You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Till It’s Gone

As the saying goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” Steve lived an active lifestyle and enjoyed many different outdoor activities. He was an avid bicycle rider, loved working out and enjoyed shooting his bow at the local club. All that changed in 2008.

After dealing with uncontrolled Diabetes and the side effects from various prescription drugs for a number of years, Steve suffered neurological damage and collapsed. Doctors diagnosed him with Ataxia. Ataxia is described as a lack of order and consists of gross lack of coordination of muscle movement. For the next three years, Ataxia has caused a variety of neurological deficits for Steve such as impaired balance, lack of energy, poor coordination, nightly body tremors and memory deterioration.

Steve longed to be able to do all of the things that he had enjoyed for so many years. To his dismay, he was not able to any longer. He sold his bike, cancelled his membership to the club and began trying to cope with life without his physical activities and exercises.

Doctors placed Steve on a number of medications that were unsuccessful in treating him so he and his wife, Linda, began researching other forms of treatment. It was during this time that they discovered Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) at Sara’s Garden.

When Steve first came to Sara’s Garden his movement was slow and deliberate and he needed the assistance of a cane in order to make it from his car to the building. His speech was slow and he looked to his wife to assist with many of the questions as he simply could not recall any of the answers. They requested treatments in the late morning and early afternoon as Steve could not get out of bed before 10:30 a.m. and took a long time to get ready.

After his first day of HBOT, Steve was out of bed and showered by 7:30 and began making coffee and reading the newspaper. A few treatments later Steve stated that, “It feels like a fog is lifting off of me.” He was able to think much clearer and his memory began to return.

By the end of his first week of treatments, Steve began walking without the use of his cane. His gait became much more confident and he began walking with much more purpose. When he needed to bend over to tie his shoes or towel off after showering, he no longer had to hold onto something to maintain his balance. The nightly tremors that they lived with for so long went away and Steve began sleeping through the night.

After three weeks of treatments Steve now has plans to start getting back into all of the activities he loved so much. Since beginning his HBOT treatments his blood sugar levels have never spiraled out of control and he has been able to reduce the medications he has been taking. He feels great and now has the confidence in his body’s abilities to resume his active lifestyle.

Thanks to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Sara’s Garden, Steve now has his life back… and his family has their husband, father and grandfather back.

There is hope… for this and many other conditions. HBOT is treatment without drugs… without surgery… without pain.