My Self-Administered Oxygen Therapy Program

I waited a month because I was just too busy to get started any sooner. But as I continued to watch the news everyday, watching and reading as some new disease or some old malady claimed yet another life or slammed some poor soul into a life of drug dependency and pill popping, my resolve to be proactive about my own health increased.

This oxygen therapy I was considering is not anything new. It is old medicine. My grandmother used it, my mother used it and she taught me when I was just a child…I had just long since forgotten about it in the hustle and bustle of my new-age life.

But now I am going back. Back to what worked to keep entire generation cancer-free, diabetes-free, and in general good health for their entire lives. I am going back to what allowed millions before me to grow old gracefully, not old, bent, broken and pain-racked before their time. I am going back to what worked!

Day 1

I felt no different and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Day 1 came and went just like any other day.

Day 2

Still no real difference. I feel as if I have more energy but I can’t be sure. I think it might just be all in my mind. I mean, nothing can work that fast, can it?

Day 3

I couldn’t tell any difference until about 10 pm that night. All of my life I have had problems maintaining my circadian rhythm. It was a certainty that when I awoke at 10 am as long as I didn’t nap during the day, I would be able to get to sleep at a decent hour that night.  But my day didn’t happen like that.

I fell asleep about 3 pm and slept until around 7 pm. When I awoke I was instantly disgusted with myself because I knew that my sleep pattern was off and that I would be awake all night, unable to fall asleep. I was so certain of this because this problem has plagued me every since I left the Navy in 1990.

My normal work schedule in the Navy for 11 years was to work two shifts of 6 am till 6 pm, then take 72 hours off then come back and work 2 shifts of 6 pm to 6 am. This required me to be awake and alert all night because there was constantly something that I had to do. After 11 years of this, when I left the Navy, I could never readjust my sleeping schedule to anything resembling normal.

Well, that night around 10 pm, I was so sleepy that I could not keep my eyes open. I fell asleep and awoke at 8 am the next morning. I was amazed! This was the first time this has happened to me in almost 20 years. The only thing that had changed in  my life was my oxygenation therapy.

Regulating my circadian rhythm is an unbelievable aspect of this therapy for me. It might not mean much to a lot of people, but to me it is absolutely life-changing. It means I can actually get a job (if there were any out there) and not have to dose myself with Killer PM this and Habit-forming PM that every single night, pills that have been slowly destroying my liver over the last 30 years. It means I can wake in the morning refreshed with no side effects.

There is truly no substitute for a good ol’ simple, good night’s sleep.

Day 4

I DO have more energy these days that I have had previously. I am certain of it now. I am also certain that I have found my treatment of choice to keep my body healthy for the rest of my life.

Day 5

I have smoked for the last 30 years of my life and I know that I should not be able to run at all. I have gotten old and soft in the last 20 years or so. But today I ran! I ran down my new kitten who has not yet been spayed when she tried to make a run for it. She was breaking camp fast but I was actually able to catch her. I am thinking about starting some type of exercise plan. My mind is starting to feel like it’s in the wrong body.  lol

Day 6

I am smoking a lot less. I was up to a pack a day but now I smoke about half of that. The nicotine feels different when it enters my body. I used to take that first drag in the morning and enjoy the surge of chemicals as they coursed through my body as I continued to suck on my cigarette. Today and looking back, I can not remember the last time I smoked an entire cigarette. Two or three puffs and I’m done. I think this therapy has cleansed my system of nicotine and it just takes less to get that same euphoria.

At any rate, I’m thinking, for the first time in 20 years, that maybe I should just quit while I have a jump on them. Funny, but I always thought that I would be a smoker for the rest of my life…and now I can actually see a window where I can silently sneak away from them. And by the time they know I’m gone, it will be too late because I will be free! Shhhhh…I’m gonna’ go for it! Wish me luck!

Day 7

I talked my roommate into starting this therapy with me a week ago and I can see the change in her as well. She has been plagued for several months now with GERD, acid reflux, and she has had two operations in the past year. A  few weeks ago she received a diagnosis of possible cervical cancer from her doctor and she will have a biopsy done in three days. Except its more than just a biopsy because they have decided to actually cut her open and have a look. I don’t know the clinical term for that.

The therapy has already helped her GERD, only one instance in the last week and that is down from it being a daily routine. She is able to keep food down now and the doctors never were able to tell her why she lost 50 pounds in 4 months. We are both weighing ourselves every day to see if our oxygenation therapy is helping her gain weight and me lose it. That would be interesting, huh? I keep hoping that this therapy has worked so well for her that when she goes in for surgery in three days, they find absolutely NOTHING! But we’ll see.

For me, I am absolutely ecstatic. Little things are starting to change on me. My toenails cleared up. I have had some type of fungus for months now and my toenails were discolored and cracked. They still are but the new growth coming in shows no signs of discoloration.

So since most of my mortal sins are already out there, I may as well tell you about my alcoholic experience. We all went to dinner last night at Appleby’s. I like Appleby’s because I can drink and eat…plain and simple. My normal martinis (I call them martinis because it sounds sophisticated, but they are just shots of gin or vodka) wouldn’t do its job that night. I always try to drink on a full stomach, so I wait until after dinner and throw down about 4 or 5 martinis. I had a whopping six shots of vodka that night and rode home mad as hell because I didn’t even have a buzz. I also awoke the next morning without any signs of a hangover. My mind was clear and my body felt absolutely wonderful.

I guess this means that I have become a social drinker whether I intended to or not.

I do not know what effect this therapy will have if some serious disease strikes my body but I feel assured that because of the small benefits that I have seen, it is definitely worth the 2 cents a day I spend to continue it.

I also know that my body is using the extra oxygen I am giving it to nourish and repair damage that I have done to my body in the past. How do I know this?

I know this so certainly because along with the increased energy, the clearing of my nails, the lessening desire for nicotine and the resistance to alcohol, I also feel that my mind is sharper than it has been in years. My thinking is clear and uncluttered and I am able for the first time in years to write again.

And another of the most amazing things, to me, is that without any change, what-so-ever in my diet, and without even thinking about it or trying, I have lost one pound in one week! I eat what I want to when I want to and I refuse to change that, no matter what. I have no intention of dieting because I feel that dieting for women over 50 is ridiculous. Hell, one of the few pleasures I have at my age is eating and I don’t plan to interrupt that in any way shape or form. *smile*