One month ago, my 9 year old son with autism suffered 3rd degree burns on his back, arm and hand in a kitchen accident. Patrick’s burns covered almost 10% of his body and required skin grafting, which doubled the burn site. We spent 17 days in the hospital, and needless to say, he was in a lot of pain. We were sent home with bandages, lotions and pain medicine, but nothing else to do but wait for the burns to heal on their own. We had heard about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for burns, but the hospital wouldn’t let us use theirs because insurance would only pay for it if Patrick was burned over at least 30% of his body.
My friend Carol referred us to the Center for the Healing Arts in Richfield to use their High Pressure Hyperbaric Chamber to speed the rate of healing for Patrick’s burns. We came to the center the first day after he came home to start our sessions. We were greeted by Salena, who in such a short time, has become very special to us. She’s been very patient and kind to Patrick and he is always excited to see her. Salena realized the urgency of our situation and has worked with our schedule & finances in order to both maximize our treatments in the first few weeks and to make them affordable.
We returned to the burn clinic every other day to get his bandages changed and I would hear the nurses comment on how well he was healing. But I knew that HBOT made a difference when he had his appointment with the nurse manager 11 days after he was discharged. By then, we had completed 8 sessions of HBOT. I asked the nurse manager how Patrick was healing and she told me his healing was “phenomenal” and “way ahead of the curve”. He’s already been cleared to return to all his normal activities, even swimming!
I know HBOT is the reason Patrick is healing as quickly as he is, and I am grateful to the Center for the Healing Arts for making this amazing therapy available outside a hospital setting. Without it, I wouldn’t feel as hopeful as I do right now.
Nadia, Garfield Heights