Patient Stories

Kim Schoenfeld

HBO Therapy Brings Relief to Cancer Survivor

Kim Schoenfeld is thankful for the aggressive cancer therapy that saved her life. However, the radiation she endured in 2006 and 2007 came with a price: internal damage to her digestive system. Debilitating pain followed, but Kim found relief at Reid Hospital’s Wound Healing Center.

“I had pain at the top of my ribcage, and I hurt so bad I was in tears all the time. And I’m usually a pretty strong woman!” recalls the Connersville resident, who had been diagnosed with stage II cervical cancer in 2006.

Kim’s family physician, Dr. Susan Y. Lee, recommended that she make an appointment at Reid Hospital’s Wound Healing Center. There, physicians prescribed 28 consecutive days of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy. During each two-and-a-half hour session, Kim would lie in a chamber of pressurized oxygen, which can help heal wounds on the inside or outside of the body.

“At first I was skeptical — I just wasn’t sure it would help,” Kim says. “Probably the second week I began to feel a difference. Now, you can’t even tell that I had problems. It’s like a miracle!”

Reclining in the HBO chamber, Kim says, can create some anxiety. “At first I was unsure about HBO, but when I breathed in the oxygen, the anxiety went away,” she says.

Today, Kim is cancer free and full of gratitude for the support of her family, friends and the staff at Reid’s Wound Healing Center. “The doctors and nurses were caring and loving — everything you want doctors and nurses to be,” she says. “I am back to 100 percent and feel great.”

If you or someone you love has an issue with a wound that just won’t heal, call the Reid Wound Healing Center at 765-983-3300.  Whether through advanced or traditional methods, Reid’s wound care staff can help you heal.