(September
2000)
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 years
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.
Bridget, Cooper's mom