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I brought my 25 year old daughter, Jessica, to Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada for 41 Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments in April 18 to May 12 1999. Because of loss of blood during delivery which caused loss of oxygen and brain damage, Jessica has severe Cerebral Palsy spastic quadreparesis and is nonverbal. She functions at a 5-6 year level cognitively, reads at a second grade level and is G-tube fed. She has a short attention span and has to be prompted to respond to questions.
The chamber was a large multiplace and could treat 10 people at a time through hoods. I had worried about being clostraphobic but this chamber felt more like a small room and can hold a total of 21 including parents and the inside technician. The treatments were at 1.75 ata and lasted 90 minutes with 15 minutes on either end for pressurization so actual oxygen treatments lasted 1 hour. Jessica has some a Autistic tendencies so I worried how she would tolerate the hood. She refuses to wear anything on her head or sunglasses. The hood consists of two main parts. The neck seal is attached to the plastic neck ring and streches to slip over the head and around the neck. It is cut to fit snuggly to the neck so no oxygen can leak out. During pressurization, the hood is not in place. The children can sip on a bottle, cup or pacifier to help clear their ears. Because Jessie is G-tube fed I could not use this means. I discovered that she could yawn on command. Yawning was contagous and is an effective way of clearing the ears. Some parents used "Ear Planes" which cost about $5.00 a pair an can be bought at Walmart or Shopko. Ear Planes are inserted into the ears and help with pressurization. If any child had pain or showed discomfort, the tech would signal for the pressurizing to stop and we would sometimes be brought up again to releave any pain. Then we would continue a slower descent. It was my experience that the parents had more trouble than the children with their ears. Jessica tolerated the chamber beautifully, as time went on. At first I had difficulty holding her in a sitting position on the benches and she would slip onto the floor. Toward the end of the treatments she sat so straight and I only had to hold on to her arm to steady her because her balance improved as did the positioning of her feet and legs.

The noticeable changes in Jessica occurred after about the 20th HBO treatment. Her muscle tone became much more loose especially when she was in a relaxed state. The first time I noticed, I was changing her diaper and lifted her legs to get the diaper underneath her. Her legs collapsed and I literally had to lift her buttock separately. Prior to this just lifting her legs would bring her buttocks up because of the spasticity in her legs. She improved even more during the 2 weeks after the sessions when we returned home than actually during the treatments.

After about 3 weeks following her first HBO sessions I noticed some regression as her muscle tone regained some of the spasticity she had lost. I brought her back to Canada June 13th to June 26th 1999 after a 1 month break for another 20 treatments. I made the mistake of getting 2 treaments a day for follow-up. The sessions were scheduled for 10 AM and 2 PM so there was not even a recommended 4 hour break between sessions, instead we were back in the chamber after 1 1/2 hours. I believe Jessie became toxic. After about 5 days of 2 a day she threw up for over an hour but had no signs of flu or illness, just nausea - which is a sign of oxygen toxicity. Be sure to read Dr. Harch's article about dosage. We are getting reports of children regressing because they are getting toxic from too much oxygen and they are not following the proper protocol. Oxygen under pressure is a drug. Never get HBO twice a day for follow-up!

It only took a couple of treatments to regain all that she had lost. She continued to become more flexible with more treatments. At times when I lift her for a transfer and she is bearing weight her whole body will feel limp and relaxed. Her hands feel like a different child's hands and at times are loose and floppy. Care providers have commented on how much easier it is to do range of motion exercises and that she is much more flexible. Her hands and body temperature were much warmer during the treatments than previously, as before her hands were almost always cold. (Brain stem changes?)

Her posture in her wheelchair seems to be straighter and her head control much better. She uses both her hands together much more. She even lifted a towel off her tray with both hands to wipe her mouth off. She likes to play in a tub of water placed inside her tray and she puts both hands in the water together for the first time.

She seems to have put on some weight and the technicians carrying her in the chamber noticed a definite increase in the fat on her ribs and seemed to have to struggle more to carry her. Her legs get creases on the side of them when she sits in her manual chair so it seems she has gained weight in her thighs. I have had to order a new seating system for her chair because she has literally outgrown her present chair!

Her alertness and attention span seem to have increased. One technician noticed a change when we came back for the second sessions and said she seemed "more animated". She enjoyed having me read books to her which she never had the attention span to enjoy before. The sentences she spells out on her communication board are more complicated as are the words and phrases and ideas she uses. She initiates conversations now instead of needing prompting.

During the actual treatments she would go a whole day with little or no drooling and then have days when she would drool profusely - more than she ever has before. This makes me think that perhaps muscles that were rigid in her mouth may be becoming relaxed and she needs to learn to use them differently. Her drooling now seems to have returned to her Pre-HBO level.

Prior to HBO Jessica could only make the "M" sound and say "Mama". Jessica has recently started to use different vocalizations. She is able to repeat the "B" sound over and over and make words such as "baby", Bob", Bah" and even "maybe". She can say "Hi, Mom" and delights in hearing the new sounds come out of her mouth. Overall she just seems smarter and more alert and happier.

Before going to a respite program, she usually has 3-4 days of being very anxious and obsessing and worrying, but this last time she only worried a little the day before she left and was easily calmed.

Julie Gordon, 150 Custer Court, Green Bay, WI 54301 920-336-5333 mums@netnet.net *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************