The Next Twenty Days

I will probably be completely out of touch for the next 20 days.  Finn just wrapped up his first year of elementary school and our summer seems to be completely booked.

Finn starts hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments tomorrow.  We are doing two treatments a day for twenty consecutive days.  Each treatment is an hour and half and we have to wait at least two hours between treatments.  Finn and I will be spending a lot of time in Zephyrhills, FL (about 7 hours a day).

The treatments this time around are more aggressive then what he had previously.  They are 100% oxygen at a higher atmospheric pressure.  He has to wear a bubble over his head and I will get in the chamber with him.  We will both have to wear scrubs and clear physicals tomorrow before we actually get in the chamber.  I'm very nervous about the treatments.  I'm worried about how Finn will handle the bubble around his head and I'm worried about myself in a small, enclosed space going on a "deep dive."  I'm also worried about one of the possible side effects of doing this therapy at a higher ATA...seizures.  All in all, the possible benefits way outweigh the possible side effects and my own fears of the actual chamber itself.

The good news is that I will be getting to spend a lot of time with Finn and will be working one on one with him.  We also learned that there is a bowling alley, a spray ground and a big park nearby so when we need to kill time in between sessions, at least we will have a lot to do. 

Meanwhile, we are waiting for blood work to come back that was drawn this morning checking his blood counts and liver function.  Finn has many unexplained bruises on areas where there is not bone so we are simply getting him checked out to rule out a blood disorder.  Unfortunately, blood disorders are common problems with Trisomy 9p so we would rather be safe than sorry.

I'll update about how Finn is doing with therapy soon.  In the mean time, we spent his day off at Busch Gardens today and here are some pics.