My visit to the oral and maxillofacial surgeon Dr Anthony Oliver today added a new word to my vocabulary: hyperbaric, as in hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Because the tooth that needs to be extracted is in the pathway of my cancer radiation some four years ago, the risk is that the hole left by the extracted tooth may not heel again, leaving an exposed jaw.
As the surgeon pointed out, "The risk may be only 15% but if you are in that 15%, your risk is 100%!" To lower the risk, he suggested hyperbaric oxygen treatment to increase oxygen levels in my blood stream to help heal damaged tissue that has a poor blood supply from previous injury, such as radiotherapy. It's the same sort of treatment that is given to divers who are suffering decompression illness known as 'The Bends'.
Treatment time is two hours a day, Monday to Friday, for four to six weeks, all of which takes place at Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital. If you want to know more, read the Patient Information Booklet.
"Don't call me; I call you!" he said, and so I'll wait to hear if and when I will hit the bright lights of Sydney again. Life is just a bowl of cherries!
