I took the plunge yesterday and signed Lulu up for 10 sessions in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (or HBOT as it is referred to) is an emerging intervention for treating a variety of immune disorders and other things. You may have read how they put the surviving miner in West Virginia in a hyperbaric chamber to detoxify his body...that is the basic premise.

Sitting in a chamber for an hour, your body is exposed to oxygen under pressure. This causes more oxygen to enter your bloodstream and cross into your tissues. Wounds heal faster. The oxygen also causes toxins to release and new cells to grow. The oxygenated blood crosses the blood/brain barrier and promotes new cell growth there as well -- which is part of what we're hoping for.

People with lots of chronic disorders -- lyme disease, stroke victims, cerebral palsy, MS, fibromyalgia, arthritis -- they are all receiving relief.

And then there are the autism kids...that's the reason we are exploring this. Over time we have come to realize my daughter is on the autistic spectrum -- genetic or because of the effects of being in an institution -- she has distinct autism characteristics. This fall we did a whole battery of blood, urine and stool tests that indicate that a variety of her neurotransmitters and other biochemistry is WAY OUT OF WHACK. However, she doesn't have a "typical" autism profile. She doesn't have a "typical" anything...but that's another story. Wish I had a dollar for every time a professional has diagnosed her with atypical something...I could pay for all her therapy for the rest of her life on that alone!

Back to hyperbarics... we are doing what's called mild hyperbaric therapy (mHBT) - because it only has 1.3 atmospheres of pressure - like diving down only 7 feet in the ocean - not much. She and I will be in the chamber together for an hour daily over the next 10 days - starting Monday.

The folks at the center where this chamber is tell me they haven't had a parent who didn't get some kind of benefit themselves. I'm a bit excited because I heard a doctor's lecture earlier this week where she talked about how she and other parents have experienced vision improvements from the chamber. As my 40-something body heads toward the need for bifocals, I would welcome improvements in this area. Or even a sudden burst of energy.

I'll report back in the coming days.