18 of 40

Good Evening again. Well weve just finished the 18th session. This week had quite a few hurdles. The first one was the progression from 2.4 ATA to 2.5. I must say Shawna and Deb handled it very well, with no complications. Sure enough the thrush is going away on her tongue. What a blessing. When its completely gone hopefully a trip to the dentist to clean the rest of her teeth and throw all the teeth cleaning utensils away and start fresh. The thrush on her tongue could only be a small part as it could be in her blood but when we see it dissappear we know it is being killed off. Shawna's physio-therapist has beeen very excited about her progress and maintains high hopes now for this treatment. His work is very physical and as such he can notice her involvement in the therapy much more than the other therapists. The rehab-therapist came down on thursday night and also left very excited about the gains that Shawna has experienced. The other small incidents we experienced this week were a bit comical. We forgot to put ear plugs into her ears when she went for a shower. A phone call to the ear specialist calmed everyone down about the water in her ear. Right behind that came another incident where Shawna's feeding tube was cut off. That was a panic, although it was quite humourous watching all unfold as the trip to emergency to have the tube replaced by the family doctor. When the doctor arrived, Shawna was staring straight ahead at him and followed his every move. "Wow there IS something different about her", he exclaimed to the nurses and Deb. He was also very excited as he was the one who made the appointment for Shawna to have the tubes put in her ears, and now he was seeing results that he hasn't seen in three years of attending her. That night, thursday night was a fantastic night for her as she moved her head from side to side following a lot of people and laughing and smiling about it in the knowledge she could do it. Friday she was back to her old self but, we've found that sometimes the process doesn't stay and will reappear stronger later as the neurons are being excited and the pathways they create are not yet strong enough to stay intact all the time. Since friday was a holiday, we went to the clinic today for the fifth session for the week. Unfortunately Deb was feeling very sick today and could not go in the tube. Well the duty fell to me. Talk about stuffing the sardines into a can. It was tight enough for Deb and Shawna in the tube but now it was my turn. I didn't dare complain as Deb was such a trooper and resolutely has accompanied Shawna 17 times. The only problems were doing the first dive for me at 2.5 ATA to maintain the level for the fungus killing, and would I fit? Usually the max first time dives are done at 2.4 ATA. This was a first for the clinic. I asked them to bring us to 2.4 and after 5 mins bring us to 2.5. After climbing onto the stretcher amid Deb's concerns about total weight, they easily stuffed Shawna and me into the tube. It was quite cramped but if they couold put a 450lb linebacker in here, I'm sure we could fit as well. The doctor brought us slowly to 1.75 and as I was swallowing furiously to pop my eardrums all went well and we progressed a little quicker to 2.4 and later to 2.5. Whereas it was only 72 degrees F, the air is thick with humidity and it is a bit difficult to breath. Being so cramped it is very hard to move around and after a few minutes my left arm was starting to go to sleep. I managed to move the arm into a position which was more comfortable. Shawna meanwhile really enjoyed this arrangement as she didn't have to look around to find me. I was right there. She was smiling a lot and trying to vocalize a bunch of times. She was very calm and did not become agitated at all. 15 minutes up to pressure, 1 hr at pressure and 15 minutes coming back down, it was sure a stuffy ordeal. I was thankful to be breathing cool fresh air when we were extracted from the tube. You are a bit lightheaded when finished and I had the shakes till I ate something, and had a coffee. Deb and I will probably continue to alternate as the pressure will again be increased to 2.6 or 2.7 next week. We feel that Shawna still cannot be left by herself in the tube, as it takes too long to get back down if there was a problem such as her becoming agitated by herself and grabbing at things such as her feeding tube etc. This way we can take over for each other if one is sick and it won't be quite so much an ordeal.



Thanking you for your prayers. Al, Deb, Shawna Bethlehem and family