Kenneth P. Stoller, MD, is President of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association, a fellow of the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine, a Diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics, a Diplomat of the American Board of Hyperbaric Medicine, a member of the American College for Hyperbaric Medicine, and a member of the New Mexico Medical Society. He was University of California President’s Undergraduate Fellow in the UCLA Medical Center’s Department of Anesthesiology, and has almost two decades of clinical experience in pediatric medicine.

Dr. Stoller is a founding board member of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association, and was also a founding board member of the Humane Farming Association, He was Science Editor of the Animals’ Voice Magazine where he was nominated for a Maggie. His Op-Ed pieces have appeared in several newspapers and periodicals from The Atlanta Constitution, Los Angeles Times, Abq Tribune to The Scientist. He has served on both the Injury Prevention Committee and the Environmental Hazards Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Stoller was first exposed to Aerospace Medicine in 1970, when he helped download data from NASA’s Biosatellite III mission at the Brain Research Institute at UCLA. In 1995, the heart of a close friend of Dr. Stoller stopped beating. When he was resuscitated by paramedics, catastrophic brain damage had already occurred – he was in a coma for almost a month. It was Dr. Stoller’s frustration with the therapy then offered his brain injured friend that revived his interest in the field, specifically Hyperbaric Medicine. Dr. Stoller’s intention is to raise the level of consciousness about the benefits of this new medical specialty, and make it available to as many patients as possible.

Dr Roberta Ekholm, RN, DO is Board Certified by the American College of Osteopathic Family Practitioners with specialties in Urgent Care, Osteopathic manipulations and Travel Medicine. Dr Ekholm has been associated with the American Osteopathic association, Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California and the Osteopathic Medical Foundation.

Besides experience in Hospitals, Urgent care centers, Medical centers and in Private Practice, we feel honored and blessed that Dr Ekholm will be sharing her knowledge and skills with our patients. Dr Ekholm holds the faculty position as an Assistant Professor at the esteemed Touro College of Osteopathic medicine in Northern California where she teaches other medical professionals. Dr Ekholm is excited to be able to utilize her knowledge and confidence of Hyperbaric Medicine for those in need of true healing.

Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery Team

Dr. Kenneth P. Stoller, MD
Medical Director

Dr. Roberta Ekholm, RN, DO
Consulting Physician

Janine Thill, CHT, EMT
Program Director

Lorenzo Alviso, CHT
Systems Manager & PR

Zachary Thill, CHT
Technical Director & Patient Advocate

Ruth Walker, CHT
Marketing Director & Physician Relations

Denora Alviso, HT
Administrator & Billing Specialist

Local Oxygen Therapy Center Recognized Internationally

Advanced Oxygen Therapy center in Northern California gains international attention for providing superior care and education-based services.

Rohnert Park, California, USA, August 4th, 2008—Free-standing clinic honored with awards at International symposium for Hyperbaric Medicine.

Have you heard of Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery of Marin California? Many Northern California residents have not, yet this advanced physician-referred outpatient oxygen therapy center is being recognized by Doctors all over the world for their uncommon quality of care and their mission of teaching people about what they do.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a high density oxygen treatment that improves the patients healing ability. By gradually raising the pressure of oxygen that the patient breathes, the body’s tissues, vital organs and areas of low oxygen are saturated in a safe and effective manner.
Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery is a privately owned freestanding clinic that provides hospital standards of care with a patient-friendly, education-based mission. Hyperbaric technologist and program director, Janine Thill, NC, CHT says she owes her life to HBOT and aims to bring HBOT to those who are suffering and who could really benefit from its healing qualities. Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery is the only facility in the bay area north of San Francisco utilizing hard chambers, proven patient protocols and state-of-the-art equipment. Medical Director Kenneth P. Stoller, MD, FACS has proven to be a wealth of information to patients seeking treatment.
What makes this facility stand out is the staff’s dedication to educate the public about HBOT and to help any interested one every step of the way on their path to recovery. The entire staff is qualified to help patients appeal to their medical professionals and get the treatment that they need. Thill and her staff have devised step by step strategies to help expedite the prescription process, as well as promote HBOT by offering tours, orientations, presentations at local operations and personal, one on one help with all perspective individuals. These services are all completely complimentary and ongoing.
Patient advocacy like this is uncommon for some forms of adjunctive therapies, and it has not been overlooked. From Thursday July 24th to Saturday July 26th, 2008 the staff of Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery were sitting shoulder to shoulder with some of the most influential and revered physicians and medical professionals in Hyperbaric Medicine. The 6th International Symposium on Hyperbaric Medicine was held in Torrance, California and along with the 25+ hours of scheduled speakers, a special awards Gala Dinner highlighted the event. After two and a half years of successful operations and outcomes, Hyperbaric Recovery Center has recently been awarded Finalist for “Hyperbaric Center of the Year, 2008” as well as an honored appointment for “CHT of the Year, 2008—Janine M Thill” as voted on by patients and an international panel of doctors, and presented by the Richard A. Neubauer Institute.
The staff at Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery say that they owe all of their recent recognition to the patients and supporters who have been along for the journey since the center’s humble beginnings. Besides various heartfelt testimonials and acknowledgements, the growing success of the center is also attributed to the contribution and donation work that they have established since the start of their operation in 2006. In total, Hyperbaric Recovery has contributed over $74,470 towards the treatment of patients who were destitute and desperately needing treatment.
Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery is the superior hyperbaric oxygen center in Northern California. They have become preferred providers for a few prominent insurance companies, which can help many patients get treatment started without worry. To experience the services provided at Advanced Hyperbaric Recovery, simply call the office line and you will speak with a real live team member who can help answer your questions, schedule a complimentary tour and help you start on your own path to true healing.

Janine’s Story

(Reprint of article from The Community Voice)

Super Oxygen to the Rescue
Lyme Disease and other ailments tamed in RP’s hyperbaric chamber
By Jud Snyder

Four out of five members of the Thill family came down with Lyme Disease. It’s called “California’s Hidden Epidemic” , and is prevalent in 52 California counties. Lyme Disease almost always flies below the medical radar. It is not life-threatening, it brings on a multitude of symptoms that do not call for hospitalization and is treated symptomatically with a blizzard of drugs, antibiotics, intravenous boosters and supportive help. It is a persistent disease and insurance companies are reluctant to get involved.
“I couldn’t comb my hair or dress myself,” said Janine Marie Thill. “Nothing seamed to help. Then I heard of hyperbaric therapy. I had friends in Carlsbad near San Diego where a hyperbaric therapy center was located and had 30 days of treatment. From days of unable to function I began to feel improvement after 4 hours and by 26 hours I was almost back to my pre-Lyme condition.”
Janine Thill didn’t stop there. She plunged into the world of hyperbaric therapy. She already had pre-nursing studies at Santa Rosa Junior College to provide a head start. She and her husband, Richard (he has Lyme Disease also), took out a second mortgage on their home and invested in a hyperbaric therapy center in Rohnert Park at 1370 Medical Center Drive. It wasn’t easy. Special pipes are needed for the oxygen and the “hard chamber” itself has a minimum price tag of $250,000. There are “soft chambers” utilizing oxygen masks but these have drawbacks.
Their clinic is open daily and drop-in visitors are welcome to come inside and take a look. The phone number is 584-HEAL (4325).
It’s called Hyperbaric Recovery and Rejuvenation Center. The name implies it’s not a cure-all and as far as the Thill knows it’s the only one north of a center at UC San Francisco.
The hyperbaric chamber itself resembles a typical CAT scan chamber. Patients are slid inside for 90-minute sessions and they can read a book or look at DVD’s while filing their lungs with pure oxygen. Richard was inside one enjoying another look at a “Star Wars” DVD.
How does the process work? Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) gradually increases the oxygen level above the usual 15-20 percent oxygen level found in normal air. “It goes into the red blood cells and the increased metabolism of the parasites in the red blood cells due to large amounts of oxygen causes the parasites to virtually eat themselves. They die and are evacuated through normal means,” said Thill. “That’s a non-scientific explanation and perhaps an oversimplification, but it’s basically sound.”
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautiously lists only 14 examples where HGOT is use full. Most of them are traumatic cases like exceptional blood loss, cyanide poisoning, non-healing wounds, and extensive burns.
“But HBOT has proved to be helpful in a vast number of other conditions,” she said. “In Europe, Japan, and China for example, HBOT is used in 70 or 80 disorders. These include stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, head injuries, autism, vascular diseases, fibromyalgia, decreased immune functions.
“Saturating the tissues with oxygen reverses hypoxia (low oxygen levels), promotes angiogenesis (growth of new vessels), decreases swelling, deactivates toxins and increases the body’s ability to fight infections,” Thill added.
The procedure is painless. There’s pressure on your ears at the start, much like you feel in an aircraft cabin. It gets a little warmer as the decent period starts (about 10 minuets) but soon you are at the proper depth for 60 to 90 minutes of pure oxygen, and then comes the ascent period when the air gets cooler. All of the time the patient is in constant touch with the technician at the controls.
Thill, 40, is a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist with a wall full of certificates testifying to her skills. She and the majority of the Thill family (only 16 year old Zachary doesn’t have Lyme disease), have an emotional and vested interest in the war against the disease.
HBOT is not a cure-all. It’s a fairly new tool in medical treatment, and like other newly applied treatments in health, processes in Europe, Japan, and China in the use of HBOT has out-stripped progress in the United States.
“I feel I need to shout this from the rooftops,” said Thill. “The process dates back to the 16th century. It’s been used for years to rescue sailors from sunken Submarines. THe techniques here have furnished many of the current HBOT guidelines.
“We are just a hard working, blue collar family from Sebastopol that happens to be afflicted with Lyme disease. I want to do things here in the clinic just like they do in hospitals. It’s not a total cure but the improvements generated are quite visible”.
Thill urges the use of long sleeved shirts, buttoned collars, and protective socks for wear in tick country such as Sonoma and Marin counties.
“Mendocino County is the capitol of Lyme disease on the West Coast just like Connecticut is on the East Coast”. said Thill. “And just to make sure, we don’t go camping anymore.”