This. never. happens. Ever.

Seriously.

Please ignore the stains, I had just started to feed him when he smacked the tube and spilled his milk on himself. Then went right back to putting his hands on his chest!

Unless we put Liam's hands in this position, he never, ever, ever puts them on his own across his chest. He just can't do it.

His CP has him keeping his arms up. All.the.flippin'.time. Even while he sleeps.

But look at that! They are casually relaxed across his chest! Shawn and I are in shock.

And yesterday while working in his stander, he kept his arms down on the tray for extended periods of time. That never, ever happens either! I was so excited I took pictures (I think my two day old aide thought I was losing it). We usually have to hold his arms down and he's fighting to put them back up in the air.

Look how relaxed those arms are! And why yes, that is a new aide.

 I believe she's #9.

Is this a 'symptom' of HBOT?

I will take it!

Sleeping arrangements

How I found him this morning.

He had to have head great blood flow for his head and completely numb hands.

Girl w/no pulse for 45 min. cured w/stem cells.

Here's a great story about banked umbilical cord used for stem cells to heal brain injury. I can't imagine the joy they felt seeing their daughter return!

You can find that article here

PINEVILLE, MO (KTVI)– A Pineville, Missouri mother is spreading the word about cord blood banking and how it saved the life of her child.
Tonya Morris is spending quality time with her daughters Sunshine and 5-year-old Sparrow.
These special moments are especially important for Sparrow. In 2008, at 1 year old she was found face down in the family’s swimming pool.  She didn’t have a pulse or oxygen for 45 minutes causing severe brain damage that put her in a vegetative state.
A year later Sparrow who was the 5th of the Morris’ 8 children received a reinfusion of her own cord blood. She was the first in the family to have it stored and the results were astonishing.
Tonya shared her story with the Missouri Nurses Conference at the Lambert Marriott to speak out about how the stem cell clinical trial procedure at Duke University saved her daughter’s life. She says the $3,000 she spent on storage was priceless.
Now this family can look forward to many years of happiness and joy with a feisty little girl who beat the odds.
Sparrow is set to start kindergarten this fall.

Photo highlights

Here's a few photo's of our latest HBOT experience.

It takes a total of 23 days to complete a round of 40 dives. That means we dive two dives a day spaced at least 3 hours apart Monday through Saturday. Sunday's are usually off unless we need to make up a dive. Which I've had to do twice due to being sick.

We rented an apartment for the month and ended up staying in a pretty nice place just outside Charlotte. It's a nice community where everyone walks everywhere.

Sitting on the couch with Elmo.

The living room of our cute little apartment.

Diving with Daddy.

What the chamber looks like.

Fancy building where Charlotte Metro Hyperbarics is located.

The lobby with the pretty waterfall. Liam and Norah love this thing.

Liam loves getting to watch his favorite movies twice a day.

What the controls look like for getting us back and forth on the dive.

Video monitor so they can keep an eye on the divers.

This trip we have been able to dive to a deeper pressure. We are diving to 2.0 ATA which is the equivalent of being 33 feet under water.

Why do we do this?  The short and sweet version is that when the brain is injured is sends out a signal that stem cells can 'hear'. When you put the body under pressure in the chamber it opens up the capillaries and allows the stem cells to move. When you dive to 2.0 ATA it increases the stem cell production by 8 1/2 times allowing those stem cells to move to the injured areas and heal them.  Some parts of the brain die off and those areas can not be healed. But we know that the brain has a lot of plasticity and can heal and regenerate growth especially in the early years and we have seen good improvements in Liam by doing HBOT.

It takes a bit for the stem cells to get to the damage which is why you usually do a round of 40 and then continue to do dives for as long as you are still seeing positive results.

When we finish up here in Charlotte Liam will have completed 120 dives.  His developmental pediatrician said he should get at least 300.  But it's pricey and time consuming since we don't have a chamber nearby and not something can be done quickly. But I'm thankful to say we are almost halfway to that goal.