The next day, Wednesday, I researched hyperbaric oxygen treatments in Montgomery County where I live. One place it was available was at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital about 14 miles away. Shady Grove has a very good reputation. I called and talked to Dan Cohen. He explained that the chambers, two of them in the unit, were the size of an old English phone booth on its side. You are completely enclosed. The round chamber is made of acrylic; the person inside can see everything in the room and out the window, and talk by means of a phone. By increasing the pressure of oxygen to 300% versus the 21% we normally breathe, the oxygen gets into the flesh with therapeutic effects. Among other things, the treatment is used for wounds, for cancer patients, and can have helpful effects on persons with autism. The process simulates an underwater dive. Dan, a former navy man, was also a diver in the Gulf of Mexico among other places, and supervised folks who were diving. He talked the language of diving. I made an appointment to visit the unit the next day. I thought: I'm 69, deep water diving is not my thing, I'll ask him to just call me a patient having treatment. Hah! Dan is a force of nature. And, he really knows his stuff.

Photos: Who would have known that my friend, sculptor Robert Sanabria, created the soaring sculpture in the lobby of the main entrance of Shady Grove Adventist Hospital? A medic seeing me photograph the work asked about it. "He did a good job," he said of Bob, patting one of the hopeful wings.