Three months later....

Hey everyone,

 I know I Kinda left You guys hanging. But i'm back and hopfully I can write more often.
Let me bring you guys up to speed.

Three months ago I took a ferry to Victoria island,  in Canada. I was finally ready to go back and get some more healling as I did in 2008 four years ago. Back then it.  Back then it took at least two months for me to see  major improvements but there were improvements. 

• Cognitive reflexes
• Range of motion improvment
• Flexibity better
• First Independent movement
• Scar tishue healed

Well now its three mouth later,  and now I'm seeing Improvements. Just thought I'd share. My memeroy is better and My hand can recanize  more patterns than before
Keep everyone updated,  for now have another wonderful day!

Annabelle Arrives...and dives!

Benj is so happy to see Annabelle as you can see!


Annabelle has been excited to see Canada for a while.  She flew in on Kenmore Air this morning, went to the Moss Street Farmer's Market, went diving with Naomi in the HBOT, ate at White Spot, and then went to the Soundings concert.

Buck by side of road in Urbia

A Soundings Concert with our Friend Kathleen!

The Soundings are an excellent acapella choir in Victoria.   They sing a wide range of songs from Gregorian chants, to traditional Scottish ballads, to the Beetles.  Favorite songs:

Alex, Benj and Marna:  Loch Lomman
Annabelle:  I am a Train
Naomi:  Mexican NO song


Annabelle:   Im so excited to finally see Marna, Alex, Naomi and even Benj again and explore some of Canada with them. This is my first time out of the country and Im really happy to be here, I've already seen some awesome stuff and I'm ready for more!

HBOT and How It Demonstrates the Ideal Gas Law

Marna:       How does HBOT demonstrate the Ideal Gas Law?

First, what is the Ideal Gas Law?    PV = nRT    

Pressure*Volume = number of moles*universal constant*temperature

in the case of diving in the HBOT, V, n and R are constant, then the variables are P and T

Pressure varies directly with temperature, so as pressure increases we would expect temperature to increase.  Conversely, as pressure decreases, we would expect temperature to similarly decrease.

As it turns out, we three can all testify to the temperature of the chamber increasing (whew!) as pressure increases during the dive (to about 20 feet) and decreasing (brrrr!) again while we are going up.  It's so cool to see the Ideal Gas Law work in reality!!!!

We saw a buck and doe in a front yard on a VERY busy street (Foul Bay)

Benj is going Canadian and will soon start busking on street corners in his toque, eh?

Sibling Bonding....

Naomi:        The great highlight of today was going to White Spot a fantastic restruant that can only be

found in Canada my opinion Go for the Ribs! as you can see Benj really enjoyed them as well as me and Kathleen. :) Also we got a bunch of clothes to the best of which for me was a purple Jacket all in all a truly amazing Day.

Today also was a good day of Hbot I noticed that I personally can breath a lot deeper than when I first started and my lungs feel a ton better pretty cool. Today also happened to be the first day I started to learn how to play a guitar and what better way then to learn from a master that spends hours play the one and only Benj thank to him i can now play big  E, something,  something and more somethings!

Thanks Benj.

                                          Our friend Kathleen and the kids at White Spot!

                                          Benj showing Na how to play guitar.  What a great big brother!

                                          Awesome Gold LEED Standard Condo's by the Waterfront!

                                         Right on the Galloping Goose!  Love the colors!!!

Big Brother Arrives!

Naomi: Katie my mentor came up for a week it was really fun.  We went to the Government House about 5 minites from where we are staying took a lot of beautiful pictures and hung out, it was fantastic!

Then my older, brother Benj came back with mom. Pretty cool, he brought back all the laughter with him :)

                                      Naomi and Katie, Bachlerettes for a week!

                                        Kid's Diving Together.....

                                                 Totem pole and cool architecture on the
                                                 Galloping Goose.

Benj:
So, this is it.
he final frontier.

CANADA!

Full of Canadians who dart in from of cars at the most inopportune times.

Flooded with people who are cheerful for no apparent reason.

Exploding awesomeness in every direction.

Not a bad place to vacation, ay?

Day 4: The Birds!! (and updated Picture Glitch)

Editor Note:  Apparently some of my pictures weren't appearing on the blog correctly.  Now instead of cutting and pasting from e-mail, I am copying and saving in Photoshop.  Amazingly, the picts are 100% better.  If you missed the picts the first time through, go look now.  They are there, and they are better!


Naomi:  Naomi is taking the night off after having a Peat Bath and going to bed early.

Our view while making lunch in Kathleen's Kitchen.





Marna: Today was my bizarre day of the birds.  On my first walk down to Starbuck's to download my podcasts, I was DIVE BOMBED by two crows in the Garry Oaks.  When I took out my camera to take their picture, they would go exactly far enough up the tree to make the picture worthless.  Then I would start walking and they would start DIVE BOMBING me again.  Weird!  I must look like a former enemy of theirs.  So I was meditating on the cause of such bird scorn, when I arrived at my usual outdoor table at Starbuck's.  As it was raining, I was the only soul outside.  As it was 11 C, I wanted to be outside, not in.  After I opened (my new super cool MacBook), one chickadee came and landed atop my screen, and another came and looked at me nicely from beside the computer, as if to say, "You're okay, we don't know what those crows are about."  They stayed for a very long while, until someone in a hurry came up the sidewalk and ruined the moment.  Birds Part 3:  Then as I was making lunch, I kept hearing very loud seagulls on the roof.  I looked up and took this picture above.  Boy, they are a noisy bunch!  Lastly, when I went back to SB, to download this pict, I was treated to 2 very lovely Anna's hummingbirds drinking nectar from the hanging flower baskets.  All-in-all, a great bird day!

Day 3: Bicycling to Therapy Both Dives!

Naomi:  Today was better as you see from the pictures below. Sun and little wind another great day well almost great day. Only slightly marred by my bike coming loose. Luckily we found a fantastic, place to fix my bike, called "Fairfield Bicycle Shop." They fixed everything on it that needed which was quite a lot in a half hour that is impressive If I do say myself. the first dive in The Hbot chamber was great, the second one was harder because I think the Darth Vader mask was loose too. But again I felt better afterwards. That's Naomi's report for Day 3.

The view from the Galloping Goose (about 2/3 of the way to HBOT)

Marna:  I wish I had a better camera!  This is a picture of the FANTASTIC bicycle shop that is about a block from where we are temporarily living.  Naomi's chain kept falling off when we went across the tressel bridge on the Galloping Goose (see first pict of the day).  When we got there, they fixed us right up and kept insisting on giving us a free water bottle with water in it.  Our overall impression of Canadians:  they are always SO DARN NICE!

On dive 2 I figured out how to adjust the Darth Vader mask so it isn't so darn much work to breath in the contraption.  Now I don't feel like I am suffocating half the time.  We had technical difficulties with two different versions of Pride and Prejudice on two different mediums today.  It just was NOT going to be a Pride and Prejudice day!  However, the value of an engaging movie while you are in the tank cannot be underestimated.

Day 2: Beautiful Weather and Biking!

Naomi:  Blue skies, sunny, and slightly windy was on the menu for today's weather. In my eyes, the perfect day. It was a fantastic day for riding your bikes. Speaking of bikes, today was also the day of biking to Hbot from were we are staying we found a nice trail called the "Galloping Goose".  Riding on it was quite delightful, if I do say so myself. Day two of the Hbot was better I can now breath through my nose a lot better than my mouth still, but I still sound like Darth Vader--who wouldn't want a little Darth Vader action? Anyways that's the report from Naomi, on the second day here. :)

A view of Naomi in the tank breathing through the Darth Vader oxygen delivery device while watching Harry Potter....

Look how gorgeous it was out today!  This is our view from our strata (condo).  We are on the 4th floor and get to look at the Olympic Mountains from a different side.


Marna:  Yeah!  It was 17 degrees C out today, and clear blue skies.  I only got lost once trying to navigate to the HBOT center.  At home, if I walk to Safeway, I might pass one person on the way (its 3 blocks from my house).  Here, the store is 1k away, and the sidewalk is dotted with SO MANY pedestrians!  Given that Victoria is a small city, I am always amazed by how many people walk or ride places.  It is a bit unnerving to be passed by grannies with their groceries moving so much faster than I though....

Making new remembering the old.

Naomi:  Today we started the process of HBOT.  It was a little longer than I expected, but effective never the less. Sitting in the tank brought back a lot of memory's yet today I started making new ones for example last time I had on a continues flow mask on. This time I had what I call the Darth Vader mask you make a great impression of him with it on as I found out tried the Darth Vader stand by "Luke I'm you father." I'm  quite proud of myself. I forgot what the diving was like. You know how your ears pop when you dive underwater because of the pressure? Same thing here when they put more pressure in the tank the more your ears pop pretty simple. Anyways that is the report from about old memory's and new ones.  

Marna:  Here is Naomi after two dives, climbing on top of rocks on the way to the market.  Today was good, yet exhausting.  Breathing oxygen under pressure is just plain exhausting; as is getting used to the Darth Vader masks.  I know we will get used to it all AND have energy, but for now we are all exhausted.  Looking forward to tomorrow, and riding our bikes to the clinic.

BACK AGAIN!

Naomi:  We arrived in Canada at 5:15.  Unloaded all are stuff, and....  I was fried. But its totally worth it. After I was settled in all I could think about is "I'm here again and ready to go." I'm totally ready to dive once again and come back bigger, better than ever. I'm back again and ready to role!

Marna:  What an easy boarder crossing!  We made our 3:00 PM sailing from Tsawwassen and had a beautiful voyage.  What a lovely day!  We explored riding our bikes to the HOC instead of driving every day.  It's about 2 miles to hook up with the Galloping Goose (think SRT), and that takes us directly to the HBOT center.  We are going to drive the first day, but then take our bikes 2x/day whenever it isn't raining.  We are both happy to be back in Canada!!

A New Beginning....

Starting June 4th, my now 13-1/2 year old daughter is going to start Round 2 of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, at her request.

After The Last Post, we noticed a significant cognitive leap with Naomi.  Her use of her right hand has improved tremendously (although she still does not have independent finger movement).  Since this time, it's Naomi's choice to do HBOT, we plan on doing more active exercises while diving in the HBOT tank, and look forward to even more muscular and cognitive gains.

The Last Post

I have been waiting to get all of the exact measurement data to write this last post, but alas, have misplaced some of the data.

Here is what we gained over one month of HBOT Therapy:

Naomi: Her affected foot grew 1/2" in that month (wowsers!). Her left foot not at all.
She gained several degrees for passive and active dorsal flexion in her right foot.
Naomi's ability to write a coherent/sequential sentence improved.

A month after HBOT, Naomi continues more bilateral use of her right hand, AND, sometimes reaches for objects with her right hand. I believe that she would have been a righty had she not had the stroke.

Other gains that we have listed before, increased active suppination, improved skin on her right arm and hand, and her scar on her right ankle almost diappeared.

I believe that while we didn't get all of the gains we had hoped for (independent finger movement and more use of the wrist), overall the therapy was worth the time and money.

Mom Gains: After having tendonitis in my foot for over a year, I have been painfree for almost 3 months now. I am still amazed.

We would definitely recommend HBOT to other people with stroke and brain injuries.

Good-night and Good Bye!

Dive 38: A Major Breakthrough to report!!!

Here is Naomi putting sugar into her hot chocolate with her RIGHT (affected hand) and using suppination to do it!!

That's almost 90 degrees of suppination. To be fair, she was engaging other muscles to help as well (bad posture at shoulder), BUT she has never done this action before, nor on her own, nor with so little other muscle involvement!! WOWEE, ZOWEE!!! Independent finger movement---here we come!!!

This morning Naomi had an extra long HBOT session (2 hours) at depth. I think all of our successive HBOT treatments are having a positive affect. I wish we had been able to do more therapy. Naomi does small amounts of therapy every dive, and we do small amounts of therapy inbetween dives. For instance, we played Trouble (hard to do) with Righty twice, and she did a round of Sun Salutation exercises. However, at age 10, there are limits that she imposes as to how much she will do.

I am totally stoked. Because Andrew was nice enough to let us do an extra dive on SUnday, we will actually (weather permitting) be able to leave slightly early tomorrow, Hurray!!!

We are all eager to complete our last two dives!!!

Update on Skinny

Skinny-the-wolf-dog ran away from the HOC this morning. He broke out through and open window. My guess is that he went for the hospital to find Bob. The hospital is several miles away. I want to go look for him, but we already got majorly stuck in snow this morning, and I am afraid to get stuck again.

We miss you Skinny, please come back!

A BIG Thank you To Humphrey and Andrew at the HOC:

Humphrey, Naomi and Andrew at the HOC

Christmas Chocolate and Dive 37 is completed!

Naomi pictured with her non-dairy chocolate roses!

Many thanks to our friend Kathleen for showing us how to make chocolates!

Here are Benj and Naomi pouring chocolates into molds. As you can see from this picture, chocolate is melted on low temperature in glass jars using an electric fry pan. Then the chocolates are spooned into molds. From there the molds are dropped a bit to shake the air bubbles out, then put into the freezer until they are hard enough to pop out of the molds. We painted white chocolates on to some of the molds to give a little more color.

Here are some finished chocolates!

Dive 37 Completed!!!

Today we completed our 37th dive. With all the weather we have been having (I had to dig the car out of the snow twice today), it was touch-and-go as to whether (weather) we would make it there !

Naomi hasn't had any amazing changes, but there seem to be little changes happening. It seems like she has more rotation in suppination and slightly better use of her pincer grasp. Her limp seems less pronounced, which is good considering how cold and how little actual exercise we are getting these days because of the weather.

Several of the HBOT studies I have read indicate the need for intensive therapy for the two months following the 40 dive regimine. We will most likely do constraint therapy at home as well as electro-stimulation. I know we will get push-back from Naomi, but I want to make sure that this treatment round is effective and we will get permanent carry over.


The Skinny on Skinny

Please send healing wishes to Bob (owner of Skinny the Wolf Dog). He is currently in the hospital in a coma, and we would like to see him reunited with his dog. Skinny seems very sad.

From Naomi:

And Bob is a very nice guy and he raised a lot of monny for the HOC to
open it! I am really happy that I will be home soon.

Merry Christmas!!

Day 18: A Grief Observed...

Here is Larry, Naomi's grandfather.

Yesterday, Naomi's grandfather passed away.

We are all sad, but glad that he has gone to a better place.

In honor of Larry (Alex's Dad), I am including a paragraph that Benjamin wrote about his grandfather in a recent essay:

Honoring veterans could range from saying, “thank you” to volunteering time at a veterans hospital. One way I have honored a veteran is by asking my grandfather about his experiences in the Vietnam War. He enjoys telling me stories of the heroism and tragedy during his three tours of duty. My favorite story is of how he earned his Bronze Star. While under heavy enemy artillery fire, he could have retreated with his unit. Instead, he stood his ground and radioed in the coordinates of the enemy positions enabling the US artillery to eliminate the enemy artillery batteries.

Here is his Obituary in the Oregonian:

Laurence Charles Baxter
Friday, December 19, 2008
The Oregonian

A service will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008, in Willamette National Cemetery for Laurence Charles Baxter, who died Dec. 17 of kidney disease at age 68.

Laurence Charles Baxter was born Oct. 20, 1940, in Torrington, Wyo., and raised in Kalispell and Columbia Falls, Mont. He served three tours of duty in the Army in the Vietnam War and received a Bronze Star for Valor. He moved in 1974 to Portland, where he worked for Multnomah County for 29 years, most recently as a project manager. In 1982, he married Sheryl Funkhouser.

Survivors include his wife; sons, Alexander V. Baxter and Charles R. Baxter; stepdaughter, Juliette C. Soihl; and two grandchildren.

So long, Larry. It was a good ride. Say hi to Frosty, dog of legend, Mae, Grandma Gail and Burrell from us all.

Gingerbread, Snow and Mom's HBOT Breakthrough

Sunday was Gingerbread House making in the common room where we are staying! Naomi had a blast decorating a homemade gingerbread house with a room full of other people. How fun!

Saturday night it started snowing and it snowed just under a foot in Victoria, then the temperature dropped down to -7 C (or about 20 F for you in the US).

Here I have managed to capture probably the worst view of the snow, but we were all too cold to go out and take another. Really there is about a foot of snow! And it's VERY, VERY icy.

Saturday night we were at Kathleen's singing concert, and left 1/2 way through because we thought it would be better driving right away in the snow rather than later. We nearly got in three wrecks as underneath the snow, the road was very icy. But we made it home. We almost hit a DEER on a very urban street (munching on shrubs in peoples front yards) as it walked across the street. We think that it might live in the Garry Oak Forest at Government House.

Garry Oaks are protected here, and once had a vast range on Vancouver Island. Several species of animals, birds and insects are dependant on the Garry Oak for habitat.

Mom's Big HBOT Breakthrough:

For the last year, I have had chronic tendontis in might right foot. No day goes by without a little pain. Some days are better than others, but I can always tell its there. Well, for the last 3 days, I have been PAIN-FREE. Thank you HBOT

Although we are here primarily for Naomi, I am happy to get a benefit from spending hours of my life watching movies in a pressurized box!

Naomi's ankle scar continues to get lighter and lighter. It may disappear all together by the time we leave. Her face eczema is still gone, although we haven't gotten any structural break-throughs just yet. Maybe some healing takes more time.

Benjamin successfully made it across the boarder via the Clipper by himself today. We missed him--it has been far too quiet without the constant bickering of siblings who love each other.


Have a great day!

Day 13: Saturday Snow

Here is a picture of Naomi looking out of the HBOT tank. She is stretching her right hand flat against the port hole as part of her tank exercises. We are watching Whale Rider! What a good movie!

Naomi might be growing as her right leg seems to have stiffened up a bit these last two days (or its just because its SO DARN COLD!!) It's 2 degrees C (or about 38 F for you all in the US)here today. We had a light bit of snowfall around 4:00 PM.

We have an adopted dog during our stay...Ruby. Her owner asked us to walk her everyday (if we had time), and we have watched her at nights as well. She is a very good dog, but very timid. We enjoy having a canine friend to walk with since we miss Suki so much.

Here is a picture of Naomi and Ruby during our daily constitutional:



Thursday Alex and Benj took the Victoria Clipper home. What a great experience! If you don't need a car in Victoria, I highly recommend the Clipper as it is not that expensive and VERY fast. It took 2-1/2 hours to get from here to downtown Seattle. If you take your car up to a ferry it can take about 5 hours to get here.

Here are Benj and Alex before the Clipper left in the Inner Harbor.

No more major changes to report at this time. We have done 23 dives as of today and have 10 more days to go!

Oh, for people who subscribe to the blog, I updated the post from Sunday with a picture of Naomi's ankle and such, but you have to go the blog live to see the updates apparently.

For people thinking about coming to do HBOT here in Victoria, the HOC is a very relaxed and relaxing place. We appreciate the energy of the people who run it. They have a lot of ammenities for people to use, like the best water filter I have ever seen, infrared sauna's, and more. Today might have been a good day to do the sauna.

More on living in Canada:

Food here is very expensive compared to the States. And I have heard that Seattle in particular is expensive in comparison to say Texas. 1Liter of organic milk cost 3.59, which makes it approximately 12.00/gallon. Regular food prices are as much as WHole Foods organic in the States, only for regular food. An organic box of Macaroni and Cheese is $2.99/box!

Pizza Hut is apparently $28 for a large pizza!

The only things we have found that is reasonably priced are Hum Bao in the International District (.90/bao). Of course its probably laced with melamine.

Thankfully, we brought a LOT of food with us, and have a kitchen to cook in every day. That is saving us.

Gas is also very expensive here, although the price has been dropping. What is it in the States? It's .83/litre, or about 3.20/gallon.

Have a great day everyone and stay WARM!!!

1/2 There, and Small Changes!

At the conclusion of today's HBOT sessions we will be 1/2 way done! Hurray! Only 20 more movies to go...

We are seeing small changes in Naomi.

For one thing, the chronic eczema spot she has had on her mouth for 6 months cleared up yesterday! Hurray! That spot I have watched every day, and even on Sunday we have pictures (not good enough to post) of her eczema spot.

This time we got smart and took pictures of her arms that have really bad eczema/psoriasis on them. They are some better, but it would be nice to report that they are clear by the end of next week!

Cognitively, we haven't seen any changes yet.

In her hand, we have seem small improvements. She can open her right hand flat more easily. She can raise her right toes higher (bending at the ankle) while leaving her heal on the ground. Her grip, while still tenuous, seems a bit stronger.

Alex and Benj leave today for home today! We will miss them while they are gone. We wish Alex the best possible outcome for finding a new job!

Day 9 - Soft-sided HBOT vs. Hard Sided Tanks

First I am going to start with an amazing and inspiring video of someone who was in a car-crash, with a brain injury improving greatly from HBOT. Now, one thing this person has over Naomi, is that HBOT was administered within 3 months of brain injury rather than 10 years. Yet still this video gives us hope!



Nothing really new to report as for the HBOT treatments. It seems to disruptive to do much in the way of homework in the tank, as its a bit noisy, and I cannot get my daughter to unplug. Currently, we are watching the entire 6 CD Anne of Avonlea series. Naomi is doing stretches for her hand, shoulder and foot, but just minimally so.

Also, I am noting that she tends to be tired more of the time.

The price of gasoline in Canada is about double that of gasoline in the US. Food also seems amazingly higher priced as well. Perhaps one would change shopping habits?




Here is a picture of our friend Kathleen, at her booth, at Moss Street Market. She makes wonderfully inventive jewelry from chain-links and also precious metal clay.

More about Soft-sided HBOT tanks for home rental.

I have been doing more research on these tanks to find out if that option might have been more reasonable for Naomi. Here is what I found out: No. Those tanks are called mHBOT for "mild" HBOT. They are pressurize to maximum 1.3 atmospheres (Naomi is diving to 1.75 atm), and aren't built for 100% oxygen, but rather just above normal oxygen content. While they are purported to be great for kids with autism, it is NOT ideal for kiddos with Traumatic Brain Injuries. In these cases (as in Naomi's case), there is a specific benefit to having higher pressure and higher oxygen content.


And yet another picture of Naomi with Skinny-the-wolf-hybrid.

And that's all for today!

Day 7, A Small Success and an MS HBOT Story

From Naomi

when I came out this time my scar on my ancel was a lot Better!

From Mom:

After Naomi was born she went acidocis (meaning her blood went acidic). To save her life, the people in her ambulance, gave her a shot of sodium bicarbonate in her foot. Unfortunately, the blood vessel ruptured, and the sodium bicarbonate gave her a NASTY caustic burn from the inside out. It took months for it to heal, and supposedly burned her down to the bone. Ever since, she has been left with a large, dark, nasty raised scar on her right ankle. I was surprised at what Naomi wrote today, so I looked at her ankle. Sure enough, the scar was less predominant. It used to have darker skin around it, and it was raised. Now the scar isn't raised, and the skin is now much lighter in color. I wish that we had taken a picture of it earlier, but I didn't think to expect an improvement in that area.

I can attest to the fact that HBOT is good for burns and wounds. Naomi's thumb healed incredibly quickly after going in. On Thursday night, I burned myself cooking, and after I did HBOT the next morning, it was completely healed, where as it hurt going in.

I wish there was a way to measure changes to her brain currently.

We are at our 12th visit.

Today, our operator, Andrew, told us of one patient from this year. A lady with Multiple Sclerosis came into the clinic unable to walk on her own, and not strong enough to hold her own mask on in the tank. Andrew had to carry her into the tank and strap on her mask for her. Within 3 days, she could get in and out of the tank by herself, and after a week of 2x/day sessions, she could walk around the clinic.

That's pretty darn cool.

Here is a picture of Naomi in front of the HOC.