Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment
The Process We TookÂ
The first step was to meet with the Doctor at the facility to go over the process and facility as well as an examination to make sure my daughter was able to go through the treatments. There were no issues with my daughter going through the therapy and we moved on to the next step.
The second step was to setup a schedule for treatments. We were put on a schedule of five days/ week for four weeks. At that point we would gauge the progress and decide if we wanted to move on with an additional four weeks of treatment.
One thing needs to be pointed out (and was made very clear to us) – Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments are usually not covered by insurance and will require payment “out of pocket”. Luckily for us, we had a Hyperbaric center within driving distance to us and offered fees that were less than other treatment centers further away. Even though the cost was still substantial, we did not have to pay travel or lodging fees to go to another treatment facility located out of our area.
Since the chamber is a 100% oxygen environment, my daughter couldn’t have any powders, creams, gels, etc on her. We were provided clothes to change her into…very similar to comfortable pajamas.
The facility provided televisions with DVD players for my daughter to watch during the treatment. We could bring in DVD movies or we could pick from their collection of movies.
The time my daughter was in the chamber was approximately 90 minutes. Fifteen minutes to compress, sixty minutes for the treatment and fifteen minutes to decompress. Some patients may have some issues with their ears in the chamber, but our daughter had no issues during the treatments.
The chamber had the capacity to accommodate one adult and one child while lying down. My daughter had no issues sitting or lying down while watching something on the television. Usually she would watch one of her favorite cartoon shows or a children’s movie.
The first day of treatment was the most difficult for getting her to go inside the chamber. Understandably, going into this chamber for the first time can be a scary experience. After some coaxing, and showing her how it worked, she got into the chamber. All went to plan during the treatment and she came out happy to see us. After that day, I only had one other day that she didn’t want to go into the chamber, but it was only temporary. All other times, she would wheel her wheelchair right over and have me help her into the chamber. She would make funny faces to me while watching television through the see-through chamber.
Through all of this, the visits with my daughter to the facility wouldn’t have been as enjoyable if not for the great staff. Anything that was needed with my daughter or just to talk on a personal level, they were there to help out. I am grateful to have such a caring and knowledgeable set of people to work with while I was taking my daughter to have her treatments. I want to personally thank Renee and Brian for their caring and support during our stay with them at the Hyperbaric Center.
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