(HBOT 1) - HBOT, Here We Go....

We started Hyberbaric Oxygen Chamber Therapy today. For the past year, I have been really wanting to do this therapy which has proven to be very effective for children with autism. I read positive and negative feedback on this therapy. But it is expensive. A couple of friends and I even looked into purchasing an mHBOT (which is the soft chamber - portable - possibly more cost effective). But through the recommendation of another Mom of a "recovered" child with autism (who did both hard and soft chambers and recommended the hard chamber over the soft one a thousand times), we decided look into the hard chamber.

HBOT therapy is widely used to treat severe diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. It is breathing 100% oxygen while the whole body is pressurized to greater than sea level for a limited period of time. Many hospitals have these chambers, but no hospital treats children with learning disabilities. Therefore, one must find a provider that is certified to operate the oxygen tanks and works independently. Our DAN! Dr. has one chamber in his office, but we cannot drive to his office every day (his office is outside our living area - it takes 2 hours each way to get there). But there is an organization that has a hard chamber in a mobile trailer and they travel to different States to provide therapy throughout the year. They are Canadians and have been around since 2000. They come to our area 3 times a year.

We met with them on Sunday afternoon. The meeting went well and we decided to do it. No more beating around the bushes. We have been doing biomedical intervention for 2+ years. The latest protocol we follow is Dr. Amy Yasko's. Her protocol is based on by-passing DNA-based genetic mutations with supplements and herbs, chelation and viral detox. Per Yasko, some kids with Jonathan's genetic predisposition (COMT V158M - - and VDR/Taq ++, MTHFR A1298C ++ and CBS up regulations) tend to do poorly with this therapy, but some do quite nicely. Per Yasko, the kids with these mutations are the ones that take the longest to recover because they hold the largest amount of toxicity in their bodies (metals, viruses and bacteria) and it is hard to make their methylation cycle work properly, even with the right supplements. She prefers to wait until the child in following her step 3 of her protocol (remyelination of the brain cells). Jonathan is starting to take some supplements from her step 3. However, I quote her: "This is not to be negative about this approach. I expect that there are some individuals with these nutrigenomics who have seen positives from using it. You know that I don't want/like to say no to anything, as it may help to recover even one child, and that one child may be the exception to what I have seen in the past, and so for that one child it is worth it to be open minded." So we are going to try it.

I have a good feeling about it, and I hope I am right. I am not always right when I decide to try a new therapy. But we need to try.

HBOT Day 1

Ok, today was rough. Jonathan did not want to put the hood on. This is what it looks like: http://www.amronintl.com/hyperbaric/index.cfm. The latex neck seal bothered him terribly and he cried almost the entire hour (the session is 1 hour daily for 40 days except Mondays). In addition, when they closed the compartment door and started to pressurize the chamber, we had to equalize our ears (pop them very frequently) and Jonathan had a real hard time with it. He screamed that his ears hurt. I did not bring water so he could swallow. I'll do it tomorrow. Once we stabilized at 1.5 atm, we put his hood on (he cried on and off) and watched Happy Feet for 1 hour. It was rough, but Tomatis was much worse. The idea is to use the hood so he breathes 100% oxygen at 1.5 atmospheres (so more oxygen than normal reaches the body and brain) for 1 hour daily.

Ok, coincidence or not, here is the cool thing. He was not happy when we finished, but once we got in the car, he started talking about everything he could see (motorcycles, traffic lights, houses, etc.). Just talked and talked. I called his favorite food place (Moby Dick) to order take-out and ordered chicken with rice, no butter. When I hung up, he said: "Mommy, why not butter?". It was so strange that he paid attention and asked as specific question. Then he said: "Mommy, the sun is going down, it is almost dark, the moon is coming out, where is the moon? I can't see the moon Mom." I told him that it was on top of us but the car ceiling was blocking the view and he said: "Mommy's car has a window in the ceiling. Daddy's car doesn't". We just talked and talked. He was totally engaged, more than ever. Coincidence? Perhaps. We have 39 more dives. We'll see what happens.