Noah Barone, 25, has been battling a rare blood cancer for almost 20 years. He's one of only 1,000 people in the world diagnosed with the cancer called Erdheim-Chester Disease. Noah's mom, Geneva Barone, said the family has tried dozens of treatments to manage the slow-growing cancer."We always have been outside of the box because nothing is traditional," said Barone. "One of Noah's doctors read an article about hyperbaric chambers and the treatment of stroke patients, and he just thought outside the box. He's like, I wonder what this would do for Noah."Soon thereafter, Noah began doing regular "dives" in the hyperbaric chamber at UofL Health's St. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital."Probably after the 10th treatment, we all kind of started noticing, you know, his speech is a little bit better. Hand-eye coordination is better, thought process is better," said Barone. "Now he can pick his glasses up, put them on himself. He can reach across and get his drink out of the carrier in the car." UofL nurse Whitney Van-Winkle explained the process is like scuba diving. "We dive people down below sea level, which increases that pressure," said Van-Winkle. "The way I think of it sort of is like when the river floods, the water has to go somewhere. So it creates tributaries wherever it needs to go. Same with that oxygen, it has to go somewhere. So your body will start to generate new blood vessels and therefore the oxygen can get to places it couldn't before. The goal when he started was to maintain the function. So it was really exciting to see that it was not just maintaining but improving."Noah's mom said the treatment is helping him feel better, which is the goal."He feels better," said Barone. "I mean, that's the key to all great things is how you feel, that makes you want to do more."Noah is the first patient with Erdheim-Chester Disease to attempt hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the positive results have encouraged Geneva to continue. "Hopefully, what we go through will open the doors for maybe somebody else to think outside that box. And, you know, that's the way it starts," she hopes.For more information on hyperbaric oxygen therapies at UofL, click here.
Noah Barone, 25, has been battling a rare blood cancer for almost 20 years. He's one of only 1,000 people in the world diagnosed with the cancer called Erdheim-Chester Disease.
Noah's mom, Geneva Barone, said the family has tried dozens of treatments to manage the slow-growing cancer.
"We always have been outside of the box because nothing is traditional," said Barone. "One of Noah's doctors read an article about hyperbaric chambers and the treatment of stroke patients, and he just thought outside the box. He's like, I wonder what this would do for Noah."
Soon thereafter, Noah began doing regular "dives" in the hyperbaric chamber at UofL Health's St. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital.
"Probably after the 10th treatment, we all kind of started noticing, you know, his speech is a little bit better. Hand-eye coordination is better, thought process is better," said Barone. "Now he can pick his glasses up, put them on himself. He can reach across and get his drink out of the carrier in the car."
UofL nurse Whitney Van-Winkle explained the process is like scuba diving.
"We dive people down below sea level, which increases that pressure," said Van-Winkle. "The way I think of it sort of is like when the river floods, the water has to go somewhere. So it creates tributaries wherever it needs to go. Same with that oxygen, it has to go somewhere. So your body will start to generate new blood vessels and therefore the oxygen can get to places it couldn't before. The goal when he started was to maintain the function. So it was really exciting to see that it was not just maintaining but improving."
Noah's mom said the treatment is helping him feel better, which is the goal.
"He feels better," said Barone. "I mean, that's the key to all great things is how you feel, that makes you want to do more."
Noah is the first patient with Erdheim-Chester Disease to attempt hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and the positive results have encouraged Geneva to continue.
"Hopefully, what we go through will open the doors for maybe somebody else to think outside that box. And, you know, that's the way it starts," she hopes.