Anoxic Encephalopathy

 

In December of 2001 as a result of septic shock, 23 year old Jolanda suffered cardiac arrest. She survived but was severely brain damaged and in a vegetative state, g-tube dependant with severe spasticity and no purposeful movement. She could see but could not focus. On August 29th, 2002 Jolanda came to us on a stretcher from the Netherlands. Over the course of one year she received over 400 HBO therapy sessions and progressed from a Glascow Coma Level of 7 to about 14, was familiar with her surroundings and had a beautiful smile. She had now progressed to a wheelchair, her g-tube was removed and she was attempting to talk. She was eating all food by mouth and all medications were discontinued. Upon returning home she continued to show many improvements. She now appears very, very happy and is always smiling. Her spasticity is markedly decreased. She can now formulate words, especially the one her boyfriend most wanted to hear. He asked her to marry him and Jolanda literally said "YES". When she returns to OHNC next summer, Jolanda will be a beautiful married lady. We wish her all the love and happiness in the world.

On February 4, 2003, Kaelyn Marie Sosa was born in Miami, Florida. She was delivered C-Section, just like her two older brothers. There were no complications and she was born a perfectly normal baby girl.
Her first two years of life were just like any other normal child’s. Kaelyn was never more than one step behind her brothers. She was a very sociable little girl and loved to dance. Developmentally, she was an average or above-average child, taking her first steps at 11 months. Everything changed for us when Kaelyn sustained her injury on December 31st, 2004 in the late afternoon. Her brain had suffered a loss of oxygen and we thought we had lost her that day. The doctors were able to revive her and everyone thought she was in the clear.

A few days after the initial injury, Kaelyn remained unresponsive, so an MRI was done.
The MRI confirmed that the brain had been severely damaged due to the loss of oxygen, medically known as anoxic ischemic encephalopathy, primarily in the area of the basal ganglia, which controls her movements, and the brain stem. With much sympathy, her neurologist came in to tell us that her body would begin to shut down within the next two weeks and that if she did pull through, there would possibly be some options we could look at, one of which was the hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Those two weeks were a nightmare for us as we watched her body posture, not sure where things were headed. We learned that the brain cells were dying and settling back in.

Everyone watched and prayed.  Miraculously, she made it through with her body 100% stronger and only a G-Tube for us to handle. One of the other neurologists, then, mentioned that she would be in a permanent vegetative state for a very long time. Of course, we were devastated. We prepared ourselves for this, both emotionally and mentally. The weeks that followed were spent adjusting her body to the feedings and stabilizing her heart rate, which was higher than normal, when she got agitated. Kaelyn would scream for no apparent reason with her eyes closed and her hands fisted by the side of her face. She was on two seizure medications, Dilantin and Klonipin, Baclofen for relaxing the muscles, and Prevacid for the stomach. Therapies - speech, occupational, and physical - were being provided daily at the hospital. Gone was our laughing, sociable little girl and in her place was this lifeless, screaming little body.

During this time, we received an email and some phone calls regarding the hyperbaric oxygen therapy and
Dr. Neubauer’s facility. Years back, we knew of a family at our oldest son’s school whose son had undergone the therapy for a near drowning. We called and spoke to the mom and grandmother. They were very positive about the therapy and
Dr. Neubauer. They urged us to start as quickly as possible. We went to visit Dr. Neubauer. Dr. Neubauer said he could possibly help our daughter and to get her there as quickly as possible. We had the SPECT scan done, which confirmed the injuries from the MRI. The neurologist was surprised that Kaelyn’s scan did show some blood flow.

On January 26th, 2005, a little less than a month after the injury, Kaelyn started her hyperbaric therapy once a day, Monday through Saturday. We were still at the hospital, so we would transport up to the facility from Miami daily in an ambulance.  I would sit in the chamber with her for the hour, either talking to her, listening to music or watching her favorite cartoons.  At the same time, we started physical therapy twice a day. Within a week, she was starting to hold her head up. Changes started coming almost immediately. Even the therapists were amazed at how quickly Kaelyn was picking up on things.  All the doctors and nurses have been impressed and baffled by her continued progress.
Some even express that it’s a miracle.

We are now on our 87th therapy session, 4 1/2 months from the initial injury, and Kaelyn continues to amaze us. She holds up her head on her own. She follows anything and everyone around her.  She can sit unsupported for longer periods of time. She is even eating a little by mouth. She laughs and smiles, especially with her brothers. We have taken her off the seizure medications completely with no issues and are working towards taking her off the other medications. We just recently completed another SPECT scan and the results are amazing. Kaelyn has blood flow to every area of her brain,essentially, according to Dr. Neubauer, a normal scan. Our work now begins to get her to relearn the many movements she had learned as a child.

We have high hopes that our little girl is slowly coming back to us. In our hearts, the oxygen therapy sessions have been a big part of helping her get to this point. We would like to thank the entire staff at the Neubauer Hyperbaric Neurologic Center for their continued support and taking part in Kaelyn’s recovery. We look forward to seeing everyone daily as we continue with our treatments.

Thank you Dr. Neubauer and staff for being angels in Kaelyn’s life!!

Sandra, Ozzie, Ryan, Alec and Kaelyn Sosa