Some people get excited about a new car, or a new house. But not me! My excitement is tops when I get a new piece of medical equipment in the mail! I often wonder at what those UPS guys must think of me; always dropping off boxes from some health care company or nutraceautical company at least once a week, filled with supplements of one kind or another. I know they must wonder... They always look at me like, "Have fun..." I remember when my Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber came in the mail. Now that took a WHOLE TRUCK, and cost just about as much!
Everyday I become a deep sea diver. In my Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber or HBO I can dive to ocean depths of 10 feet below sea level at 4 PSI or 4 pounds per square inch. With the use of an oxygen concentrator, I can increase tissue oxygen levels up to 400%. This oxygen helps my white blood cells to destroy bacteria and to saturate tissues with oxygen that help stop damage from toxins and inhibit the growth of anaerobic bacteria. By forcing oxygen into the tissues through pressure - toxins, chemicals, and other impurities are forced out. HBO acts as an anti-viral and anti-bacterial, as bacteria and viruses cannot tolerate high levels of oxygen. It can also improve brain function by flooding the brain with healing oxygen.
Now I hear Michael Jackson has one of these oxygen chambers... People, this is the only thing I have in common with Michael Jackson! Someone told me the other day that some athletes are buying Hyperbaric Chambers to help them with athletic performance. This particular football player we heard about slept in his chamber at night. My mother responds, “Well, that is just crazy! We are not whales!" My mother is a bit feisty and has a way of nicely summing things up into nutshells. “Don’t get in there when she’s mad at you," my friend Peter warns!
People often come over to look at my chamber. I usually try to change the subject or try to show them something else I have. "Hey, ignore that tubular shaped contraption in my bedroom!" It looks like some fancy coffin where I hide my dead bodies or something. But forget it! Forget it! "Why do you have a decompression chamber in your bedroom," one friend asked? I responded calmly by saying, "Um... I use it for detox." Oh...OK. That went over well.
"How long do you stay in there?" Well, unfortunately I can only tolerate, at this point, 5 minutes every other day. I have quite a ways to go considering basic protocol requires 2 hours a day for a minimum of 12 months without symptoms. "But I will get there," I hear myself saying.
"What am I going to do with all my time in the chamber?" Well...I got some books on mp3 to learn Spanish. Studying 2 hours a day, I will be fluent in Spanish! (I hear my Spanish friends laughing now) I am listening to my first lesson of phrases that are necessary to know when first visiting Spain. One of the phrases is, “My wallet has been stolen.” I’m thinking... "Hmm...this is something that is important in knowing when you go to Spain?" Maybe I should focus on another language...
So far, my experience with my chamber has been a matter of trial and errors, emphasizing the word "errors." Let's just say it works too well. When a treatment works, you herx. The Herx is an immune system reaction to the toxins (endotoxins and neurotoxins) that are released when large amounts of pathogens are being killed off, and the body does not eliminate the toxins quickly enough. The trick is to herx just enough to challenge your body, but not so much that you go to a place you cannot come back from. HBO is used for anti-aging medicine in spas. It might make me feel sick, but at least I’ll look good!
So I slowly add my time of treatment, patiently asking my body if it is ready for more time. "You ready yet? You ready yet? You ready yet?" Now I know how a poodle feels before it goes for a walk. Just a difference of 5 minutes can set me back with a horrendous herx. This very thing happened about three weeks ago, giving me a terrible herx that lasted for 8 days. These symptoms consisted of mental confusion, painful vibrations in every part of my body, trouble breathing, mis-coordination (my mother has to now go buy new kitchen plates), extreme fatigue (wanting to sleep all day), and swollen body (especially brain, face and spine). During this time I had no thoughts at all from the brain fog, and just stared at a blank wall not hearing or seeing too much around me. This was caused by a 5 minute change in treatment duration and lasted for 8 days. Eight days is a long time to endure these symptoms! COM'ON NOW!
So I called the immunologist I am consulting with regarding my HBO. We are going to do what is called “Pushing the Herx." I do a dive - I will herx. I keep on diving each day or every other day along with the herx, instead of waiting for the herx to clear as I did before. The idea is that the oxygen is going to flood my brain, my body, my tissues, my organs, my liver, my heart, my lungs, my thyroid. The oxygen is going to kill things in my body, but at the same time help me. It will become my double-edged sword.
I’m scared. For now I am mustering up my courage, and I just sit and look at my chamber sometimes. I want to hate it - like you hate the things in life that force you to grow the most. I have been taught a new meaning of the word "respect." I know mere oxygen has the capacity to kill - yet I know it has the capacity to bring life. Just like mother nature has the power to destroy - it also contains everything I need to heal myself. Earth appears calm, peaceful, silent, unchanging, slow - but we can never underestimate it. The constant of Earth, created on a system of balances, is forever changing, forever evolving; constant yet forever un-constant. How do you tap into this power without letting it overtake you? Respect.
I am reminded by so many people around me, "Tamara, listen to your body; respect your body." I have a hard time with this in life, and so this is forcing me to pay attention. "Pay attention Tamara!" So it is this constant pushing and pulling back. I cannot rush the process; my body moves at it's own pace and speed. I am reminded of this. My body is key to understanding how to heal myself. My body will tell me. Respect. I'm listening...
My mother is a person that looks at the world somewhat fearfully. If I say I am to travel - she thinks the worst might happen. Driving stresses her out, makes her nervous and she fears for her safety. In truth, she is right. This is one hell of a dangerous place! On the other hand - you can be killed by a flying toilet that fell out of a alien ship at any time - so you never know! Yet, knowing how fearful she is of the world, I crawl into my little chamber and zip it up. It really does looks like it came out of a space shuttle and I’m the astronaut. I admit to myself, "Yes, this is weird." She looks at me through the little window - with no fear, her jaw set, and helps me “dive.” My mother is one incredible person.
My mother and I both let go and we trust. For some reason I believe. I believe so strongly, and this belief comes from a very deep place in my heart. My intuition so strong; intuition which comes directly from my creator. I am not doing this alone. My mother looks at me, trusting I will make the right decisions for myself. Sometimes you just know exactly what is going to work for you - you take that leap of faith, and you trust.
So for now I sit and look at my chamber, knowing that soon my time will come, to test my courage and my fears. I learn respect. I learn trust. I listen. I pay attention. I wait...
