Jack, was delivered 12 weeks prematurely as a complication of a triplet pregnancy. As a result of extreme prematurity, he suffered from bleeding in the brain known as intraventricular hemorrhage, developed hydrocephalus or "fluid in the brain", requiring a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt. He stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit for 3 months before coming home.


Jack inside Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber

Jack’s gross motor and fine motor physical delays quickly became apparent as his triplet brother and sister achieved milestones that Jack did not. He was diagnosed with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, characterized by significant gross motor delays. Jack received services from the Early Intervention Program to achieve better motor control. At the age of four years, Jack was cognitively typical compared to children his age, however he was unable to walk independently, stand unassisted, and had much difficulty crawling, sitting, and doing fine motor tasks.

He also was not potty trained, suffered from gastroesophageal reflux, and eye deviation. We decided to try hyperbaric oxygen therapy as an adjunct to Jack’s other diverse activities.

At the age of 4 years, Jack underwent 40 treatments of HBOT. He cried on the first and second day of his treatment because he was scared and I went into the chamber with Jack the first two days.

On the third day, Jack felt comfortable enough to enter the chamber on his own and looked forward to his daily treatments.
He enjoyed choosing videos to watch. The treatment duration was over a 2-month period. The first month we did not notice any improvement. However in the second half of the treatments there was subtle improvement that I attribute entirely to HBOT.

Jack was potty trained for bowel and bladder control day and night. His crawling skills improved. He had fewer episodes of vomiting from his reflux. His eye deviation improved. He had a voracious appetite after the treatments and had an overall more energetic affect. He pulled himself to a standing position for the first time and gained better control over his walker when ambulating.

I feel that the he improvement achieved from two months of HBOT was remarkably greater than could be attributed to time alone or Jack’s other therapies. I was impressed by the difference that HBOT made and therein started my interest in utilizing this therapy to benefit my son.