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

 

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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

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Meet my new friend Andy!!! He was doing HBOT too!!!

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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!!!

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Look Austin is holding his bottle!!!!!

Those little fingers all stretched out there!!!!

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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!!!!

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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!!!

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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!!!!

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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!!!