HBOT Conversations:
Evan Fernandez
Warriors on the Water
Evan served in the US Marine Corp, and is currently the President and Founder of Warriors on the Water, USA. Warriors on the Water is a non-profit chartered fishing company that seeks to change a veteran’s perspective on life through natural remedies of healing being on the ocean and surrounded by nature. They offer veterans an opportunity to view their struggles through an alternate perspective; teaching that we cannot change the things that happen, but we can change our reaction.
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HBOT News Network welcomes Evan Fernandez with Warriors on the Water. Evan is an Iraq & Afghanistan Marine Corps combat veteran. He exited the Marine Corps honorably in 2007, but not before he sustained substantial injuries while in combat. He is currently going through Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatments.
Evan tells us how he sustained another head injury about four years ago, and the result of that injury brought back a lot of painful memories and even more cognitive mental decline. He noticed that the multiple TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) have caused him difficulty in concentration & focus, and he was making a lot of mistakes. The injuries affected his sleep and also caused him to feel a debilitating sense of stress and frustration.
He has now completed 29 HBOT treatments, and gives insight into how he is feeling. After his first HBOT dive, Evan tells us that he was in tears. The very first treatment was emotionally overwhelming as it felt like his body was finally starting to come alive. He was feeling free, like he was breaking free of the chains that held him back and made him feel like he was stuck in his own head. After the first dive, he could even already start to feel the pain diminish.
Evan claims that HBOT has given him an opportunity to regain and sharpen his cognitive abilities, and with a much clearer mind. He is finding that he is able to enjoy things and events more, and is allowing himself to simply be present in the moment. Evan even started exercising after noticing his energy levels were ramping up after the HBOT dives, something else he hasn’t has the desire to do in years.
Evan is extremely grateful for the positive changes HBOT has already given him, as he’s feeling like he’s finally getting his life back.
Beyond his personal testimony, Evan is also here to tell us about Warriors on the Water. Warriors on the Water is a non-profit organization that Evan started leaving the military. They run fishing charters across the entire state of Florida — everywhere from the panhandle, northeast Saint Augustine, and down the East Coast into the Keys. The organization helps veterans and military service members who are experiencing PTSD, depression or anxiety as a result of service enjoy some R&R time, while becoming one with nature and the ocean. It’s an experience that becomes so much more than just a deep-sea fishing trip (where, by the way, they always guarantee you’re going to catch some fish because some of the best charter captains in the state are running their charters).
Once you board the boat, you start to immediately build camaraderie with the other veterans onboard, and you are then transported into this extremely positive environment where you can celebrate your triumphs and feel like you’re part of a team and a mission. The entire experience is designed to leave a beautiful, everlasting impact on a veteran’s memory and soul. Evan explains that Warriors on the Water is running more veteran trips out of North Carolina now, and they have also have plans to grow and expand across the coast.
di Girolamo asks how the program is funded, and Evan stresses that there has unfortunately been a lack of funding for the program over the past couple of years. The program is currently seeking funding through donations and sponsorships. If you’d like to donate to the cause or sponsor a fishing tournament for this wonderful organization that helps veterans have an experience of a lifetime, please visit Warriors on the Water at https://warriorsfish.org/donate/.
Guest
Evan Fernandez
Evan served in the US Marine Corp, and is currently the President and Founder of Warriors on the Water, USA.
Warriors on the Water, USA is an official 501(c)(3) veteran, non-profit organization based in Sarasota, Florida. Their primary focus is to facilitate and fund a positive outlet through fishing charters for veterans and military service members that experience anxiety, depression, or PTSD related issues as a result of their military service. Warriors on the Water offers our military service members a chance to meet other veterans from all branches and occupations to network and team build with a sense of camaraderie.
Due to the alarming veteran suicide rate, Warriors on the Water, USA seeks to change a veteran’s perspective on life through natural remedies of healing being on the ocean and surrounded by nature. They offer veterans opportunities to view their struggles through an alternate perspective; teaching that we cannot change the things that happen, but we can change our reaction.
Warriors on the Water USA, Inc. is committed to ensuring a positive environment coupled with an amazing experience that will have an everlasting impact on the veteran. Please consider donating to this wonderful non-profit organization.
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Recent HBOT News
Clinical Trial – HBOT Late Radiation Tissue Injury
Background: Radiotherapy is a common treatment for many malignancies. Radiation-related
complications developing months or years after radiation treatment are known as late
radiation tissue injury (LRTI) and are estimated to effect 5%-15% of all long-term survivors
who have received radiation.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a well established treatment of LRTI. Most of the studies
evaluating effect of HBOT on LRTI are focused on survival, resolution of tissue damage and
improvement in LENT-SOMA scale. Very few studies have addressed effect of HBOT on pain in
LTRI. Krahn and colleagues were the first to report the analgesic effect of HBOT in 3 cases
of refractory pain in oncological patients with radiation soft tissue injury. Other studies
showed significant improvement in pain intensity in patients with breast cancer and pelvic
malignancies treated with HBOT for LTRI. In patients that had developed radiation- induced
brachial plexopathy, HBOT elicited an increase in warm pain thresholds and a reduction in
lymphoedema. A prospective case study of 16 patients with gynecological cancer found no
changes with respect to pain and depression outcomes. A trial in patients with radiation
induced proctopathy showed that 75% of patients with rectal pain had some improvement,
although none experienced a complete resolution of pain symptoms.
There are several mechanisms by which HBOT may elicit analgesic effects. There is a growing
body of evidence that HBOT’s analgesic effect related to nitric oxide metabolism and
endogenous opioid secretion. Furthermore, the inhibition of tumor necrosis factor alph
(TNF-α), the production of substance P, and the modulation of serotonergic pathways have all
demonstrated a modification in the pain response following HBOT. In animal studies HBOT
decreased allodynia and hyperalgesia in different models of neuropathic and inflammatory
pain. The long lasting antinociceptive effect of HBOT was found to be dose-dependent in
non-injured tissues.
In human studies, HBOT decreased pain and edema and improved function in patients suffering
from the complex regional pain syndrome, and improved pain scores and range of motion in
patients with idiopathic femoral head necrosis. Women suffering from interstitial cystitis
demonstrated a reduction in pelvic pain following weeks and months of HBOT treatment. In
patients suffering from idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia HBOT produced a rapid reduction in
symptoms and these effects were lasting for 6 months following treatment. HBOT was also found
to be an effective treatment for cluster headaches and migraines and alleviated muscle and
bone pains in patients with myofascial syndrome, fibromyalgia, and biphosphonate-related
osteonecrosis of the jaw.
Based on the evidence presented above and HBOT’s known analgesic effect in many conditions,
the investigators designed this study with the objective to evaluate if HBOT reduces pain,
improves depression and impacts on patients quality of life in patients suffering from late
radiation tissue injury.
Study Design: Prospective observational study (n=300). Patients that have had radiation
therapy for malignancy, developed late radiation injury and suffer from chronic pain.
Clinical Trial – HBOT in Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition affecting several millions of Canadians.
Although the etiology and pathophysiology are poorly understood, there is a well-recognized
association between muscular pain in fibromyalgia and muscular hypoperfusion, hypoxia,
abnormal muscle metabolism and oxidative stress. Currently there is no cure for FM.
Pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies are directed to control symptoms such as
pain, fatigue, non-restorative sleep and depression.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an intermittent inhalation of 100% oxygen in a hyperbaric
chamber at a pressure higher than 1 absolute atmosphere. Physiological effect of HBOT is
based on a dramatic increase in the amount of dissolved oxygen carried by the blood which
enables oxygenation of ischemic areas with compromised circulation. It also activates
oxidant-antioxidant system, stimulates angio- and neurogenesis, modulates inflammatory
response, induces brain neuroplasticity and possesses analgesic effect.
While some interventions offer benefit for some patients, additional treatment alternatives
are needed for patients with FM in whom currently available options are either ineffective or
poorly tolerated. Given its physiological effect, HBOT could be considered as a potential
therapy for treatment of underlying muscular hypoxia, optimizing oxidant- antioxidant system
and controlling FM symptoms. The results from this study could therefore provide new
information supporting the basic science underling the pathophysiology of this disease and
stimulate novel therapies for patients suffering with FM.
Thoracic spinal anesthesia is safe for patients undergoing abdominal cancer surgery.
Abstract: A double-blinded randomized controlled study to compare discharge time and patient satisfaction between two groups of patients submitted to open surgeries for abdominal malignancies using segmental thoracic spinal or general anesthesia. Open surgeries for...