Hyperbaric

JNR Productions presents Hyperbaric – 40 Days to Heal.

JNR: Writer & Producer

“Sometimes you have to beat the cancer treatments, not just the cancer”

A personal story of my 40 days in a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (“HBOT”) is not just for divers with the “bends”. It is widely used for wound healing, infections, and carbon monoxide poisoning. Inside the tank you breathe 100% oxygen with the pressure in the tank at 2 atmospheres (equivalent to 33 feet underwater). Normally we breathe 27% oxygen and 78% nitrogen, with trace amounts of other gases like argon and carbon dioxide. This treatment allows the lungs to gather more oxygen than would be possible breathing pure oxygen at normal air pressure. The effects on the body include removing trapped air bubbles, enhancing growth of new blood vessels and tissues, and supporting immune system activity.

I should mention that I have done this before for Radiation Induced Hemorrhagic Cystitis & Stage 3 Gross Hematuria (visible blood in urine and blood clots). So, what the hell is all that about you ask? Well, it helps you to know that I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer at age 51. Aggressiveness is on a grade scale of 1 lowest to 5 highest. I was diagnosed with the grade 5 aggressiveness. To deal with the grade 5 cancer, my Oncologist suggested the “kitchen sink” approach. That means 4 types of treatment:

All those treatments took 18 months to complete. Unfortunately for me, I started having radiation related issues almost immediately. I landed in the hospital twice with small bowel blockages, requiring 3 days stay each time. I also would have uncontrollable diarrhea that put me in the hospital for exhaustion and dehydration. I knew then that my “new normal” was going to be a rough road.

Back to my issues for HBOT. To put it bluntly, it comes down to peeing blood. Lots of visible blood.

My recent urinalysis

(Sorry for the graphic, but a picture is worth a thousand words.)

It does not feel good or is it good for my mental health to see that. It is a reminder that I am not okay. Women will understand when I say, “think of having a UTI for 9 years”. Now you get it. Yes, it sucks.

To help with these post cancer issues, I went through 40 treatments in the HBOT chamber at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2019. You spend almost 2 hours each time in the chamber. 10 minutes to “dive” down to depth pressure. Then 1.5 hours of treatment. Then 10 minutes brought back up from depth. Every day, Monday through Friday, for 8 weeks. It is a hell of a grind. All in, adding another 40 treatments would make it a total of 80 days in a hyperbaric chamber.

I was not looking forward to doing this again. In fact, when my Urologic Oncologist recommended HBOT again early last year, I waved it off. I told him that it was such a grind before, and it really did not give me any lasting results. I was having gross hematuria within 60 days of those treatments. Well, my symptoms are worsening and a second Urologist told me I could lose my bladder with the radiation damage. Damn it… I told him “Okay, where do I sign up?

This time, I have decided to document my journey. I am going to take as many photos and videos as I can with my iPhone (like the one above – clearly a hyperbaric chamber model!). Not the best way to film, but I doubt I can walk in with a camera crew to the local hospital.

These chambers do come with risks… which is in the back of your mind as they close the door each day. This was also a big discussion with my wife prior to agreeing to do it again.

Unfortunately, a fatal incident occurred with a 5-year-old boy, just 3 weeks before I started this round:

January 2025, Troy, Michigan: The boy, described by his family as curious, energetic and thoughtful, was in the midst of his 36th hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment at the center when the pressurized chamber burst into flames. The boy, 5-year-old Thomas, was trapped inside. His mother, Annie Cooper, raced from a nearby waiting area to his side, but couldn’t get Thomas out of the sealed, tube-like chamber. She was left to watch in horror as her son burned to death inside the chamber, which was full of highly combustible pure oxygen.

Damn. That is a horrible story to read, especially a few weeks prior to my treatment. I feel for that mother. But even reading this, I know I must continue my journey to help heal myself. The alternative doesn’t sound like a road I want to go down. Onward my friends…

I am going through HBOT now and documenting as I go. Hope to see you at the end of April! -JNR

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