Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber

 Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber

Friday, Mike started the first of 40 sessions to help in wound healing.

The hyperbaric chamber is a sealed environment where the patient breathes 100% oxygen at pressures higher than the normal atmosphere..  The therapy is known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).  The increased oxygen supply should promote healing by enhancing tissue repair and regeneration.  We hope that it will help Mike's bladder, which is said to be friable, where the interior sloughs off, causing bleeding. 

The trek from the Goleta Hospital entrance is long, but at least on the first floor!



His first experience caused ear pressure discomfort, yet it did make him feel better.  We hope that it will be successful, but we will have to discuss the ear changes.  We do not want any damage.


You enter the chamber and lie prone, and when the chamber is sealed, the pressure is established at a high level.  Mike stayed in the chamber for 2 hours.  He could rest, but he said the noise did not let him sleep. There are several individual chambers that are used simultaneously.  


View of the computer bay and the individual chamber 

He will be subject to the therapy every day for 2 months.  The doctor felt that the radiation damage in the bladder would benefit from this therapy.


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