May 23, 2013

Hyperbaric Chamber Therapy - Dealing with a Long Weekend:

Last Tuesday was especially hard to go to my hyperbaric therapy session. I wasn't able to make my session on Friday, so it's been since last Thursday that my system got it's needed oxygen dose.

Due to the long stretch, especially since this weekend was a long weekend, I've definitely noticed some impact on the quality of life.

1) Inflammation:

My legs, not having changed my compression wraps for so long had reverted back to swelling with increased pain. The swelling is hardest to deal with when you consider; socks increase swelling, the edge of wounds are stretched, walking becomes harder, and shoes are a no go.

2) Pain Management:

When dealing with open wounds around your ankles, the swelling and pain are two things you must keep in check. I can tolerate a lot more pain than the average bear, always been able to, but sometimes you just have to put your legs up and chill for a bit. A nice coffee and a movie helps to keep your mind off the pain.

3) Decreased mobility:

When both legs are swelled up, your mobility in compression wraps is drastically decreased. Doesn't mean I'm not mobile, just makes it harder to cope with. It didn't help that we had a rain storm last night and it's supposed to rain all week. Anyone who's had a blood clot or Vasculitis can probably attest to being able to predict the weather, since our circulatory system is more susceptible to changes in atmospheric pressure.

4) Boredom:

This was the 1st time that I was actually bored out of my mind for two hours. Yes, I did have some unique shows on, but it's like taking a vacation and coming back to work, it takes time to get back into the rhythm, especially when it comes to healing; slowly, consistently and with a lot of patience.

Is there an upside?

Yes, since the start of my hyperbaric chamber sessions, they always told me 30 days on, 30 days off. I finally understand why this is the preferred method for therapy. With open wounds, the goal is to increase oxygen to the blood, but also increase blood to the wound.

With having 4 days out of the chamber, my wounds began healing themselves by increasingly showing more signs of blood at the base of the wound. There hasn't been blood (healing mechanism) at the base of my wounds in over 3 years!

This is a good sign.

So I have to keep my mind in check, outweigh the negatives (pain & swelling) vs. the positives (blood to the wound / healing) to ensure happiness

All in all, good outweighs the bad every time!!!

Sincerely,
Martin R. Lemieux

@CanadaBloodClot 
@Martin_Lemieux
@Blood_Disorder (#TheBloodRevolution)

FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/BloodDisorderNetwork


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