ELEVATIONS

a place where she could do outdoor activities all the time. She took up trail running and felt better than she had in years.

“I needed a place where I could be outdoors all the time and live a healthy lifestyle,” Lilly said. “Dallas wasn’t that.”

But her job left her susceptible to the pandemic, and sure enough, she got COVID-19 in November 2020. It ravaged her body, forcing her into the hospital for weeks. At one point, doctors asked her if life support was OK. She refused, preferring to battle it on her own, as she did with lupus. Lupus can be as mean as COVID: Her joints sti ened in her hospital bed, so she dragged her huge oxygen tank behind her and walked around her room. She now uses oxygen to hike and run, though not as much as she used to. She met Shoaee in a hypoxia support group on Facebook.

“When I asked for advice on hiking and running, people would tell me not to do it, especially doctors,” Lilly, 41, said, “but Chantelle was like, ‘I’ll go with you!’”

Yes, Lilly sees the irony in moving to a state because of health problems and now may need to leave it one day because of health problems. But she is determined to stay as long as she can.

“Honestly, when I put my oxygen in, it goes away,” Lilly said. “I’m getting back to where I was before this happened.” at’s a problem because doctors have to write a prescription for oxygen, said Mike Goldblatt, 67, of Evergreen. Goldblatt is hypoxic and doctors don’t know why. He was an arborist and guided y- shing trips and hikes. He also coaches and chases around his grandkids and plays golf and music in a band. Evergreen is at 7,400 feet and Goldblatt has no desire to move. Oxygen, which he uses when he’s active, makes his life far more normal than it would be otherwise.

Doctors at rst diagnosed Lilly with anxiety. It’s a common misdiagnosis among those with hypoxia, and an understandable one, given that the two are connected: Not being able to breathe causes anxiety. Anxiety can also cause breathing problems such as hyperventilation.

“It feels a lot better,” Goldblatt said.

But it irks him that oxygen is only available with a prescription. Patients also generally must choose between the portable tanks they use to hike and the large tanks that anchor many patients to their homes, Goldblatt said.

“We are staying active,” Goldblatt said, referring to the hypoxic hiking group, “but 90% or more pulling oxygen aren’t. ey don’t realize they can get out.”

Insurance, he said, tends to restrict patients from portable tanks or limit them to a few per month, unless they ght. Medicaid doesn’t do this, at least for Shoaee, which is why she restricts her lifestyle to stay on it.

“Safety is what they call it,” Goldblatt said, “but it comes down to money.” ese are things that won’t be solved soon. But there are issues Shoaee believes she can address now. Carrying oxygen is a problem. A couple years ago she began talking to Osprey about designing a backpack speci cally for oxygen carriers.

“ e kinking is the most annoying part,” Lilly said. “Chantelle, can you x my tube? I’ve already been kinked up twice today.” e Osprey backpack, Shoaee said, solves both issues. ere are holes in the pack where hypoxic hikers can thread, and therefore secure, their tubes, and the bottom of the pack has more padding as well as straps to hold the tank in place and distribute the weight evenly. e nal version should be out by the end of the year. e pack is an a rmation that people are paying attention.

Kinking, of course, restricts oxygen ow, and the tubes get tangled. Lilly has a story about her tubes getting tangled while on a ski lift.She eventually had to be carried down by ski patrol because she needed the oxygen boost at the high elevation.

“I was so embarrassed,” she said. Tanks are heavy, with the mobile tanks weighing up to 15 pounds. e tanks alone make a daypack weigh more than if it were stu ed with overnight gear.

“It will be life-changing for people on oxygen,” Shoaee said. “We aren’t saying you have to hike a 14er. You can walk around the block now. is makes it possible. ere’s so much annoying stu about this illness. A backpack shouldn’t be one of them.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media. with him having learned so much more each time. His book and program, “ e Psychology of Winning,” and now “ e New Psychology of Winning,” will inspire you and teach you how to create your own blueprint for success.

Shoaee founded Always Choose Adventures because of her experiences, but the organization tries to break down barriers for all kinds of marginalized groups in the outdoors, not just the hypoxic. Gerry Roach, the mountain master and author of many guide books, including iconic versions for the 14ers, the Centennials, Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks, is the board president.

But she hopes to use her talents to raise awareness about hypoxia and maybe one day solve some of the other issues oxygen carriers must face when they venture outdoors.

“Could we do a hypoxic 14ers day?” she asks her group.

First, though, she wants to go on a little hike to a lake near her property. e path is steep — at one point she protests to her friends when they leave some distance between them and her — but eventually they do reach the top. She puts her hands on her knees.

It’s hard to live so high up, but the views are spectacular, and the air is fresh.

She straightens up and breathes it in.

Last, and certainly not least, David Sandler was so far ahead of his time with his revolutionary sales process. David’s approach is a simple one, disarming honesty. He developed a sales process that favored the buyer and the seller so that the interaction was based on both parties being willing to have an open and honest adultto-adult truth-based conversation. No manipulation, just a conversation where there is no mysti cation about what is happening or what will happen next. His book, “You Can’t Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar,” will change the way you sell. ere have been so many others who have shaped my career and the careers of millions of others, and I thank them all for their impact on my personal and professional life. Who are some of your favorite authors and experts? I would love to hear all about them at gotonorton@gmail.com, and when we can learn and apply the wisdom of those who are willing to teach us, it really will be a better than good life.

Michael Norton is an author, a personal and professional coach, consultant, trainer, encourager and motivator of individuals and businesses, working with organizations and associations across multiple industries.