got home, that my friends and family started raving about how well she was communicating. A family friend and physician was one of those most impressed. He informally assessed her, and recently when I asked him to verbalize to me what he saw, he had the following comments. "In all honesty, I'd have to have objective information (testing); but I could easily say that I see remarkable improvements in socialization, ambulation, language and comprehension." Since our return, her service providers have commented

about how dramatically Haley's attention span has increased. Before the HBO, Haley could only write her first name, unaided. Now she can write her full name, address and phone number unaided. Her Occupational Therapist remarked to me that Haley could only write 2 or 3 letters of the alphabet during a 20 minute session before we left. Since we've returned, she consistently has written the entire alphabet during the same period. On her 7th birthday, for the first time, she wrote two sentences about her birthday all by herself. They were phonetically spelled, but I could tell exactly what they said. She has started writing stories during her creative writing class. Her full time special circumstances aid, Shelley, comments daily about how focused she is, and how well she stays on task. She is completing all of her daily work during class time. Her improvements have surpassed anything that I could have ever hoped for or dreamed.

Haley has always been very compliant for the most part....although, since we've been home, I've noticed she's become a bit more precocious, manipulative, and a bit more argumentative....one of the prices for improved cognition, perhaps? She is better able to organize her thoughts and consequently her conversations have more meaning and depth. You don't have to sit and rack your brains trying to figure out what in the world she is talking about. Several people have said that they can now carry on conversations with Haley that were not possible before HBO. One of the more exciting things for me was when, for the first time, she actually picked up on her brother's sarcasm. Not only did she pick up on it, she also joined him in teasing their dad. While these changes have been such a gift to us, there has also been a down side. Haley is becoming more aware of her differences from her peers. Since she's become more observant, she's picking up on social cues for the first time. Previously if her school mates were unkind or dismissed her, she would just shrug it off. Now, it hurts her feelings. Before HBO, she probably wouldn't have noticed that she didn't get an invitation to a class mates birthday party. Now she expresses sadness at not being invited. It breaks my heart to see her hurt, but I also realize that it's also a part of growing up that all children must experience.

Before we left for California, Haley's service providers through the school district did various assessments on her. She had IQ testing, Physical Therapy assessments, Occupational Therapy assessments, and speech assessments. They are all eager to re-test her to see if there are changes but it will be quite some time before those tests can be given to her again. We are scheduled to have an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting with her staff next week, and I am anxious to see their written assessments and progress reports.

Common sense told me that working her mind during therapy would be beneficial. Since Haley is 6 and petite, I was able to go into the monoplace chamber with her every day. We worked very hard on fine motor co-ordination (pop beads, puzzles, etc.), math work, the Hooked on Phonics program, writing skills, spelling, and everything I could possibly come up with to stimulate those newly firing neurons. I've been reminded by a couple of physicians, that we'll never know whether it was all the attention, the PT, or the HBOT that made Haley better. I only care that she is improving. I believe that while the other therapies certainly contributed to her success, the HBOT was the catalyst. Her decreased spasticity, her increased attention span, her more organized thoughts, her reading comprehension as well as her recognition of sarcasm are all things that only could have come as a result of improved brain function. Previous to the HBO, I always assumed that Haley would be dependent upon us and would live at home forever. Now, I am actually feeling like she will be able to live somewhat independently. HBO certainly hasn't been a cure for her CP and her modest IQ, but it has drastically increased her ability to concentrate, thus she's learning at a level we never thought possible.

There are several reasonably priced HBO facilities across the US, and more opening soon. We have a beautiful chamber and a wonderful staff here in Casper, WY but the cost for treatment is prohibitive. There are no physicians here willing to prescribe it for stroke, CP, or brain injuries. Since HBO is not an FDA approved treatment for stroke and brain injury, insurance will not cover it. Traveling to California and paying $75 per hour saved me in excess of $17,000 in HBO costs, but despite these savings, we will be financially strapped for a long time. We also have three other children ages 18, 15, and a 10 year old daughter affected with a chromosome abnormality called Turner's Syndrome. Financially, we probably will not be able to provide Haley with further HBO.

If I had one wish, it would be that all families that wish to try HBOT for their children had it available for an affordable rate. We shouldn't have to mortgage our homes to have access to something that may improve our children's lives. My heartfelt thanks and appreciation go to those physicians who continue to champion for our cause to make this remarkable therapy the standard treatment for CP, brain injuries and other brain

related disorders.

Since the time I originally wrote the story, I've received reports from her Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, and Speech Language Pathologist. Her OT report contains the following: "Haley had made great progress with her attention to task skills. After her HBOT in January, Haley has been able to attend to fine motor and handwriting tasks for 8 to 10 minutes without verbal cues to stay on task. Haley has also made great progress with following directions. She is able to attend for longer periods of time allowing her to follow 2 to 3 step directions without verbal cues."

Her SLP reported the following: Haley was given the Expressive Vocabulary Test 12/99. She scored in the 12th percentile. In May/00, she scored in the 30th percentile on the same test. Her SLP reported the following observations. "Since completion of HBO treatment, Haley seems more focused and animated in the sessions. She follows verbal directions well and is very receptive to therapy activities. Language use and sentence formation appears more sophisticated since the treatments. She is a joy to work with!"

The PT had the following comments, "After the hyperbaric treatment, the first time I worked with Haley, she kept her left arm down by her side and her stride was even. At this time, I see her arm in the flexed position a lot and a shorter stride length on the left than the right. I have to say this is subjective because I did not measure stride length, nor document how long or when her arm was up." She did agree however, that Haley is still carrying herself better than before the treatments.

So there you have it. Yes, I am slightly disappointed that the PT feels that there has been some regression physically, but the cognitive results have only continued to amaze me. Haley is so proud of herself....but not nearly as proud as I am of her.

Tina Jones

Casper, WY

From Robert Hartsoe

A nine year old boy with CP and Autistic, non verbal one month ago, weighed 50 lbs and his Mother could not handle him. He would go into rages and bite his mother until the blood ran. She was covered in bruises. He never watched tv or videos. He could not sit up or communicate. They finished their 32nd treatment today and are headed back to Oregon. The boy is sitting up on his own. He sat at the breakfast table this morning. His Mother's bruises are totally gone. He told his Mother he needed to go "Pottie". He is beginning to talk. He sits through complete hour-long videos with great interest. He has gone from being strapped into a car seat with total support to sitting in the regular seat with a regular seatbelt. Only 3 weeks. What would a second group of treatments do? Who knows, the Mother ran out of money.

Alex's oxygen was compromised for 17 minutes after birth (Due to a doctor puncturing his trachea and collapsing his lungs) resulting in severe spastic quadriplegia. CP Alex is now 9.5 years. Alex who is a verbal, cognitively bright child is quite happy with his progress and so are his OT and PT. Before HBOT Alex was holding his left arm tight to his body and hand fisted. Now the hand is down and open.. He now also has full extension in his right arm (he used to have but has gradually lost it with growth and age) Alex says he feels looser all over and more comfortable.

I must admit I was a bit of a sceptic about HBOT. But my son is living proof that it helped. I WILL recommend HBOT.

Alexandria Finn

Cooper is a 3 1/2-year-old boy who suffered a severe brain injury as a result of a near drowning accident at age 19 months. He was under water at least 5 minutes and without a pulse for 25 minutes. He lost all motor function including the abilities to walk, talk, eat by mouth, and hold up his head. Before beginning Hyperbaric treatments he had regained the ability to eat by mouth, but was still developing these skills. He was also constipated for which he was given mineral oil on a daily basis. His vision was impaired leaving him able to only see certain colors and outlines of pictures. His muscles were very spastic in his arms, back and legs leading him to have a tiny bit of contractures in his arms and scoliosis in his back. He also had a seizure disorder of up to 40 seizures per day that he was on the Ketogenic Diet for and also taking anticonvulsants. He had received nearly 2 year of physical, occupational, and speech therapy. In August 2000 Cooper completed 40 HBO treatments. Though we were not expecting to see changes until he'd received at least 80 treatments, we started to see changes toward the end of this first round. He began focusing his eyes much better and making a lot more eye contact. His nurse, teacher, and therapists noticed that when they would address him he would routinely make eye contact with them. He also began to be less constipated. He started having bowel movements inside the chamber during his treatments and soon after we were able to discontinue the mineral oil altogether. During the month following this first round we noticed more still. Cooper was swallowing better and handling thin liquids better. His sucking improved to

the point that we could give him a bottle! The most exciting changes were in his spasticity. Some days he will be very loose throughout his body. When he's loose he's happy which led to him crying less and less. His arm contractures have been able to be stretched back out. He still has a tendency to have some tight days, but overall he is much looser. He seems more cognitively aware and it's much easier to get him to smile or laugh. The same month after completing the first round of HBO we began an intense home therapy program with Cooper. Within a month he was making improvements. We feel the HBO helped Cooper to be more successful on his home program than he would have been otherwise. He is using his feet to push himself down a ramp and beginning to pick up his head more and more. His eyesight continues to improve as well as his eating. So far, there haven't been any changes in his seizures. We plan on continuing with HBO until Cooper has undergone at least 200 treatments. Susan and the staff at Rapid Recovery Hyperbarics are very caring and do everything possible to make the treatments a pleasant experience!

Bridget Somerville

(Cooper's Mom)

I am a pediatrician who has a four year old daughter with severe cerebral palsy. She has been receiving physical and occupational therapy from the age of 6 months. At the age of 3 she could not sit up unsupported. She was able to say about 35 words with difficulty. She screamed whan she was hungry and would say "miek" when she was thirsty. A distant relative had suffered a stroke which left him completely blind. He was able to regain some vision after hyperbaric oxygen therapy. He called me to tell me that he saw children like mine at the center and encouraged me to take my daughter there. I procrastinated because I wanted to see if there was any data that showed HBOT would work. I then finally enrolled my daughter in a study. Within the first week of HBOT treatments my daughter was able to say "Boos Coos" pertaining to "Blues Clues" a children’s tv show and incredibly she did for 45 minutes. For me that was a small miracle.

She had never focused enough before to watch a tv program. With the completion of 80 treatments, she speaks well over 1000 words and can say 4-5 word sentences. She can indicate her needs and is completely toilet trained. Currently she continues to make improvements daily. I have noticed that when she is receiving treatments she appears to be more and more focused and is able to learn much more. I personally believe that HBOT has made a huge difference in the quality of her life and ours. I believe in it so much that I wanted to make this treatment available to other children and families. My new facility Hudson Valley Hyperbarics in Brewster, NY has the capability to treat all kinds of CP cases and medical conditions. Please feel free to contact me via email PINAMD@aol.com to discuss any of your children’s or families conditions.

Sincerely,

Jo Feingold, M.D. Medical Director Hudson Valley Hyperbarics

We were playing in Kylie’s (Robbie’s sister) room tonight and I sat Robbie up on his but with his legs in front of him (long legged) and he sat for about ½ hour!!!!! I was close by so I could catch him if he was going to fall, but he seemed to be recovering perfectly. He fell over once and laughed. He then whined till I got him back up and stayed there playing with Mr. Potato Head. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! I did not think I would ever see it. He is so close to getting up on his own (to a sit) that this just might do it. He tends to want to keep his right leg bent but he will straighten them both out. I can’t wait to do the next 40 dives. If anyone does not believe that hyperbaric works- I can show them. He is looking so much stronger everyday

now. He is going to show the Doctors the miracles of hyperbaric!

Kim

Real, measureable, improvements is Jimmy: He can now fully communicate. He initiates conversation, not just in two word couplets but with complete sentences joined together in paragraphs. He will sometimes tell us things that take minutes, not moments. His thinking and cognitive skills are above his age.

He can now feed himself.

He can now use his right hand. It no longer hovers in a fist under his chin.

He can push up on his hands and knees.

There are several roadblocks to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. In my opinion:

1. Hyperbaric medicine is not taught at any American medical school—which is pretty ironic. There's no healing, there's no health, there's no life without oxygen. HBOT should be the first thing taught on the first day of medical school; it is the efficient and effective method of delivering oxygen to the body; it is the most fundamental of fundamentals.

Yet it's viewed as quackery by 99.9% of every physician simply because they've never heard of it.

2. The entity that has been granted jurisdiction over the use of Hyperbaric Medicine is the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). The UHMS has a list of 13 indications for HBOT that does not include HBOT for neurological injuries--despite overwhelming evidence of its efficacy.

The reasons for this exclusion are unknown, but it is probably related to reason #1 above. Since neurologists know nothing of HBOT, advocating the use of HBOT for neurological injuries is probably stepping on a lot of professional toes if not flat out stomping on their feet.

3. Because of #1 above, the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) defers all their coverage decisions to the UHMS. HCFA has historically only paid for whatever the UHMS says they should.

4. Also because of #1 above, the insurance companies are in turn also unfamiliar with what should and should not be covered for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and so they follow whatever HCFA does, i.e., the blind leading the blind.

Jeff aged 8 was hit by a car two years ago and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury. He has remained in coma for the last two years, unable to move, close his mouth or speak. He has developed severe limb spasticity.

We decided to try Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Rapid Recovery Hyperbarics in San Bernardino CA. Dr Underwood gave Jeff a full physical examination at the Hospital where my son lives (Totally Kids Speciality).

The orthopedic surgeon had advised us to have his tendons cut because he said that he would never be able to relax his legs and they would become even more spastic as the years went by.

Here is what has happened so far with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Note his Respiratory Therapist goes in to the chamber with Jeffery and was able to document what happened.

Treatment #1 Within the first treatment his legs untwisted and relaxed for the first time since the accident two years ago.

Treatment #2 His hands relaxed and were able to lie in his lap. The hands are open for the first time and loose!

Treatment #3 His tongue, which usually extended far beyond his teeth, no longer is extended out of his mouth. His mouth is closed!, This is the first time in two years I have seen my son's mouth normal

Treatment #5 Today is the very best of all, Jeffery was doing his best to verbalize and make sounds!! I have not heard my son’s voice or a sound from him in over two years! My son can now sit in his wheel chair with both legs and feet in the correct position in the wheel chair!

The Respiratory therapist is in shock! We all cried today as we looked into the window and saw that he was making noises and looking at us through the window!

I am completely speechless and so grateful that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for my son. I realize now that well-meaning doctors are not always right and that brain disorders do NOT mean that there is no hope.

Thank you So much Dr Underwood and Susan for this wonderful form of therapy that the hospital did not tell me about. I only wish I had found it sooner.

Joananne, Mother of Jeffery

2 years post HBOT for CP - in the Eisenhower study

Posted by Tracy Scholz on September 29, 19102 at 23:42:35:

I don't know if anyone is interested but I thought that we would give an update on our son.

Our son David was one of the children in the Eisenhower study in 1999-2000. I just wanted to say that he has had no regression in any areas that he improved in except in his mobility but that was due to a near death experience due to his shunt. But once it was corrected he is back to his old self. His speech has only continued to improve as well as his ability to eat us out of house and home. He was once considered to be severely retarded, but now is considered smarter than his 'normal' four year old peers. He is doing very well and is pretty high functioning compared to before the treatments he had. We will be forever blessed that he was afforded the opportunity to be in the study. Thank you to all who made it happen.

Sincerely, Tracy Scholz

A 27 y.o female "birth hypoxia, CP" patient, long ago operated upon her feet -several times- to relieve spasticity and to correct them and her gait (her only sign and symptom), began experimental hyperbaric sessions:

1.3 ATA/21%/60min/daily, one and a half month ago, at the Hyperbaric Medicine Unit of the Maimonides University, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Two weeks ago she remarked that her workmates (she is a public attorney) and parents had pointed out she stood up straighter, and that her manner of walking was more "flexible" and less "hobbly". Today, with a big smile, and showing me the thick, oddly eroded soles of her special boots. She said: "you know that I drag my feet in this special way. The edges of my nailed soles get worn down like this in no time. Well..., my 20 days-old boots still have pristine soles: have you noticed that I don't drag my feet anymore?!"

So much for the effects of air, bags and low hyperbarics for a long-standing spasticity. It could still be placebo, participation effect, a fleeting effect, and it is too premature to draw valid conclusions, I concede. It could be magic, for that matter, but she couldn't care less, frankly.

Best regards,

Ignacio Fojgel, M.D. Buenos Aires, Argentina

I know that some of you have already heard most of what I'm going to write so forgive the redundancy.

As you all know, Nick and I left March 9th to attend a 3 week HBOT session at Ability Camp in Picton, Ontario, Canada. The trip there was awful. Nick did well on the plane but we left 70 degree F weather in Dallas and arrived in -18 degree C snowy weather in Ontario where we had to wait outside for 20 minutes for the rental car shuttle. We were FREEZING!! The shuttle showed up, took us to the office, left my luggage outside where it ultimately fell into a big puddle of water and I found out that they wouldn't accept my debit card for payment although it was also a MasterCard. At this point we had been in Canada for 30 minutes and I called Mike to say "WHAT THE H…L MADE ME THINK I COULD DO THIS!!" and "I am going back to the airport and coming home!" He talked me into a deep breath and calmed me down. I got another rental car company to "pick us up," accept my card and get me on my way. They only had one kind of car left and it was *only* about $800 more than the one I had planned for. I drove through the ice & snow (a first), Toronto traffic jam and rapidly freezing roads and finally made it to camp around 9:30 that night...not bad, only 7 hours for a 2 1/2 hour trip! Thank goodness for a super wonderful lady named Dina...her son Samuel was there for Conductive Education when I arrived and Mike had called the pay phone to let someone know that I would be late and she offered to come to the nearest town to meet me and let me follow her back. Ability Camp is pretty much in the middle of no where and after dark is nearly impossible to find if you haven't been there before. She looked like an angel (albeit an angel in snow boots, shorts and a parka :) when she came to get me that night!! Thank you so much Dina!! The camp was very comfortable and everyone there was completely helpful and made us feel right at home. We got settled quickly and started HBOT the next morning. Nicholas did fabulously and besides wanting to stand and sit constantly was very content in the chamber. He quickly became Kevin's (the chamber operator and Ability Camp owner) "mini me" and was asking the routine questions before each dive. He LOVED the dives and was always "ready to go!"

During the first week, I had an opportunity to talk to the parents of the kids that were there finishing up their session of Conductive Education. It was a 3-6 year old class and I was very curious to find out what went on and how it helped their children. I hadn't done any research regarding Conductive Ed so I didn't really understand the program although Sandy at Ability Camp had done her best to talk me into the 5 week course. I was only interested in doing HBOT when I went so unfortunately what she was telling me was going in one ear and out the other. I should have listened :) While talking with the parents I was amazed at the strides their children had made during the course of the program and decided to have Nicholas assessed by the Conductors in the hopes of bringing him back in the fall. The assessment occurred the second Monday of our HBOT session. At this point we had completed 16 dives and his left hand was really opening up and becoming useful to him and his spasticity had decreased some, especially in his legs. However, he was still unable to sit, stand, crawl or walk unassisted....he was doing a *little* sitting Indian Style but was very unsure of himself. During the assessment with Krizstine he worked very hard to do what she asked of him but wasn't able to do most of what she asked. However, she said "I feel confident that we can having him walking with something, walker, canes, something and have him potty trained within the 5 week course." WOW! Those were words that every parent wants to hear. Then she said "You should check with Sandy, I think there is 1 opening left in the next session....the sooner you start, the better." HA! There is NO way my family or finances are going to allow me to stay another 3 weeks between sessions plus 5 more weeks for Conductive Ed. I did check with Sandy and there was another spot in the April 22-May 23 session and she said I could stay at the camp for the 3 weeks in between sessions for free if I decided to stay. That would mean 11 weeks total and was out of the question. I had planned to bring him in September and that would have to be soon enough. But Krizstines' words kept haunting me. "We can have him walking"...but 11 weeks is too long for my mom to take my 3 year old son to work every day. "We can have him walking"....I don't think I have enough money to last me. "We can have him walking"....I will miss the rest of the school year and most of my 7 year olds' baseball season. "We can have him walking"...I will miss Mike's 40th birthday, Easter, Mothers Day & my anniversary. "We can have him walking"....my business is on hold, my family is on hold, basically, life is on hold, it's out of the question...Mike will NOT go for this. "We can have him walking".....How on earth do I say "no, thank you" and walk away?? I called and spoke to Mike, my mother, my sister and everyone at the camp. Mike and I cried for 3 days struggling over this decision. He didn't WANT us to stay. It was very, very inconvenient for everyone in our life for us to stay. We discussed me coming home for the 3 week break...we couldn't afford to come back if we had to pay for all the airfare. If we were to stay I was going to have to give up the rental car because I couldn't afford to keep it for 11 weeks AND pay for the therapy. I wanted to get back to my family. I didn't WANT to stay. But above everyone's opinion, all of my fears and apprehensions, it all boiled down to what was best for Nick...now and throughout his life. "We can have him walking"...we HAD to stay. When I left home I had told Mike that I had this feeling in my heart that something spectacular was going to happen. The feeling was still there and I couldn't leave until it was gone. Something inside me wouldn't LET me leave. I counted the money (we were going to scraping by to make this happen), turned in the rental car, told Sandy we were staying for 40 more HBOT dives and the 5 week CE session,made up my mind to accept the decision and settled in for 9 more weeks away from home. It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life but once it was made, I was fine and excited about what was to come.

We finished the first set of HBOT dives, took the required 1 week break and then went ahead and started in with the second set of 40. We would have 20 of those (for a total of 60) finished before CE started. We started Conductive Ed and I awaited a miraculous event. By the beginning of the second week, it hadn't happened. I was VERY discouraged, Nick didn't want to do ANYTHING and I was thinking I had just wasted 8 weeks of my life for nothing. Everyone kept saying the same thing..."wait until the Wednesday of the third week...mid way....from then out, it's all strength...down hill from there." Ya, okay!! Where was this walking they could get him to do. Ya, he was stronger than he had ever been in his life. Ya, he was sitting on a stool with no support. Ya, he could get up on his hands and knees for the first time in his life. Ya, he was walking in a walker for the first time in his life BUT I was having to hold his hips or help place his feet or hold the walker because he wasn't standing upright and it was getting away from him. Where was my miracle...my dream of him walking by himself, independently, confident? The third week came and I was still discouraged. Then the transformation in both of us began. I realized that I was so intent on looking for what I wanted (a miracle) that I couldn't see all the HUGE, wonderful things he was working so hard to show me. He had learned so much and was doing so much more than what I had ever hoped for but I couldn't see him because I was so focused on what wasn't happening. He wasn't walking alone. As the saying goes, "I couldn't see the forest for the trees." On Thursday of the third week, Nicholas took 3 steps alone in the walker without me touching him. 3 steps....3 beautiful steps that brought the most joyous tears to my eyes. We struggled for the rest of that week and into the beginning of the next to get him to take more. He wouldn't do it. He had very little confidence and even less determination. Then on Wednesday of the 4 th week, he took 6 steps alone...Thursday, it was 52 steps before I had to help him in any way. 52 steps!! But then during that weekend, the biggest miracle of all occurred. He WANTED to walk! He was determined to walk and to do it alone. He was telling me to get away from him and he WANTED to do it himself. My son, who had spent his life telling me he didn't want to learn to walk because I could carry him, was asking for the walker and telling me to get away! Let me just say that that was one of the hardest things to do in my life.

To put him in that walker and not be close enough to catch him if he fell. At that point, I realized what independence, the word we all throw around in wishes and prayers for our children, really meant. I also realized it was okay if he fell and fall he has. But he now knows HOW to fall, knows how to catch himself and has the confidence and determination to get up and try it all over again. And most of all, I know how to praise him when he falls. Instead of spending my days telling him "don't move or you will fall," "sit still or you will fall," and scaring him into not even trying, I spend more time saying "YEAH, you put your hands down...now how do we fix this to try again?" "What can you do to make sure you don't fall next time?" But most importantly I have learned that the only limits that Nicholas has are those that we impose on him. He CAN do whatever he wants. I think Ability Camp and the atmosphere there (with all the parents living together with their children) is just as important for the parents as it is the children. You come home with a completely different mind set than when you arrive. I know now how to teach and correct Nicholas with words instead of just doing things for him. They have taught me how to make Nicholas a truly independent person instead of a dependent walking person. We are both MUCH stronger because of this experience and I will never be able to thank EVERYONE enough. Each and every person reading this has been invaluable to us in one way or another during these last few months. I can only say that I have living, WALKING proof that your efforts, prayers & support were not in vain! We are hoping to return to Ability Camp in September for 5 more weeks of CE and I can only dream of what the results of that trip will be but I can assure you, I will SEE every single one of them.

This past weekend Nicholas went with his Dad to "retire" his wheelchair to the shed. I plan to donate it to Shriners soon and what a welcome good bye that will be. Maybe, just maybe, the walker can join it in the fall.

Love to all,

The Reints Family

I wanted to post this journal I received from the mom of our first Autistic patient that we had the privilege of treated with HBOT.

I just love my job!

Lisa

Hyperbaric Healing Institute

Kansas City, Missouri

www.HHI-kc.com

------

My son was diagnosed with severe autistic disorder when he was 2 1/2 years old. We have tried every treatment available for autism, and saw very little improvement over the past 18 months. We started treating him in the hyperbaric chamber in March. We have seen incredible things with this treatment. I wanted to share what all has happened with you. Everything that is reported in this dive log is brand new for Ethan. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Ethan's hyperbaric treatment log

3-22-03 (#1 at 1.3)- Did very well in chamber, no problems with ears.

3-24-03 (#2 at 1.3)- Happy today, held hands with Mom in chamber. Susan (para at school) reported he gave her lots of kisses and was happy today.

3-25-03 (#3 at 1.3)- Gave Mom kiss first thing this morning. Elisa (OT at school) reported he started saying "w" sound today.

3-26-03 (#4 at 1.5)- Still very happy, whispered something to David (owner of HBO) after dinner. Held hands with Lisa (owner of HBO) during dive.

3-27-03 (#5 at 1.5)- Para reported he said "I want" twice at school today. Increased babbling noted at home. Sleeping very well and still happy.

3-28-03 (#6 at 1.5)- Rhonda (tutor at home) reported he said "I wan" 3 times to her today. Also brought her sentence strip with "I want" and "Toy Story 2" and then sat down to watch movie. A few minutes later, he added icon for "blanket" and gave it to her and then got his blanket and

returned to movie.

3-31-03 (#7 at 1.5)- Susan sent note home from school that he is very vocal and still saying "I want" with his PECS strip.

4-1-03 (#8 at 1.5)- Following verbal instructions much better. Didn't want to go to bed, and was up at 5:00 this morning. Gross motor imitation improving.

4-2-03 (#9 at 1.5)- Continues to do very well with imitation. Vocalizations have increased dramatically this week. Increase in chewing noted. Mom told him to "get your bowl and sit at the table" and he did. First time he has ever followed a 2-step command.

4-3-03 (#10 at 1.5)- Imitating consistently touch nose, touch head, wave one hand, wave both hands, clap, high 5, and high 10.

4-4-03 (#11 at 1.5)- Was aggressive after this dive, but skills are remaining consistent.

4-7-03 (#12 at 1.5)- Said "no" over the weekend, said "ball" at school, and discovered bubbles in tubby.

4-13-03- No dives since the 5th due to a cold. Over the weekend, waved responsively with no prompting. Also began removing his pull up to have a bowel movements, seems he now realizes it doesn't feel good to have poopy pants. We had a team meeting with Molly (behaviour therapist) and she was amazed with his progress. She said "hi Ethan" and he said "hi" right back. She commented that he has shown dramatic improvements since starting treatments. Data shows 6/7 gross motor imitations are now mastered. Adding new ones to work on this week.

4-14-03 (#13 at 1.5)- Still very verbal, especially at school.

4-15-03 (#14 at 1.5)- Susan reported he was doing very well with his workbaskets at school, especially with rolling a ball. He was able to get his backpack off the hook independently for the first time today. Eliza commented "Wow! He's doing so great!"

4-16-03 (#15 at 1.5)- While working with Agnieszka (our au pair), Ethan wanted to watch a movie instead. She told him "Touch your nose (and modeled it for him) and then you can go watch your movie." He followed the instruction and went over to the TV. First time a negotiation has

ever worked!!!

4-17-03 (#16 at 1.5)- School sent home a note saying "He said I WANT clear as a bell several times today". Mom noticed that he is staying by her side when walking to the car after school, even without holding her hand. When she picked him up at school today, he tried to lead her out the door because she was talking to the teachers and he wanted to leave.

4-18-03 (#17 at 1.5)- Nothing new to report after this dive today.

4-21-03 (#18 at 1.5)- Waved spontaneously at several different people over the weekend. Was very aggressive today with biting. Was unable to stay in class today because of it. Took a large bite out of the bus aide this morning. Mom stuck her tongue out at him in the chamber and said "Do this" and he did it twice.

4-22-03 (#19 AT 1.5)- Still slightly aggressive at school this morning, but calm by afternoon. Grabbed Grandma's hand in the chamber and held it and had her rub his foot during treatment.

4-23-03 (#20 at 1.5)- Took Agnieszka by the hand this morning and led her to the fridge, opened the door, took out what he wanted, handed it to her to get it out for him. Susan reported he was very happy to see her return to school today (she has been out ill for 2 days).

4-24-03 (#21 at 1.5)- Susan reported he began pushing the icon that says "I need to go to the bathroom" at school today, so they took him when he pushed it and he went. At bedtime, Mom said "come on buddy, it's time to go night night". He stood up and took her hand and led her to his room and got in bed with no further prompting.

4-25-03 (#22 at 1.5)- Before going into the chamber, Ethan pointed to theTV to let David know he wanted it turned on. This was a first for him!!!

5-6-03 (#23 at 1.5)- Did well in the chamber today.

5-7-03 (#24 at 1.5)- Ethan has been out of the chamber due to a viral infection. This week, a family friend was over to visit and commented, "I can't believe how much he's changed. I've been here so many times and he's never even noticed I was in the house. Today he engaged with me like I've never seen him do before." No regression has been noted since out of

the chamber, and social interactions have improved this week. This morning, he went to the kitchen and sat at the table until someone came in to help him get breakfast. He took his PECS book and put "I want" "Fruit" and "Cereal" on it and handed it to Agnieszka when she came into the kitchen. Normally, he would have been digging through the fridge or the cabinets for food.

5-8-03 (#25 at 1.5)- Ethan was looking out his bedroom window as Mom and Dad were pulling out of the driveway. He waved to us and pointed at the car. WOW! He has also begun to shut the fridge when he's done looking in it and the screen door when he walks outside. He has always left them wide open until now.

5-9-03 (#26 at 1.5)- This morning, Agnieszka was gathering her laundry and putting it in her basket. One of the sleeves from her shirt was hanging over the side, so Ethan walked over to it and put it in the basket for her. Big helper!

5-12-03 (#27 at 1.5)- Tonight, Ethan was working on sorting objects, but was very unhappy about the task. Agnieszka told him "If you sort these items, I will turn on the movie for you." He sorted cars, dolls, and beads without prompting. She turned the movie on for him, and he was

happy. He has also begun consistently taking people by the hand, leading them to what he wants, and putting their hands on the item he wants them to give him.

5-13-03 (#28 at 1.5)- Continues to follow directions better. Had a "great day at school" according to his para.5-14-03 (#29 at 1.5)- Happy mood today, no biting this week so far.

5-15-03 (#30 at 1.5)- Work with Agnieszka still improving. Requires less instruction for task completion.

5-16-03 (#31 at 1.5)- Very affectionate today. Doesn't want to let Mom out of his sight. Seeks her out for hugs. Dove at an earlier time today, seemed to be less ancy in chamber for entire dive.

5-19-03 (#32 at 1.5)- This morning, Ethan was standing in the dining room playing appropriately with his toy steering wheel for 5 minutes.

5-20-03 (#33 at 1.5)- When Mom picked Ethan up at school, he was playing by himself with a school bus. He was taking the people out and putting them back in where they belong. Mom said, "Wow! How long has he been playing independently?" His para said "He does this everyday now."

5-21-03 (#34 at 1.5)- This morning, Ethan got in bed with Mom. Mom said "hello" and he responded with "hello".

5-22-03 (#35 at 1.5)- In a great mood today. Had school program, did some of the hand movements with help from his teacher - much less prompted than ever before.

5-23-03 (#36 at 1.5)- Told Jessica (another Mom in the chamber) "hi" twice today.

5-24-03 (#37 at 1.5)- Molly here this weekend, impressed at how many programs he has mastered at home has added several new things to try with him.

Janie