Started Hyperbaric Treatment Today

All I can say is you all are amazing. I was really fighting discouragement and fear and I woke up today with the deepest sense of peace and trust. I feel a little like I am floating, I know your prayers are lifting me above the challenging circumstances that I am facing right now. Thank you a hundred times over!

So the story continues...

Yesterday, (Friday) I did get to see a plastic surgeon (my plastic surgeon who has been working with me on my breast reconstruction has been out of town). It was a very, very long day and I will not go into in all of the details, but suffice it to say that he was eventually able to successfully remove about half of the fluid in my left expander. Removing the fluid took the pressure off of the blood vessels that supply circulation to the wound. That in itself should help the healing process. He said there is very little tissue covering the expander on the wound site and that I had been in danger of having the expander break through the tissue. Thank the Lord we got that fluid out and the pressure off before that happened. I can't even imagine how much that would have hurt. It would also have required immediate surgery, so praise the Lord!

Today, I went in to see a doctor of Hyperbaric medicine (see wikipedia for a pretty good explanation and a picture of a chamber that looks like the one that I use: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbaric_medicine

I really liked the doctor and all of the techs that were working. Ron and I thought that we would just see the Dr. and then IF he decided I needed treatment, we would get a treatment on the calendar. Well, the doctor saw me today and decided to begin treatment immediately. So, I had my first treatment today, I have my second one tomorrow. Yep, they treat on Sundays!

The treatment plan will run about 2 hours a day in the chamber, 6 days a week (I'll usually have Sundays off) and I will need between 40 and 60 treatments! That was a little sobering. Yes, the wound is really bad.

I felt such amazing peace throughout the treatment. When I finished, the doctor said almost no one does as well as I did on their first treatment. The treatment feels similar to the pressure one feels when scuba diving to about 33 feet. The pressure builds up in the ears and they have to be cleared over and over until the proper pressure is reached. By God's grace, I did so well that when I finished the doctor shook my hand and said, "Welcome to the United States Navy!" I think he feels I am ready to be a navy diver! It was funny. One of these times I am going to walk in wearing my diving mask and snorkel just to make them laugh.

My plastic surgeon called me at home tonight; he just got back from his vacation. He is going to see me in his office tomorrow! He wants to see the wound himself and make sure everything is okay with my expander. (I have amazing doctors. Who hears of a doctor willing to come into his office on a Sunday during his vacation AND on a three day weekend!! God's favor is amazing.) I will see him and then go directly over to the hospital for my hyperbaric treatment #2 of 40-60. This is going to be a bit of a long haul.

Here is a final piece of good news. The hyperbaric Dr. told Ron and me that studies show that patients who receive hyperbaric treatment after radiation typically do not have any lasting negative effects in their bodies from radiation treatment. Apparently, the cells that are damaged during radiation are restored and repaired during hyperbaric treatment. The significant increase in oxygen causes new blood supplies to appear, enables the cells to repair the damage that radiation does to the walls of blood vessels and stimulates stem cell growth in the bone marrow, just to name a few benefits. All kinds of things in the body heal as the cells are restored, even the immune system is regenerated. So, I was thinking, as I listened to the doctor, that perhaps this is God truly working ALL things together for good. Without the burn, I wouldn't have been able to have hyperbaric treatment. Through this treatment I am believing that God is going to restore all that was damaged during radiation as well as whatever else needs to be restored in my body, even my immune system. God is amazing! So while on one hand, 40-60 treatments is a bit daunting, but on the other hand, I am focusing on the blessing that this treatment will be in the long run.

One more thing, the name emblazoned on the outside of the hyperbaric chamber is "SECHRIST" over the top of a world map! At first glance, it looked like "see christ" over the nations of the world. It was really encouraging to both Ron and me.

Thank you so much for rallying around me in prayer. I can totally feel it!! with a grateful heart, Leslyn