Healing Beyond Medicine: My Journey with HBOT Therapy

Chronic health struggles lead to unexpected healing through hyperbaric oxygen therapy and chiropractic care, transforming energy levels, appetite, and sleep quality after just one session.

• Recently diagnosed with rare autoimmune disease oral lichen planus after months of specialist visits
• Tried HBOT (hyperbaric oxygen therapy) at Pinnacle Wellness Center with Dr. Ryan Suen
• Experienced immediate benefits: enhanced workout performance, improved appetite, better sleep
• Chiropractic adjustment corrected spinal misalignment that affects nervous system function
• Dr. Suen's approach focuses on three pillars of health including proper alignment and nutrition
• Answered listener questions about dating, including conversation topics and recognizing red flags
• Shared that both men and women ultimately seek connection and companionship in relationships

For those interested in trying Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, visit Dr. Ryan Suen at Pinnacle Wellness Center located at 5994 West Las Positas, Suite 207 in Pleasanton, California (510)634-6082 Mention #Wellness when booking. Like, share, and comment on this episode across platforms—especially YouTube where we're building our channel.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Elkivate Your Life
• 1:42 My Autoimmune Disease Journey
• 3:24 HBOT Oxygen Chamber Experience
• 9:21 Dr. Ryan's Holistic Approach
• 14:04 Dating Advice and Listener Questions
• 21:45 Subscriber Shoutouts and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello, what's up? Hearty people, welcome to another episode of Elkivate your Life. I am your hostess with the most S, l as in the letter L and key as in the key to your heart. I always have the hardest time doing the heart to make sure it shows up appropriately, and you'll probably see my dog in the background. We are here chilling in the guest room right now because, well, the studio is hot as Well, the studio is hot as well. You know it's very hot right now. So we had to retreat to our guest room to record the pod tonight, and you're going to see me looking at my computer monitor as well as looking at you, because this is a trial run of me doing video and audio at the same time. So, thanks for showing up, thanks for listening, thank you to all my loyal listeners out there Too many to go down the list and name, but I do have a new addition that I want to make sure that I give a huge shout out, and thanks to that. I want to make sure that I give a huge shout out and thanks to. So, without further ado, I want to talk to you about my new chiropractor, pinnacle Wellness Center, dr Ryan Suen. I want to make sure I pronounce it Suen Suen. Anyway, I saw him for the first time yesterday, and what a saint.

Speaker 1: 1:52

So, as all of you know, I have an autoimmune disease. I was recently diagnosed. I guess my symptoms started in about January and they didn't figure out what was wrong with me until June. And so, for those of you that don't know, yeah, it showed up overnight and got progressively worse. Doctors didn't know what it is. Several biopsies, tests, doctors, rheumatologists, primary doctor oh gosh, specialty doctor, plastic surgeon, neurologist, primary doctor oh gosh, specialty doctor, plastic surgeon, dermatology, you name it. They threw it at the wall to see what would stick. Anyway, I ended up finding out that I have a rare, incurable autoimmune disease called oral lichen planus. And so, as a lot of you know, I am all about doing things the homeopathic, the holistic way, a natural approach, and so, as a lot of my loyal listeners know, I had to adjust my diet, my way of eating no more coffee, alcohol. Adjust my diet, my way of eating no more coffee, alcohol, spicy citrus, the list goes on.

Speaker 1: 3:19

So, the reason that I went to Dr Swen thank you, rhonda and Roger Catano of East Bay Grooveline. They told me that he has what's called an HBOT. It is an oxygen chamber that can heal your body. It is used. Okay, this is where I am not very educated, but I will be able to speak on it more as I go to more visits.

Speaker 1: 3:44

But let me just share my experience, if I may. The purpose of the oxygen tank is to get more oxygen into your body, into your blood, into your plasma, and there are a lot of benefits, such as helping with inflammation, helping with injuries, faster recovery for certain ailments or injuries. Also, it has a lot of anti-aging benefits, and there are a lot of facts to back up what I'm telling all of you. Too many things for me to count, so I'm just sharing the basics with you right now. So what I can tell you is I went to have a consultation and a chiropractic visit and he takes a very holistic, alternative holistic approach and he firmly believes in the three pillars of health and basically all of these things align with not just adjusting the bones, but it's so much more than that. He also can talk to you about nutrition, implementing the correct nutrition into taking care of your body.

Speaker 1: 5:10

One of the things he shared with me that I want to share with you guys is that? Did you know that spinal misalignments can interfere with your nervous nervous system performance, so cause injuries because the body is not communicating the proper responses? And so that's what I learned about myself yesterday. I went in there with a bad knee, a bad hip, back pain, neck pain, as well as my autoimmune disease. And as soon as he adjusted me, I woke up feeling so much better. And what I noticed is I felt lighter and healthier, more, um, more aligned, that my posture was better. And I noticed I had like a little bit of an uncomfortableness in the middle of my back. And when I asked him about that and he explained it to me, it was basically yeah, anytime you're out of line, your body gets used to being in a certain position and it just adapts to that and then it readjusts. You know, once you have the adjustment, it communicates all the signals to the nerves and to the body, letting them know no, this is the proper stance, this is the you know appropriate position your body should be in.

Speaker 1: 6:40

I have to tell you, after my adjustment I felt amazing, and it was. I mean it was a 360. It was literally. It wasn't like 60, 90, 30. It was 180. I got up, I walked around. He asked me how I felt, didn't tell me how I should feel, and said how do you feel? What do you feel? And me being becoming very good at listening to my body and being in tune with my body, I told him I feel lighter, I feel that my posture was corrected. It was a very interesting, almost indescribable feeling, to where I had to go down the list of I feel this, I feel that I feel this, I feel great.

Speaker 1: 7:27

So, moving on to the oxygen chamber, also known as HBOT, I went in there for an hour and it's kind of like going into a little spaceship. It was kind of cool. And what I noticed being in there, not only is it very spacious and comfortable, but I could feel the oxygen going into my body. And when I came out, he told me you might feel A, b, c or D. Let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, it was my workout day. So I felt stronger, I had a better workout, I was more energized, I was more motivated to do my workout.

Speaker 1: 8:21

I then had a healthier appetite that I have had in months. I have not been able to have a good appetite because of my condition. I have what I call food trauma. You know I'm scared to eat and drink certain foods because of the response that my body's going to have. Oh my gosh, I was so hungry yesterday before the workout, after the workout, and normally I'm like a one meal a day kind of girl. In between it's protein shakes or you know, I kind of do what is known as intermittent fasting, and it's not even necessarily on purpose, it's just because of my body's response. So not only did I have a better workout, I felt stronger, it felt easier, but then I ate better than I've eaten in months and I slept well, so well.

Speaker 1: 9:20

And I remember him telling me you might have more of an appetite, you might work out better, you might sleep better. I mean, he went down the list of things and I, like him, dr Ryan, I am usually kind of a skeptic, like yeah, yeah, okay, we'll see, and I am not easily influenced, so it's not as if he put those things in my brain. I literally left there going I can't wait to go work out, which normally on Mondays and Wednesdays. It's kind of a struggle for me. By the way, welcome to Wisdom Wellness Wednesday. So glad we're talking about this.

Speaker 1: 9:57

So I couldn't wait to get home and go work out. And I wasn't watching, you know, I wasn't looking at my watch, I wasn't looking at the time, I just went for it and just felt good, I felt strong, I felt agile. And then when I went to eat it wasn't like, oh, I'm scared to eat that. It was like, oh, my God, I'm hungry, what can I eat? And just feeling so renewed, restored, refreshed. And then normally it takes me a while to wind down for bed. So I have a whole routine I have to go through. Well, let me tell you, last night I was like, hey, bring it on, I'm ready for it, I'm ready to go to bed. And it usually takes me a while to fall asleep. But I fell asleep nicely, I didn't lay there in my thoughts and I went to bed, I went to sleep and I had a good night's rest.

Speaker 1: 11:01

So what am I telling all of you? I'm telling all of you, if you haven't gone to a chiropractor and you live in the Tri-Valley, I highly recommend Dr Ryan Pinnacle Wellness Center. They are located at 5994 West Las Positas, suite 207. That's in Pleasanton, california 94588. Dr Ryan, he's wonderful. I know one of his staff, rhonda. I don't know the other two, but a beautiful facility and he's just very welcoming and very detailed in the consultation. Not just what are your aches and pains, we really dug deep to find out the specifics of what was happening with my knee and my hip. So thank you, dr Ryan. I'm looking forward to our next session. Can't wait to get in there and get on the treatment that you recommended for me.

Speaker 1: 12:03

To any of you and all of you that are looking for a holistic approach, I highly recommend Dr Ryan and Pinnacle Wellness Center, conveniently located in Pleasanton, 5994 West Las Positas and, like I said, suite 207, that's in Pleasanton and I'm not sure if he's still running a special. He was running a special on the HBOT, the oxygen treatment, so I highly recommend giving them a call. You know what I'm realizing. I didn't write down the phone number, but there his link will be in my podcast. What else can I tell you about it? Basically, it was a wonderful experience from beginning to end. I can't say enough good things about it and I've been talking about it for the last 13 minutes, so hopefully that is enough to incentivize you to go. Even if you just have, you know, a slight little like tingling in your neck or your back, I really appreciated how thorough he was with the questions. He asked me to determine the appropriate treatment plan. So thank you, dr Ryan. I've already sent my husband to you, I've referred my daughter to you and I hope all of you out there will listen and go and give it a shot. He did have a special on the oxygen. I don't know if that's still a special, but it was $20 for the first session. Make sure you mention hashtag wellness so that he knows you heard about it through me. Okay.

Speaker 1: 13:55

So, moving right along, we have been talking about dating in the world of 2025. And we had an elaborate study podcast on gosh today's Wednesday. On Monday, we had a two-hour pod with my special guest, tommy Tommy Anthony and I'm hoping he's going to become more of a permanent, maybe a co host. We're still discussing things, but I received a lot of positive feedback from the men and women and the listeners and I want to make sure I answer your questions. So let me get into it. Andrew, what is the first thing that you should talk about on a date? Great question, andrew, thank you for asking that, and I know Andrew's a little bit more introverted and not your typical serial dater or on any app. So what's the first thing you should talk about on a date? Experiences and reading all of the dating book, the rules, the Steve Harvey, all of that.

Speaker 1: 15:17

Your best bet is to ask the woman or person that you're on a date with what are their interests, what are their hobbies? What kind of food do you like to eat? What do you do for fun? What do you do in your relaxing time? You know, because that's going to lead to how to go about your second date, how to determine your second date, because if they, if they're a foodie and they enjoy going out to eat, okay, maybe you try various different restaurants. Or if they love to sing karaoke which, andrew, I know you do. Well, there you go, you have a common interest.

Speaker 1: 16:00

So I think it's important to ask your date what are their hobbies, their interests, what do they do in their downtime? What does a relaxing day at home look like? You know, just kind of try to get to know the person. Don't pry too much. They say not to talk about politics or religion or exes. I definitely think those are three rules that you should follow, especially in the beginning stages. You know, and then, as she answers the questions, it will help you to open up. Oh, I enjoy that too, and oh, I enjoy Asian cuisine, mexican, whatever you're fancy, right? I hope that helps, andrew.

Speaker 1: 16:54

On to the next question. What are red flags when your date doesn't show up or message you back? Okay, well, that is a common thing known as ghosting, and that's the red flag, right there? Right, they didn't show up, they didn't message you back. I would say there's a lot of things going on with this person. Maybe they are not good at telling people no when people ask them something, so it's easier just to ghost you. It could be that they still have some work to do on their part, and so, if that is the case, you may not want to be on a date with this person in the first place. And if they don't show up or message back, I mean and if they don't show up or message back, I mean, look, we all know that emergencies happen and they could have gotten in a car accident. There could have been an emergency situation that happened at home. But common courtesy is they will call back, text you back, explain the circumstances, and if they don't, I would say thank you, thank you Next, thank you Next. I always got to burst into song when something like that happens. Sorry, ladies and gent. Okay, so I hope that helps you.

Speaker 1: 18:31

Andrew, I hope that gives you some insight to you know, we have to set healthy boundaries for ourselves, and it's important. It's okay to be kind and give people the benefit of the doubt, but if they don't show up or respond to a phone call, a text, an invite, they have some work to do. And try not to take it personally. Oh, there's my co-host, chanel. Try not to take it personally and move on to the next one. Okay, I didn't see any other burning questions out there, other than Wells Beggs did share that he really appreciated Tommy's perspective and that it resonated with him being another Christian man, in kind of the same age group.

Speaker 1: 19:25

So I'm glad that you shared your thoughts. I'm glad that his feedback resonated with you. Would love to have you on the show if you'd like to be on the show. And I think it's important for us as women to get the man's perspective, because we're going to hear a lot of different views and opinions and while we may not agree, isn't it insightful to know that the men's perspective, how they look at things, how they see things, that there are a lot of chivalrous men still out there, still, you know, looking for love. Yeah, I thought it was really enlightening and so insightful and interesting to hear a man's perspective on dating and women and men's wants and needs.

Speaker 1: 20:30

At the end of the day, we all are kind of looking for the same thing, right, which is connection. We all want to have a connection. We all want to have somebody that we can have companionship with. Right Chanel, isn't that? Right babies? She's just looking at me. I want to hand her a little mic and say what do you think? What do you think? She thinks it's food. Okay, so I want to make sure I give a shout out to my subscribers. Thank you, lisa Roberts Curbelo, for being a loyal subscriber. I hope to see you sometime soon. I haven't seen you all summer. I'm trying to think. The last time we, I think the last time we actually saw each other was St Patrick's Day. At Rewind, it's been forever. Let's see. Thank you to Kyle Few.

Speaker 1: 21:26

Be sure to check out his book Commitment to Love. Love is a verb. It can be found on Audible via Amazon and I tell all of you, it's not just about, okay, finding your person, finding your match. It digs deeper than that and talks about loving yourself and how it's important to love yourself before you can move on to love other people, and how you really have to have a commitment to love in order to continue to foster that relationship that you are in. It's like how we take care of our bodies or plants we have to water them, we have to make sure they get enough sunlight, enough vitamins, enough nutrients, food, water. You know love, tender care All of those things come into play. So take a look at Commitment to Love. Love is a verb. You can find it on Amazon, audible, moving right along Jeff Pata.

Speaker 1: 22:34

I always like to say Jeff Pata namaste, because he practices healthy living, healthy lifestyle, meditation, being grounded, and I so appreciate that about you, jeff. Whenever I am struggling with something, I will think of him and I will go outside barefoot and stand in the earth to become grounded. So he has taught me that technique. So thank you, jeff Pata. Thank you for being a loyal listener, although I wish you would put your comments in the platform. I never see your comments or likes or anything. Anyway, sorry for throwing you under the bus a little bit, but you know what? He's thick-skinned, I know he can take it, moving right along to Mike Kaufman. Mike Kaufman, my husband, who supports me and listens and shares his feedback, and thank you so much for being a loyal subscriber and listener. And last but not least, we have Angie.

Speaker 1: 23:44

Angie Germer of Thrive Lavelle. She has lost gosh over 50 pounds through the program and what it does is it's an all-natural approach to work with your GLP-1. They are a lot of them are all-natural supplements to fill the nutritional gaps. I actually wanted to show you guys one here's one that I take Thrive. One here's one that I take Thrive, and this is called Balance and this is to make sure that my system is working properly, that my body is getting rid of what I don't need, and I have to say I love their products. I lost 10 pounds on their products and, yes, highly effective, highly recommend Thrive by Lavelle. So look up Angie Germer and her link is always in my podcast.

Speaker 1: 24:44

Shout out again to Dr Ryan Swen and Pinnacle Wellness Center. As I said, they are located at 5994 West Las Positas Boulevard, suite 207 in Pleasanton, california. I will include the link in my podcast. So if you want to get in touch with him, he, like I said, he offers an array of services and I really like what he says about. Their motto is about the three pillars of health, and you can look at his website to see the three pillars of health and I think basically, in a nutshell, it's like you have to feed your body the right things, so nutrition, taking care of your bones, your muscles, your mind, and just that. It's a very elaborate and modern approach and I really appreciate his talents and I think you will too. So make sure to say hashtag wellness when you look them up, give them a call, you can find them online and, yeah, I think that's all I have for tonight.

Speaker 1: 26:09

Ladies and gents, do you have anything, chanel? Okay, I swear, sometimes she looks at me like she's going to say something. Well, thank you for joining us, chanel. Thank you all for being here. I hope you appreciated my tips on this Wisdom Wellness Wednesday. I look forward to any feedback questions.

Speaker 1: 26:39

Remember to like, share and comment in the platform. I'm on all the platforms Apple, spotify, youtube, buzzsprout, amazon Music, soundcloud, podcastle, deezer, podchaser countless platforms but I'm really working on building my YouTube channel right now, so it means a lot if you like and subscribe and comment and if you are interested in me sponsoring and talking about your business. I would love to hear from you Send me a text. You can text through the platforms, any of the platforms, and you can become a subscriber for as little as a cup of coffee or as much as I don't know, a lunch, a Panera lunch, I mean.

Speaker 1: 27:27

It's $3, $5, $8, $10, so it's minimal. It's $3, $5, $8, $10. So it's minimal and by doing this, I share your name, your business and whatever else you'd like me to share. If you'd like to become a sponsor, I would love that, especially the businesses that I solicit, I want to give back. So thank you all for tuning in. Thank you for listening, thank you for watching. Thank you for listening, thank you for watching, thank you for joining, thank you for being a frequent flyer, an Elkivator, and thank you for tuning in to another episode of Elkivate, your Life. Ciao for now.