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Siuslaw News
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2017
Community Voices
Us TOO Flor ence
My Prostate Cancer Journey — Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (Part 2)
CANCER SURVIVOR
Following is part of a series
of true personal stories about
men’s experience with prostate
cancer. These men tell their sto-
ries with the hope that they will
help someone else traveling the
same road.
O
ct. 4 was the final trip
Marianne and I made to
the McKenzie Wound
Center for my Hyperbaric
N ATURAL
PERSPECTIVE
My bladder has now been re-
vascularized thanks to 40 treat-
ments, 60 hours of pressurized
100 percent oxygen, and the
next three months will see my
bladder’s healing take place.
Just to clarify: Re-vascular-
ization simply means my blad-
der has received a new blood
supply (new capillaries) replac-
ing those that were destroyed
by radiation treatment.
One of the brochures I
picked up at the Wound Center
explains it this way: “HBOT
improves circulation and stim-
ulates the growth of new blood
vessels.”
Now that I have the blood
vessels to carry oxygen to the
wounded area of the bladder -
Let the healing begin!
Yes, I’m optimistic that by
the year 2018, I will be noticing
some pretty dramatic changes
in my return to continence. I
have already noticed some sub-
tle changes that are most likely
a result of getting blood to my
damaged bladder. I’m sure that
as the new capillaries have
been formed, they have been
sneaking some oxygen to the
wounded area.
I have been keeping a night-
time voiding schedule since
Aug. 15 and it clearly shows an
increase in the blocks of unin-
terrupted sleep I am getting. I
had nine nights of getting up
just once and lots of three-,
four- and five-hour blocks.
More sleep has definitely
raised my daytime energy level
— thank you very much!
Another delightful result has
been a near total elimination of
the sudden urges “to go.” I
found sometimes during the
drive (to Eugene) that even
though my body suggested,
“Stop at Veneta,” I could press
on to the Wound Center on
West 11th Street.
Occasionally, when I exited
the car, I headed right for the
restroom. But not always.
There is still a noticeable dif-
ference of how much urine my
damaged bladder will tolerate
between sitting and standing. I
expect it to remain that way for
a while, but with my entire
bladder having a new blood
supply, I do expect to see that
difference diminish during
these upcoming months.
To me, having HBOT avail-
able for my radiation-damaged
bladder was an excellent exam-
ple of “right time, right place.”
This treatment has generated
new blood vessels to replace
those that have been damaged
beyond use. Those new blood
vessels are now carrying life-
giving oxygen to heal the oxy-
gen starved tissue.
By healing the damaged tis-
sue, I am regaining a very
meaningful (and critical) quali-
ty of life.
I asked Dr. Lisa Emond, the
on-site HBOT trained doctor, if
DIRK’S
—
Uninvited guests
B Y E MILY J. U HRIG , P H D
Special to the Siuslaw News
I
t’s October and, as
Halloween
beckons,
thoughts may turn to all
sorts of creepy crawlies. With
the cooler fall weather many
such critters seek shelter in
warmer places, including our
homes.
Particularly common guests
setting up residence alongside
us are the harvestmen, also
aptly known as “daddy lon-
glegs” thanks to the eight elon-
gated, delicate legs of many
species.
If humans had a body size to
leg length proportion like that
of harvestmen, our legs would
be about 40 feet long!
Although harvestmen are
S IUSLAW N EWS
sometimes called harvest spi-
ders and some spiders may be
colloquially called daddy lon-
glegs, the true harvestmen are
not spiders at all and are actual-
ly more closely related to scor-
pions.
Unlike spiders, which have
distinctly constricted waists
and typically eight eyes, har-
vestmen have compact, oval-
shaped bodies and only two
eyes. As harvestmen lack silk
glands, they don’t weave webs;
this is a good way to tell them
apart from their spider doppel-
gangers.
Oregon is home to several
harvestmen species including
the
impressively
named
Cryptomaster behemoth, a
species found in the Umpqua
National Forest and first
described in 2016. The “behe-
moth” moniker is in reference
to its large body size relative to
other harvestmen; its body is
still less than a quarter of an
inch long.
Contrary to urban legends,
harvestmen have no venom or
fangs and are harmless to
humans. Indeed, as they eat
insects, they’re generally con-
sidered beneficial. If harassed,
harvestmen secrete pungent-
smelling defensive chemicals.
Their second line of defense
is more extreme: the voluntary
detachment of a leg. The isolat-
ed leg continues twitching,
sometimes for up to an hour, to
distract the would-be predator
while the harvestman escapes.
The lost leg will not grow back.
As you might imagine, los-
6
201 -
F
E
BEST O
F LO E N C
R
ing legs is costly and individu-
als missing several can have
reduced mobility. However, it’s
fairly common to see persever-
ing harvestmen ambling along
on only four or five legs, a feat
they accomplish by adapting
their way of walking.
If you’re hosting harvestmen
in your home this fall, they
may not be invited guests, but
they are harmless and might
even rid you of a few insects.
When you see a harvestman, it
may be tempting to squash it,
but if it has fewer than eight
legs, it’s already been through a
lot — so consider giving him a
respite.
Perhaps you could consider
them free Halloween decora-
tions; they may add a certain
authenticity to the holiday vibe.
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I could have been referred to
the Wound Center sooner. Her
response was … probably not,
because most insurance compa-
nies require patients to exhaust
all other remedies prior to
acceptance for HBOT.
My insurance company did
that with anti-spasmodic meds
that Dr. Mehlhaff was prescrib-
ing for me — start with the
cheapest and work my way up
— and they all had to fail.
Many men respond success-
fully to these meds.
I didn’t.
My bladder damage was
simply too extensive for the
meds to overcome.
My care was right on!
Dr.
Mehlhaff
worked
through eliminating the ineffec-
tive meds and Dr. McKimmy,
upon further examination of my
bladder, referred me to HBOT.
I knew I was in good hands.
-
B Y B OB H ORNEY
Oxygen Therapy. After 40
round-trips totaling more than
4,600 miles, it was a relief to be
finished.
The first thing I learned was
to be patient and understand
that this process of rebuilding
the blood vessel system in my
bladder was not going to be
done in a day. And, after
rebuilding that system, actual
healing of the damaged bladder
tissue was going to take even
longer.
So, where am I after 40 treat-
ments?
After escaping the chamber
for the final time, I had a
chance to chat with Mick, one
of the HBOT nurses. He had
spent the day at McKenzie-
Willamette reviewing cases and
had asked specifically about me
— not wanting me to leave dis-
appointed for lack of results
following the 40 treatments.
The message he brought to
me was short and promising:
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