Center offers hyperbaric treatment

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Published: 3/20/2012 - Updated: 10 hours ago

BY JULIE M. MCKINNON BLADE STAFF WRITER

WAUSEON Northeast Ohio co-workers Laura Ramsey and Pam Haberkorn were trying gluten-free diets to help their autistic children when they learned of an alternative treatment showing promise in research: hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

In the summer of 2009, the teachers took their children to a private hyperbaric oxygen center in North Carolina to get the treatment, involving pure oxygen administered at higher than atmospheric pressure.

While in North Carolina, Katelyn Haberkorn, now 13, received two rounds of so-called dives and made remarkable progress, her mother said. Katelyn showed an interest in books for the first time and began talking more, making eye contact, and paying attention, Ms. Haberkorn said.

"When we learned about this, we had no idea what we were going to see," said the mother of three from Medina. "She was bringing us books within a week, wanting us to read them."

The two families since have found Sara's Garden, a nonprofit center in Wauseon with two hyperbaric chambers, one with five seats and another with 10.

Such chambers have been used for decades, most commonly to heal wounds in diabetics and help divers with decompression sickness, but Sara's Garden also treats patients with nonemergency ailments not covered by insurance and those who could not afford them elsewhere.

Each session costs $110 to $165 at the center staffed by five nurses and three chamber operators. A round typically involves 40 sessions, said Matthew Rychener, Sara's Garden's development director.

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Center offers hyperbaric treatment