Luke
& Zach were born 12 weeks premature in September of 1997.
As a result from their prematurity, the boys were diagnosed with spastic
quadriplegia cerebral palsy at 9 mos. of age.
Luke and Zach have had over 200 treatments of hyperbaric oxygen therapy so far. They have gone from waking up 2-3 times a night, to sleeping the whole night through immediately after treatments. Though this only lasts a month or two, we are thankful for the sleep! This time period of sleeping is wonderful for growth and shows that new connections are being made in the brain and organizing better. They both have also come along way orally. Both can now say, “Hi”, and drink from a sippy cup. At one time, drinking a whole cup of juice was never a possibility.
After their 2nd set of HBOT therapies, Luke and Zach have
started to try and communicate by verbalizing, eye contact, and hand waving!
After their 3rd set of treatments, Luke has stopped vomiting,
and Zach’s vomiting has lessened. After
their 4th set of treatments, Zachary has stopped vomiting!
Before HBOT, they were each vomiting 3-4 times a day from severe reflux.
This improvement alone is worth 100 trips to 
The words that they speak are becoming to sound
even more like words, they have gotten their syllable down, next comes
pronunciation! After the 7 & 8th set of treatments, Zachary has
started stepping independently in his walker. What a sight to see for 2
parents who have been waiting for this moment for 6 years! We can see a difference in the way
they look at us. Life just seems a
little better to them lately. The
“wheels” in their heads are turning…and it’s evident to anyone who is
around them. We are excited about
Luke & Zach’s newfound abilities and thank God for every little miracle.
We also thank our families, therapists, friends and Angel Flights for all the endless support we have received from them. With out such strong support we receive from them daily and trip by trip, Luke and Zach's road to recovery would be much longer! It's also important to remember that after each set of treatments there has been intense physical and occupational therapy. If their brains are going to make new connections, they have to learn how to use them!
For questions or comments e-mail:
*this website was designed and is maintained by Luke & Zach's, mom, Kerri Branson.