Here's why: In 1991 I had a neck dissection due to cancer that metastasized from the tonsil to lymph nodes on my left side. Had radiation, chemo and then the surgery. Had max radiation to the left neck and jawbone. In mid 1993 I broke the second molar on the lower left. My dentist could not repair it. He said that it had split in two all the way down the root, so no root canal, no crown.
He knew my dental history and sent me to a Navy veteran Oral Surgeon who worked a lot with vets at Bethesda. He said he was concerned that if he took the tooth out, the radiation damage may cause the jaw bone to die due to insufficient blood flow. He called it “radialosteonecrosis” or “death to the bone via radiation. So, before he could remove the tooth he sent me to Mt. Vernon for the first 40 hours of Bariatric treatment, 2 hours at a time. Dr. Titus ran that unit.
Dr. Titus had done a lot of research on pressurized oxygen and its healing properties. He said that 40 hours of the treatment would cause new blood vessels to grow. He had lots of data to support that, Any more than 40 hours was ineffective. The new blood vessels would prevent the jawbone from dying (which, he said, was extremely painful and would result in the jawbone being removed by surgery).
So.....we started the process. After the 40 hours, I went back to the Oral Surgeon and he removed the molar and remarked how good the blood flow was. After the extraction I went back for an additional 20 hours, 2 hours at a sitting, to improve healing.
Radix, I know sitting there watching the patients in the chambers were boring. But it was explained to me that there were going to be 2 people in the room at ALL TIMES. In case one would have an accident or medical emergency, there was someone else who could depressurize the chambers and get the people out. Remember, we're put in there and the door is closed and shut from the outside; no way to get yourself out.
My schedule was changed a couple of times for emergencies. They needed the chambers one time for a family who suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning from a house fire. One time a baby was put in a chamber because of almost drowning. So, things like that.
It was used mainly for wound treatment of diabetics. There were 2 chambers in my room and because of the number of sessions, you would be on the same schedule as others and got to know them. Some would go into the chambers and fall asleep; some would be nervous for the whole 2 hours. I remember a woman totally freaking out because one hospital staffer (not part of the HC staff) came in to talk to the technician and casually leaned in and put his arm on her unit. Really triggered her claustrophobia.
Yeah....we watched movies; helped the time pass. When it would get close to the end of the 2 hours, I watched the clock, counting down the time for the decompression. The decompression would last about 15 minutes at the end, just like it would last 15 minutes to pressurize you at the beginning of the session.
No perfume, deodorant. Nothing goes in the chamber unless it was natural cotton; no synthetics and nothing that could cause a spark —you can understand why. I was told the story that one time in Italy a young boy was put into a chamber after a serious injury and they didn't check his pockets. He had one of those little metal toy guns that when you pulled the trigger constantly it would make a sound and spark (I remember having one as a kid). Sigh....it didn't turn out good for the little boy.
Your comments brought back memories.......
I have a story or more regarding things that I have seen. It is truly not my place to say some stuff due to federal privacy regulations. HIPPA rules are taken very seriously. Sometimes I am in awe when reports are broadcast about Patients. I be all like, oh my, that is a fine, loss of job, possible criminal charges and certainly loss of Credentials for giving out such information. I see it all the time. Hey, people know the rules, but they yak anyhow.
I have one particular story to share. It was actually amazing. If I provided all of the details the specifics could be easily extracted from on line sources. I will attempt to curtail things yet still explain what I saw. It was almost 20 years ago, but it still haunts me. Good story though.
Hyperbaric treatment —ugh....in 1993 I spent 60 hours in a hyperbaric chamber at Mt. Vernon Hospital in Northern Virginia.
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That’s a fascinating story and I’m very glad you recovered from all of that trauma. Thank you for explaining it.
I was training at a large hospital in Boston. The regular Instructor was out on a medical leave, recovering from surgery. We ended up with a girl (I know woman) who turned out to be absolutely fantastic. She had never done this sort of work before and somehow this prompted her to be very creative. She got us fantastic experiences.
The team (of 4 usually) I was on was different for each rotation. Four weeks together and then we were mixed and sent off to a different hospital. It was actually a terrific system. One day, this team, we all got to the hospital early, around 7 a.m. we were told that a Med Flight was coming in. We went to the area where the Hyperbaric Chambers were maintained. Having never seen 1 before, I had a completely different perception of what they really looked like.
It was akin to a Science Fiction movie, where the Astronauts lay in these cylinders with very thick transparent acrylic tops. Their entire bodies were visible from outside. There were three of them. The wall in the room was full of VHS tapes, dozens maybe hundreds of movies. Most Patients are not intubated or ventilated, but those who are receive very high priority.
These were very powerful looking devices. They had specially designed ventilators attached to them. I believe they were pneumatic vents and there was no electricity involved. The only mode available was Pressure, the Oxygen percentage is always 100% in a pneumatic vent, or in a chamber of this sort. Volume Control was not there. (These sort of vents are used in MRIs and so we are familiar with them.) No electrical devices are permitted near the Hyperbaric Chambers.
Well, the descriptions of these things are not the point here, perhaps later. The Patient arrived shortly after we got there. I saw immediately that it was a woman, not possibly older than mid 30s, likely younger. It was simple to discern her youth because she was in very nice shape, despite being covered with a Johnnie and blankets. Her hair was seriously singed. She was unconscious and ventilated. One of the admitting procedural questions was to confirm that the eardrums had been surgically perforated. That takes under a minute to get done.
There had been a fire and her place was almost destroyed. She was clearly suffering from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. She was placed on a hospital vent transferred from the ambulance helicopter device, somewhat stabilized. Now a person can have a 100% Saturation despite CO or CO2 poison. The Hemoglobin in the blood has an affinity for O2, but it likes CO2 more and it absolutely loves the Carbon Monoxide. This is partly why the high pressure (> atmosphere) is used to get that crap out of the circulation. It can take a while.
We stayed in that room for hours. The regular Workers cannot leave. Every day the cafeteria sends them up a pot of coffee, teas, and a giant platter of breakfast things including pastries. They eat well. They get free lunch as well.
Anyhow, a Patient can only receive so many hours of the therapy at a time. This woman probably required a lot. I never saw her again and I have no idea whatever resulted.
I was intrigued by her case. When I got home I perused News Reports. She was clearly from some distance away. Well I found the story. There was a storm and a bolt of lightning struck a utility pole, and some electrical discharge literally traveled into an apartment building. It went up to a 2nd floor and a fire traveled into her apartment. It was a 16 unit building. Her apartment was the only one damaged. There were no other people injured.
It was like reading a bad movie script, only I saw her. I spent hours near her. I never knew her name. I suspect that she may have been brain dead, or even her entire body just expired. I really do not know. I would be uncomfortable knowing, even still, decades following.
It is one of those things where you do have to acknowledge that One’s time could end in the wink of an eye. It was simply a remarkable thing altogether. There is a lot more to the high pressure Oxygen therapy stuff, but this one story I recall vividly probably because it was my first.