It has been a long road. A long, steep, icy, with two steps forward and one step back, sort of road; but I am finally seeing the benefits of the hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Or maybe it is the near-infrared light. Or maybe it’s both. I don’t really care which one, what matters is that I see a difference!

The change has really become apparent over the last two weeks. There has been a lot going on in our lives socially, and I have been able to attend a few parties without completely wrecking myself. Josh drove us to downtown Denver at night, and I was able to keep my eyes open on the highway, even with the lights, for part of the drive! We even attended my mother’s retirement party with about 200 people. I figured we wouldn’t be able to stay very long, but by the end of the evening I realized I felt fine, and I wasn’t even wearing my ear plugs.  My brain wasn’t happy the following morning, but I was happy I made it through the party. On Sunday we went with friends to the Old Man Winter Rally in Lyons. Josh rode the 100k bike race, and I ran the 5.8 mile race with friends. We did this event last year, and while everyone sat in the beer garden post-race eating chili, listening to music, and enjoying a beer, I hid in the car for a few hours. This year, I sat with everyone, and they were all surprised I could be there.

A few months ago I wrote a post about not being able to listen to music. I also lost my internal radio, that little sound box inside of me that was constantly playing since I was a kid. On my nightstand sits a little notebook where I write down whatever song is in my head when I wake up. By December I was starting to have a morning song once every week or two, and now it is up to 3-4 days a week. I have no idea where these songs come from, but as soon as I open my eyes, the soundtrack of my day starts up, as if it had already been playing and someone simply turned up the volume.  This morning is was Cleopatra by the Lumineers, but there have been some random selections over the last month including; Wild Horses – The Sundays, Paparazzi – Lady Gaga, Like the Desert Miss The Rain – Sade,  Good Hearted Woman – Waylon Jennings, Cold As Ice – Foreigner. I have absolutely no idea when I last heard any of those songs. But there you go, I hope one of them stays with you today. You can thank me later.

I’ve even found myself listening to music in the car and turning it on in the evenings while I cook dinner. When you haven’t listened to the radio in a year an a half it is amazing how many good new songs you hear! Josh came home from work earlier this week to find me cooking dinner and dancing around the kitchen listening to Bastille’s “Good Grief”.  As I typed this I had to pull up Spotify to play it again. Such a great song! Anyway, he just stood there staring at me. Not because this is crazy behavior from me, far from it, he stood there staring because this is NORMAL. Dancing, singing, being ridiculous, that is me. That is the woman he married, and he hasn’t seen her for a long time. We are both pretty happy to see her again.

As much as I would like to say I am suddenly cured, I’m not. There are still bad days. But I am improving, and my latest treatments have clearly made a big , and very welcome, difference…which hopefully it isn’t temporary. I’m excited to see how the progress continues over the next few months. My spring race schedule is full, with one race a month for March-June, and that should keep me out of too much trouble while I figure out what to do with the next chapter of my life.

March 25, 2017 – Behind the Rocks 50k in Moab, Utah

April 23, 2017 – Spokane River Run 50k in Spokane, Washington. This is getting back to my roots! The SRR 25K was my first trail race ever.

Two weeks later…

May 6, 2017 – Collegiate Peaks 50 miler in Buena Vista, Colorado. With only two weeks in between, this will be more of a training 50 miler.

June 3, 2017 – North Fork 50 miler – Pine, Colorado.