Honorary Fire fighter

[gkainz]

Last Saturday we were invited to bring our grandson and his parents to a surprise event at the Denver Firefighter's Academy. Zachary has cerebral palsey, and is doing hyperbaric chamber treatments as part of his therapy. Captain Tony Jefferson met Zach during one of these treatments and they became friends.

Capt. Tony and a few of his firemen have started a tradition of honoring a child each year who may never have a chance to sit in a fire truck, or become a fireman. They hand crafted a beautiful Fire Truck Wagon for the child, and host him or her, as well as family and friends at an open house at the Academy.

We were very honored and moved by the love, care and hospitality of Capt. Tony and his fire fighters. Words cannot express our gratitude to these men.

DFD Engine Brigade

Zack's Engine

Zachary and Captain Tony

Zachary and Dad

Zachary and Mom

Zachary and Grampa - Firetruck driving simulator

 

[KennyFlys]

That's incredible, Greg. Zachary was met with a great bunch of guys. I'm glad he experienced that.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Wow.

I'm really glad there are people like that in the world.

 

[AdamZ]

Wow Greg saw this first thing in the AM and its a great start to the day. That is really super!!!

 

[ScottM]

That is really cool.

As a diver and someone who has taken training with hyperbaric medicine specialists in treating decompression illness I am curious about the use of that treatment for Cerebral Palsy. Can you tell me more?

 

[gkainz]

I'm going to call it a belief or theory, as the general medical community has not embraced or approved hyperbaric chamber treatments as an approved or common therapy for CP. But, I believe there is substantial evidence of significantly improved healing in widely varying situations with use of hyperbaric chamber treatments.

The belief is that the hyperbaric chamber, with higher O2 levels and higher atmospheric pressures can help or boost Zach's brain to rewire new neural connections, bypassing the CP affected areas, while he's in the chamber. The increased pressure is believed to cause a higher rate of O2 absorbtion, and higher O2 concentrations are believed to dramatically increase healing.

CP is really a general condition that is a result of brain injury. Zach was premature, had in-utereo growth retardation, and had very under-developed lungs at birth. He suffered sustained O2 deprivation at birth, and that's what we believe caused the damage to his brain.

Zachary performs a number of speech, cognitive or motor skills exercises while in the chamber. They really don't have definitive, clinical assessments to measure his improvement, but we (parents and grandparents) believe we've seen remarkable, dramatic improvements in his speech since starting these treatments.

The kids are considering a newer chamber that includes delivery of 100% O2 via a hood, if Zach can tolerate that.

 

[Diana]

Capt. Tony and a few of his firemen have started a tradition of honoring a child each year who may never have a chance to sit in a fire truck, or become a fireman. They hand crafted a beautiful Fire Truck Wagon for the child, and host him or her, as well as family and friends at an open house at the Academy.

We were very honored and moved by the love, care and hospitality of Capt. Tony and his fire fighters. Words cannot express our gratitude to these men.

Wow. That is so touching. Incredible guys. Zach looks pretty happy in his wagon.

I'm going to call it a belief or theory, as the general medical community has not embraced or approved hyperbaric chamber treatments as an approved or common therapy for CP. But, I believe there is substantial evidence of significantly improved healing in widely varying situations with use of hyperbaric chamber treatments.

The belief is that the hyperbaric chamber, with higher O2 levels and higher atmospheric pressures can help or boost Zach's brain to rewire new neural connections, bypassing the CP affected areas, while he's in the chamber. The increased pressure is believed to cause a higher rate of O2 absorbtion, and higher O2 concentrations are believed to dramatically increase healing.


Zachary performs a number of speech, cognitive or motor skills exercises while in the chamber. They really don't have definitive, clinical assessments to measure his improvement, but we (parents and grandparents) believe we've seen remarkable, dramatic improvements in his speech since starting these treatments.

It sounds promising Greg. Please keep us posted on his progress.

 

[HPNFlyGirl]

Firefighters are the greatest. Glad Zach has such a wonderful time.

 

[ScottM]

I'm going to call it a belief or theory, as the general medical community has not embraced or approved hyperbaric chamber treatments as an approved or common therapy for CP. But, I believe there is substantial evidence of significantly improved healing in widely varying situations with use of hyperbaric chamber treatments.

The belief is that the hyperbaric chamber, with higher O2 levels and higher atmospheric pressures can help or boost Zach's brain to rewire new neural connections, bypassing the CP affected areas, while he's in the chamber. The increased pressure is believed to cause a higher rate of O2 absorbtion, and higher O2 concentrations are believed to dramatically increase healing.

CP is really a general condition that is a result of brain injury. Zach was premature, had in-utereo growth retardation, and had very under-developed lungs at birth. He suffered sustained O2 deprivation at birth, and that's what we believe caused the damage to his brain.

Zachary performs a number of speech, cognitive or motor skills exercises while in the chamber. They really don't have definitive, clinical assessments to measure his improvement, but we (parents and grandparents) believe we've seen remarkable, dramatic improvements in his speech since starting these treatments.

The kids are considering a newer chamber that includes delivery of 100% O2 via a hood, if Zach can tolerate that.

Interesting. I had not heard hyperbaric therapy used for this before. I hope it does work.

 

[Bob Bement]

That made my eyes water a little bit. That was great, and I bet he was thrilled as you can tell by the look on his face. Thanks for posting that. Bob