Austin's HBOT Quest
UPDATE 3!!!!
Well,
it is time again for another update!!! I have finished another 40
treatments with awesome results!!! I am completely off the
spasticity reducing drug Valium!!! Mom has been really bad about
helping me tell my story lately so we are really sorry for not
getting to the update sooner!! Anyway, I have been out of the
chamber for about 10 months now. Mom says that she has seen very
little regression since I have been out of the tank. I have been
Valium free for a while now and my muscles are still relaxed!! I
still amaze them in my therapy here at home almost every session!!
The latest achievement that I have to brag about is the recent
evaluation for a power wheelchair. The rep had already told my
therapist that I wasn't ready for the chair but he had not seen me
since I finished 120 treatments. I totally blew his mind!!!
HEHEHE!!! They happened to have a chair just my size for me to try
out and I drove the wheels off of it!!! They asked me to drive it
out of the room we were in and around through the hall. At first it
was a little weird but so much fun I couldn't stop smiling!!! They
let me go anywhere I wanted to go in the chair and I saw a pretty
gal in an office so you know I had to get in there and visit her!!!
I made a perfect left hand turn and in I went right up to her desk
and she was so nice!!! We visited for a while and off I went again.
They asked me to make the chair go different ways so I did my best to
do what they asked me to. At the end of the eval which was suppose
to only last an hour or two, almost 4 hours later I had totally
convinced them I was ready and now I have a power chair on order!!
YIPPEE!!!!
Mom
plans on taking me back to Winter Park/Orlando for more treatments
either this spring or summer. She is anxious to see what kind of
improvements we will see next. She says she just knows they will be
as great has what we have seen so far!!! We will keep ya posted on
my progress!! If you would like to visit my HBOT place at
Complete
Wellness and Hyperbaric Center just click they have a new
site!!! Also, check out our Ronald McDonald
House in Orlando they have been updating their site too!!!
Updated
3/2001
~~~~~~
UPDATE 2!!!!
We
want to again thank everyone that helped me get treatment!! We just
got home from our second set of 40 treatments so now I have 80
treatments in!! I did great this time too!! I actually went into the
chamber all by myself!!! I did have some company when my OT did our
therapy session in the tank!!! I again had PT and OT along with my
HBOT. They started using the term "Motor Planning". This was a new
one to me and Mom. The therapists actually said that I was now able
to make the motor plans for a particular movement and then store it
for later use. I had not been able to recall these plans before and
now I can!!!! The therapists were really pleased with the gains that
I made!! I actually sat alone for 7 minutes! I am sooooo proud!! We
have to take a month off before our next treatments, so we are
scheduled to return in April. After doing 80 treatments my medical
account is running low, so Mom has started doing the fundraising
again to help me!! You can E-mail
Mom
for more information on how you can help me or even to how get more
info on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. God bless you and your families
and thanks for helping me!!! Mom is going to add new pictures soon of
me being so big and doing my treatment alone!!
Austin's
Newsjournal article March 2000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meet my new friend Andy!!! He was doing HBOT
too!!!
~~~~
On
November 20, 1999, I started my first set of 40 HBO treatments.
Thanks to all that helped to make it possible for me to get HBOT I
would have never made it without your help and support!!! I did great
through the entire process!!! Mom found a new facility in Winter Park
Florida that didn't require the spect scans so we were able to start
treatment with what money we had!!!! We were able to stay at the
Ronald McDonald
House of Orlando and it was soooooo great!!! I actually got to meet
Ronald McDonald!!! Yippee!!! We now have a new family in Orlando!!
They were so great!!! The house Managers and all the Volunteers were
soooooo great!!! What an awesome house they have!!! The playroom is
huge and they always had food around so I could eat anytime I wanted
to!!! I love to eat!!! hehehe!!!
~~~~
Look Austin is holding his bottle!!!!!
Those little fingers all stretched out
there!!!!
******
I had
a procedure done on my ears called Otolam, which is a laser surgery
on my ear drums rather that having for me to be put to sleep for
tubes to be surgically implanted. This procedure was completely pain
free. They put drops in my ears and we waited for about an hour for
the drops to numb my ears and then Mom got to watch on the TV screen
while the Doctor used the laser to put a pin hole in my eardrum. I
was such a big boy!!! The nurse and Doctor both bragged that I was
the best patient that they had ever had the pleasure of treating!!!!
We went back for a 2 week check up and the nurse told me that in her
25 years of nursing that no one had ever touched her like I had. She
said that she had even dreamed about me!!! She was soooo nice!!! They
said that they had adults that didn't act as well as I did!!! My Mom
was sooo proud of me!!! The next day we had our first dives. My Mom
kept a journal to help me be able to tell my story. After the first 2
dives I was unaffected by the change in pressure, Mom on the other
hand, another story altogether!!! Mom's ears hurt and following the
dives she was left with a headache. With dives #3 and #4 I started to
be more vocal, almost like it was easier for me to get the sounds to
come out. I was having a feel bad day after completing dive #7 so Mom
asked the Doctor if she would look me over and just make sure that
nothing was medically wrong. Well, the Doc made a special trip in
just for me and checked me over and gave me an all clear!!!! The
Doctor also checked Mom over and Mom failed the test!! Her ears
looked to bad to go for another dive!! The Doctor recommended taking
the rest of the day off as well as all the next day. We enjoyed our
break and went back to our treatments(dives) on that Friday. We
finished dives #8 and #9 and everyone was noticing that my body was
looking more relaxed. My tone had decreased!!!! I was still acting a
little strange so Mom adjusted my Valium dosage. Mom said that I was
acting like I was drunk, so she cut the Valium in half. I was taking
it for to help decrease my high tone. With the HBOT reducing my tone
I didn't need as much Valium!!! Everyone started bragging on my head
control somewhere around dive #11. I had started holding it up better
and I was soooo proud!!!! This was around the same time that Mom
first noticed that I was helping her hold me for the first time in my
life!!! I didn't want to just lay on her shoulder anymore!! I wanted
to look around and see everything!!! I worked with the Physical
Therapist and Occupational Therapist while we were at the HBOT
center. They were great with me!! They made me work pretty hard
though!!!
Look how good I'm holding up my head!! My brother,
Jerad, was impressed!!!
I
am a big boy!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When
we reached dive #27 the ATM was increased from 1.5 up to 1.63 we were
gradually ascending up to 1.75. By the time we got to dive #31 the
ATM was upped to 1.75. Mom kept noticing that my head control was
still getting better. When I reached dives #37 and #38 not only was
Mom still bragging on me but I blew my therapists away!!!! hehehe!!!
I started doing things that they had never seen me do before!!!! They
saw me 2 times/week and they couldn't believe that from one time till
the next how much I had improved on the things that they had been
working on with me!!!! I finished dive #40 and then the Therapists
re-evaluated me to compare to the initial eval before HBOT. One of
the biggest things was my head control--- The first eval the OT timed
me at holding my head up for an entire 8 seconds!! Following 40
treatments the same OT timed me at holding my head up for 2 1/2
minutes!!!!! YIPPEE!!!! This and the fact that my over all tone had
decreased soooo much was enough for Mom!! She put down a deposit for
our return trip!!! We can't wait to get back!!!! I'll keep you all
posted on my progress!!! Thanks for visiting my Quest page!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi!!! I'm
Austin I'm 4 years old and I have spastic quadriplegia Cerebral
Palsy. I attend Preschool where I get all of my therapies. I love
school!!!! I currently receive Physical Therapy, Occupational
Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Assistive Technology/computer training.
My family and I, recently attended the 1st annual HyperBaric Oxygen
Symposium in Boca Raton, Fl. and found out about a new type of
treatment that has been proven to help children with Cerebral Palsy
gain motor skills. WOW!!! This therapy, HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy, is given via a
hyperbaric oxygen chamber and allows for greater oxygenation of the
brain, which awakens sleeping brain cells. These cells stay awake and
will allow me to have more motor function. The treatments are not
covered by insurance because they are not FDA approved for treatment
of Cerebral Palsy. The first round of 40 treatments/dives could cost
$100 to $200 for each dive. Not only are the dives costly, but I
would have to travel to either Florida or Louisiana to find a Doctor
knowledgeable in treating children with Cerebral Palsy with HBOT. Mom
and Me would have to fly in an airplane there and have to live there
for up to 4 weeks while I have treatments. Mom has started doing
fundraisers for my HBOT and has opened the Austin Roberson Medical
Trust. These monies will only be used to cover my medical and related
expenses. Hopefully, we can raise enough money so that I can have the
HBOT and be able to have a more "normal" life!!!! Please, if you can,
help me get my HBOT!!! You can email my Mom,Francie, for more information
on how you can help!!! If you would like to make a donation to my
Trust call Nancy at Community Trust Bank, (606)549-5000 to get more
information!!! Thanks and God bless you!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
Click on Blue to visit Austin's
Homepage
|
For more
information on HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy check out KidPower's
HBOT
pages.
Ricky's
HOPE Foundation has a petition that everyone needs to print off and
sign to get Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy FDA approved!!! Page
1
,
Page 2
Check out
Austin's
newspaper articles here!!!
Thanks
D
Angels Heavenly Designs for the Blues Clues Graphics
and for designing Austin's Homepage!!!