I use oxygen at home and I can't breathe. Find your motivation.
Every morning I wake up at 5:00 am. Before I even open my eyes the first thought is: “Do I want it.”
Do I want to stumble to the coffee pot, feed the dog, and sit at my desk while the world is still dark and call this O2 FRESH™ Cover into being? Give it a shape, give it words. A market, hopefully. Or do I want to stay under the warmth of a blanket cuddle and rest my cold feet on my husband?
Working Through Chronic Illness
The answer is always yes. Sometimes a faint yes. Some days a tired yes. But always yes. I wrestle out from under my husband’s ar
m and the blankets. Maneuver the oxygen tubing out fro
m under my feet, manage not to stumble over the dog, and make it through the darkness to the blessing of the coffee pot and get to work. That's motivation.
It wasn't always this way. In 2017, I had gotten to the point where I couldn't breathe well enough to walk around a store.
Because of bronchiectasis, my life was becoming very constricted. I clearly needed to get to the doctor and get oxygen prescribed for me. Yet I spent a lot of time hiding how bad I felt.
Why was I so stubborn about using supplemental oxygen? Like many people I didn't want to be seen with it on. Who wants to look different, to look sick? I had a lot of excuses, none of which changed the fact that for the previous three years my ability to walk had been decreasing.
Five years later, what I've come to realize is that supplemental oxygen is a tool - just like an artificial leg is to an amputee. My life wasn't over because I was prescribed oxygen to use and yours isn't either. But to keep your lifestyle you need to find your motivation.
I found my motivation by inventing a new product that solved a problem I was having with my oxygen tubing. Some days I flipping hate being an entrepreneur. There are always problems to solve. On
top of that, I’m doing this while tethered to an oxygen concentrator during a pandemic. It can be a grind.
And yet. And yet…
“Do I want it?” Yes, yes I do. I've always seen everything my little oxygen tubing cover can become. I still want it all (story continues below).
Recently, I told my mentor that I'm amazed my O2 FRESH™ nasal cannula cover has gotten this far. He said "It's not amazing that it got this far, you're amazing and you got it this far."
And now I’m telling you the same thing. “You’re amazing and you got yourself this far.” You saw the doctor, got on oxygen, put down the salt. Your respiratory illness brought you down pretty low, mentally and physically. I understand, I've been there. But it doesn't need to be a curse. It is a possibility - the possibility to become something
new. Stabilizing your health is the first step. Use your oxygen. Go to pulmonary rehabilitation. Rebuild. Life is just one step after another. Do you want it?
If you want it call yourself a name you can answer to. Call yourself a person of faith and join a Zoom bible study. Call yourself a cook and start a cooking blog. Your oxygen doesn’t need to define you. It won't matter that you are wearing a nasal cannula if you have a reason to get out of bed at 5:00 am.
Look, life will always be different than before you had to use oxygen. But there is still good in the world and you can be a part of that. Do you still want it? Find your motivation!