“Anybody can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it requires a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success.” ― Oscar Wilde
Years ago, when I wrote my opinion piece at The Myeloma Beacon on our incredible success with HBOT (Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy), it garnered considerable attention from those in that world. It was pretty unexpected.
A wonderful man from Heber Springs, Arkansas, named Mark Jackson contacted me, and we set up a phone call. He was so enthusiastic and excited about my experience. He explained that he was getting into the HBOT business and was providing chambers, from the home version to the medical grade. He was hoping I would be interested in setting up my clinic. He would help me: financing, training, all of it. I was intrigued and honored to have the conversation with him. But it was not something I was interested in undertaking at the time for many reasons. However, I thoroughly enjoyed our shared enthusiasm and passion for HBOT’s place in the world of medical support and complementary therapies. We both agreed that every Radiation Clinic in the country should have an HBOT next door! When a patient completes their radiation therapy, they should immediately follow it up with a series of 20 HBOT sessions to mitigate the radiation damage to the healthy skin to avoid future necrosis where the damage appears years later as dying skin. At that point, it is highly problematic. We enjoyed such a great conversation, and it was memorable.
The next time I had time in Little Rock of some duration, I reached out to Mark and said, “Hey! I’m in Little Rock! I would love to meet you in person.” He immediately responded and drove over an hour from Heber Springs to meet me at a Panera in Little Rock. We had an equally memorable conversation. He told me I was a “legend in the HBOT community” and that everyone was envious he was getting to meet me in person. Again, I was surprised by the attention. It was humbling. Little ‘ole me? Really? But it wasn’t lost to me that we had a remarkable medical success. I remember afterward, writing to the Professor at U of Penn who had published the paper that set everything in motion. I sent a brief description of how we used his paper and the results and thanked him for his ongoing research in the world of HBOT. So that you know, he’s a leading researcher in HBOT at U of Penn and treated all the coal miners trapped in the West Virginia mines some years ago to mitigate the brain damage due to prolonged oxygen deprivation. His response was priceless; it was something along the lines of, “I’m so happy to hear this. That is exactly how the research shows it is supposed to work. We just don’t have much human data.” I had a loud belly laugh in our apartment at the time (we were still in Little Rock).
Anyway, Mark grilled me for more details and took copious notes. A strong friendship continued to develop. I learned that he was working with a neurologist who had hypothesized that when recovering addicts manage to get clean, the barrier in their recovery was that they needed to heal the damage to their brain. He was utilizing HBOT to heal the brain in the hopes that it would help them recover more fully, restore
Oxygen 8 America Heber Springs
many abilities from clearer thinking, skill recovery, and most importantly, easily stay clear of relapse. I was fascinated. Imagine if that was the missing piece! We talked about veterans and PTSD. Autistic children. Stokes. I asked him how he handled the claustrophobia some would feel in the chamber. I specifically asked this, as some are not clear chambers. Most aren’t. My first cousin in Witchita had a debilitating stroke. I suggested he get into HBOT right away. His doctor approved it and ordered it, but he couldn’t do it. He tried once and panicked. The second time he was sedated and still panicked. He was so disappointed, and so was I, as I knew it could help reverse his stroke. Mark said that he gives the client complete control of the HBOT from the inside. They can control it, stop it, end it, or continue all at their command. That control helps them immensely with this issue. Brilliant!
When I first got here this time, I immediately reached out again to Mark. “Hey! I’m here again for a long time. We need to buy a car! Do you know anyone who can help me?” He did, and he almost got it done. But in the end, it didn’t matter that we found it elsewhere as much as his willingness to help me in time of need. That was priceless to me.
Then yesterday, in a messenger convo of someone wanting information about getting a chamber and getting his up-to-date contact to pass along, he sent me a flyer of an HBOT clinic ribbon-cutting grand opening the following day in Heber Springs. I thought to myself, “Wow, maybe I can go! That would be fun to meet one of his clients and see him!” I checked my schedule and the distance to Heber Springs and told Dave I wanted to go and would probably be gone about 3-4 hours, and was that OK? He said, “yes.” So I quickly texted Mark back, “I can come! I’ll let you know when I expect to get there.” He was thrilled.
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A little over an hour’s drive in the countryside of Arkansas, I arrive at the cute little Heber Springs location. He picked a stellar location! He’s across the street from a thriving Chiropractic Office and a Physical Therapy clinic. And next to a fantastic bakery called the Red Rooster. I go past the crowd outside and look for Mark. We had a warm and enthusiastic embrace, and he introduced me to Christie Brooks who works in Functional Medicine, he was having a conversation with touring the new clinic. He walked away, and we had a lovely conversation about my HBOT experience and Myeloma and all that’s going on. I assumed it was her clinic. She said, “Oh no! It’s Mark’s!” I said, “What! That stinker didn’t tell me it was HIS GRAND OPENING!” We laughed and laughed. I found him again and gave him “what for” with his big beaming smile. Several people came up to me throughout my time there and just quietly said, “Mark is so excited you are here.” And my response was, “I’m thrilled to be here! I’m so glad I was able to come!”
Then Mark asked me if I was willing to be interviewed by the local Heber Springs radio station. I said, “Sure, do they have editors?” He responded, “No, it’s live.” OK, no pressure. “Sure, Mark!” About 30 minutes later, yours truly was on the radio telling our story, complete with the Kentucky connection and the horse equine rehab center next door to my dear friend Paula Cline’s horse farm, Rosehaven. Then I launched into all the things that HBOT could do, and while you should always include your doctor, most would shrug and say, it won’t hurt. I also told her that I recently learned that several of my post-menopausal women friends had gone to a wellness center, got ten sessions, and felt energized, renewed, and clearer thinking. With that, the radio personality laughed and said, “Watch out, Heber Springs, women will be stampeding here to Oxygen 8!”
After the interview, I popped next door to the Red Rooster Bakery and got a fantastic sandwich; and grabbed some homemade chicken spaghetti, a small quiche, a brown sugar rub, and a homemade brownie to take home.
Christie gave me some excellent advice for Dave, one I knew about and one I didn’t, and I just hadn’t gotten around to putting it in for Dave. I appreciated her validation of all that I was doing for my husband and the shared connection we had on many topics regarding healthcare.
What a unique and unexpected day I had! And instead of opening a clinic of my own, I approached Mark about being a sales rep. I have so many ideas of places we need to get chambers!
Thank you note from Paris Hilton
Oh, on another note, he just installed his top-of-the-line chamber for Paris Hilton in California! (that little photo is of the chamber he installed) How cool is that? I asked his beautiful daughter, a freshman this year in HS if he brought anything back cool for her from Paris. She said, “Yes! Her perfume.”
And lastly, I was in love with his infrared sauna and had to take pictures to send to Montana and Jeffers. She so wants one of her very own. Boy, is this a beauty!
Sauna
While I was gone, there was a lot of spontaneous activity. Goodness Village was available to pick up some medical items we didn’t need anymore, and Dave’s PT person texted me to meet with him today. Somehow while driving my cool decked-out electronically connected car, I was able to coordinate it all safely behind the wheel, going thru the beautiful countryside of Arkansas. And I even managed to stop by DSW and grab some cool gym sneakers for my first meet-up with my trainer at ESPORTA! BOOM!
