Jerry had his appointment with the hyperbaric oxygen doctor today. The doctor and the guys who watch over the therapy were all extremely nice and took a lot of time to explain everything. I get the feeling this is maybe a fairly new thing to send someone for this kind of therapy so early after radiation treatment ended (10 weeks out). He did say that it is fairly common for a radiated surgery site to have this healing problem. As I understand it, the radiation destroys the blood vessels (in the radiated area) and reduces the 'vascular density?' or blood flow to 20% of what it was pre-radiation. Without the blood vessels in a particular area, the tissue won't heal and in fact the damage will expand over time. Hyperbaric oxygen brings the blood flow back up to 80% of what it was pre-radiation (permanently). The Dr. said it would heal the soft tissue damage, improve his xerostomia (dry mouth), improve the swelling in his neck, and sense of taste. I guess it can bring back sensation to people with peripheral neuropathy as well. At any rate, this was different than what Jerry's surgeon had told us as she said this would not be a panacea and would only heal the mouth 'wound'. So, it was kind of exciting to hear that he might see improvements in many areas. We were also a little concerned over whether this might increase his odds of cancer recurrence with the improved blood flow, but the doctor steered me to some studies that showed it did not. In fact one showed it improved his odds somewhat. (Google R.E. Marx for related info). So, he's schedule to begin on August 8th. He was told he wouldn't see improvement for 20 'dives' (1 dive per day, 5 days per week). This is another daily 'event' like radiation except you just sit in an oxygen chamber and breathe pure oxygen and feel better over time instead of worse. Between the drive and the 2 hr oxygen session, he will be spending 4 hours a day on this for anywhere from 1-2 months. The end result sounds really well worth it, but I am a little surprised that it takes all this for such a small area in his mouth - and so soon after radiation. He is not a happy camper about the duration and daily time this will take. However, if it does all they say it will, it sounds like he could be in pretty darn good shape overall within a few months. I haven't seen anyone else on this board mention hyperbaric treatment except in relation to having dental work done or to treat an exposed jawbone. Has anyone else been prescribed this for soft tissue injury caused by radiation at the surgery site?