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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Improving Stroke Recovery
Steve is improving with the hyperbaric oxygen therapy. So far he’s had eleven HBOT treatments. His ears don’t bother him any more, and he has shown some improvement in his stroke recovery. He’s also getting some pain relief in his leg, especially in his knee.
One big improvement I’ve noticed is in the way he can straighten out his wrist instead of letting it flop when doing some arm exercises. He has much more control of his arm and wrist than he did before, and the movements are coming more naturally. Prior to HBO therapy, he’d have to concentrate so hard to make even small arm movements, but now they are coming easier and more automatically.
The improvements are coming so gradually that they’re not as noticeable to Steve, but I’ve been documenting every little change. The one big change we’re waiting for is for the sense of touch to come back into his arm, hand and leg, and for the “pins and needles” sensation to leave. Just stroking his hand or arm causes him pain and it feels like fire to him. His fingers are always tingling and he can’t “feel” what he touches.
Steve’s been receiving HBOT about three times a week in 90-minute sessions. The hardest part for him is spending warm sunny days inside of an HBOT chamber. He’d rather be outside, but at least the chamber is not claustrophobic for him as some people may think. His technician, Jeff, is always in the room with him monitoring the chamber, and Steve can talk to him at any time, but he usually just falls asleep while watching TV.
Please check back on this blog as I continue to post updates about Steve’s experience with hyperbaric oxygen therapy and how it’s improving his stroke recovery, and please keep praying for the success of these HBOT treatments to help Steve recover.
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Hello! Just checking in to see how the HBOT is coming along for Steve. Is he still able to receive the therapy on a regular basis? I look forward to reading your posts as I have been looking into the therapy for a loved one for a year now and hope to start this summer.
April 9th, 2010 at 4:49 pmHi Vicque, Steve just had his 16th HBOT treatment, and this week he had four in a row. The pressure is at 1.75 ATA and ideally it should be at 3 ATA, so I’d like him to get a few more treatments at a higher pressure so we can determine whether it’s worth continuing. His technician is very cautious considering Steve’s recent heart problems, and he doesn’t want to increase the pressure too quickly. But since Steve started this therapy, he no longer needs to wear his knee brace because the pain is gone, and his ankle is feeling better too. The changes are slow and not dramatic, so the verdict is still out on whether the benefits outweigh the cost. I wish I had more to tell you.
April 9th, 2010 at 7:25 pmHello! Perhaps you have already addressed this somewhere on your blog, but I am wondering two things (again, in preparation for our venture into HBOT).
1) did you purposefully select the single-person chamber over the “group” room/chamber that some facilities offer?
2)was your insurance able to cover it all? here, individual sessions run $200 a piece (@the 40 recommended sessions = $8,000 in cash).
Thank you again for sharing!
April 11th, 2010 at 8:43 pmSorry I didn’t make that clear. There is only one clinic in our city that offers HBOT for non-FDA approved conditions. (The hospital has a couple of chambers, but they won’t take him as a patient.) Our clinic has only one chamber…the one that Steve uses. They do not have a group chamber, so we had no other option. Our insurance (Medicare) does not cover HBOT because it is not FDA approved for stroke, so it is all out-of-pocket for us. Yes, it is expensive, but I look at it this way…if we didn’t try this therapy, we will never know if it could help him get his life back again, and we’d always be wondering. I didn’t want the issue of money to be the determining factor. And if it does help him recover, then it’s worth every penny. If it doesn’t help…well then we did our best…no regrets.
April 11th, 2010 at 9:02 pmI feel the same way! I am doing everything I can to raise the money to begin the therapy this summer for my loved one. We have watched many videos on excellent results other stroke survivors have had with HBOT and read many good books, including “Conquering Stroke” by Valerie Greene who had to leave our country to find and get HBOT (years ago) and who has (thus) recovered remarkably! Thanks again for your info and sharing your story and experiences!
April 12th, 2010 at 7:52 pm