A Death following HBOT

[Guest guest]

I am following up about my husband Tim Fisher's unfortunate experience with

HBOT

Dear List:

I posted the following letter to the List on October 31,

2005, a little over a week before my dear husband Tim Fisher died. I am

re-posting it now -- and adding some follow-up.

Dear List:

You may remember me. I am the person who wrote the article about how Terri

Schiavo could possibly been helped by HBOT.

Since that time, my husband went for HBOT treatments. I am very sad to

report that he did not tolerate the treatments well and after his 28th

treatment,

when so many people with brain injury experience extreme tiredness, my

husband went into a coma, where he remains after 3 weeks. He is now under the

care

of hospice.

I know that HBOT has helped so many people. I just wish I could give a

similarly happy report. Unfortunately, I cannot.

Many Thanks for listening.

Schopick

HERE IS MY FEBRUARY 1, 2006 FOLLOW-UP POSTING.

After I posted that letter, there were many responses from list members.

Most were very kind and expressed concern for Tim and for me. Dr. Fojgel even

wrote in support of my posting, pointing out that, in the past, he had warned

about the possibility “of such a sensitivity . . . but apparently, to little

avail.â€

One response to my posting was very harsh, asserting that the kind of thing

that happened to my husband NEVER happens with HBOT, even in hospitals. This

person then accused me of insulting the rest of the group, who “have done a

very careful job and NEVER had even so much as a red ear.â€

I must admit that this response, plus the fact that Tim was sinking ever

deeper into his coma, caused me to NOT come back to the list throughout his

illness.

Tim never came out of his coma, and died a little over a week later -- on

November 8th, 2005.

I am finally strong enough to come back to the list to clarify that we did

everything “rightâ€: The protocol was Dr. Harch’s and Tim was treated

in

Bolingbrook, Illinois, at the Midwest HBOT facility. In fact, Dr. Harch had

personally examined my husband prior to his being accepted as a patient

there.

What happened to cause my Tim to sink into a coma and die? I have no idea. I

just know that denying that it happened, and trying to point fingers at the

person who lost her husband (me) -- is all terribly wrong and

counterproductive. I also know that it was the hyperbaric oxygen that was the

“straw that

broke the camel’s back.†In this case, my poor husband was the “camel.â€

It was also very unfortunate that Hurricane Katrina happened and that Dr.

Harch was in the middle of the chaos. I was able to locate his phone number in

California through friends, and since I had chosen this HBOT facility because

of Dr. Harch’s connection with it, I called him. I regret to say that he

would not take my call. I have no idea if he could have saved my husband, but I

will always wonder.

On a positive note, I want to thank Dr. Fojgel. Although I had never

communicated with him before, he became a most wonderful presence at this time

in

our lives, as a result of my post. He even talked on the phone with me (from

Argentina!), which comforted me a great deal. He recommended some homeopathic

remedies, which I tried to give my husband. Unfortunately, it was too late.

But I do want to thank Dr. Fojgel. He is a rare and wonderful person. I hope he

and I will stay friends for many years to come.

I hope this letter does not set off another round of angry letters. Rather,

I hope that my husband’s experience and death will cause hyperbaric oxygen

professionals to try to figure out what happened to Tim, and to prevent it from

happening in the future to other very compromised and brain injured

patients.

Many thanks for listening.

Schopick

Wife/Widow of Tim Fisher, 15 year survivor of an Astrocytoma3

See our story on the National Brain Tumor Foundation’s website at

_http://www.braintumor.org/pservices/pdfarchive/03searchw.pdf_

(http://www.braintumor.org/pservices/pdfarchive/03searchw.pdf)