Special Report – Veterans and HBOT
The unfortunate truth is that countless veterans, just like Simon, repeatedly battle suicidal thoughts. They struggle from their battle wounds and PTSD with each passing minute.
These brave souls protected our country, and it’s beyond time that we protect their future. Thankfully there is hope in HBOT.
Watch the 30 Minute Special Report
Veterans are at especially high risk for suicide due to the injuries they’ve endured and the horrific images they’ve seen. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) rank high among the reasons why veterans are choosing death over living. But there is hope for new beginnings. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is helping war veterans turn their lives around.
In this Special Report, Edward diGirolamo, host of the HBOT News Network, dives into HBOT and what the state of North Carolina is doing to help get veterans this life saving therapy. We hear from Melissa Spain, CEO of the Community Foundation of NC East, as she discusses their involvement to get NC Senate Bill 442 passed; a bill that has appropriated funds to provide HBOT to NC veterans who suffer from TBI and PTSD.
We are also greeted by Elena Schertz, Nurse Practitioner at Extivita-RTP in Durham, NC. Elena gives us a tour of their state-of-the-art clinic where soldiers are receiving HBOT. One of their veteran patients, Simon LeMay, agreed to share his story with us to help spread the hope that exists within the world of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Meet a true American Hero, Simon LeMay, retired Sergeant Major with 25-years in the US Marine Corps. LeMay was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan five times during a ten year period. He lost his best friend in battle and witnessed horrific incidents of violence and injury among his Marine bothers. Although LeMay was blessed to avoid serious physical injury to himself, he did come home with an invisible wound of war.
IED exposures left him with a TBI and visions of war and death haunted him with PTSD. Simon turned to alcohol and pain pills to ease the emotional and physical pain, leading him down a dark tunnel of depression and suicidal thoughts that almost ended in demise.
After hearing about it from friends, his loving family talked him into trying hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help heal his brain injuries. LeMay received treatment at Extivita- RTP in Durham, NC and states after 20-30 treatments he started realizing that he was once again “starting to feel emotion,” with the sense of worthlessness disappearing and the suicidal ideation being no more.
“I started looking forward to the next day,” Simon exclaims.
Also included in this Special Report is a raw and personal interview with Cate, Simon’s wife. Today she is thrilled with Simon’s progress, even calling hyperbaric oxygen therapy “God sent.”
Guest
Organizations
For more information about the guest organizations featured in this special, please click on the links.
North Carolina Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Clinic
Extivita RTP
NC HBOT for Veterans Program
The Community Foundation of NC East
Subscribe Now, It’s Free!
Recent HBOT News
Supraclavicular artery island flap reconstruction of a contralateral partial laryngopharyngeal defect.
Abstract: Oncologic resection of head and neck cancers often results in complex reconstructive problems that can require local, regional, or free flaps. Herein, we present a case of a 67-year-old female with a history of floor of mouth cancer who had a second primary...
Clinical Trial – Pain Relief After Colorectal Surgery: Spinal Combined With Painbuster® vs Painbuster® Alone.
Limiting surgical stress and managing postoperative pain are well understood to influence
recovery and outcome from major surgery for colorectal cancer and both are fundamental
aspects of enhanced recovery protocols.
Traditional approaches for dealing with these problems such as epidural or patient controlled
intravenous opioid analgesia are associated with problems that may be detrimental to
postoperative recovery and surgical outcome. As a result there is evidence in the literature
of increasing interest in alternative techniques such as intrathecal anaesthesia or
continuous wound infusion of local anaesthetic, however nobody has examined the effect of
combining the techniques or their impact on the surgical stress response.
We intend to compare patients undergoing major resections for colorectal cancer receiving
intrathecal anaesthesia in combination with a wound infusion of local anaesthetic with those
receiving a continuous wound infusion alone. We will examine the surgical stress response and
postoperative pain control in addition to objective measures of postoperative recovery.
We suggest that our approach will attenuate the surgical stress response and provide optimal
pain control that will ultimately translate in improved recovery and outcome following
surgery for colorectal cancer.
[Hyperbaric oxygenation and penis erectile dysfunction].
Abstract: Relaxation and contraction factors influencing penile erection are produced and released by the central and peripheral nerves as well as intracavernosal sinus gap and vascular endothelial cells. Aging, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and spinal cord injury...