It’s not surprising that Denise Hitzeman is asked to be a motivational speaker throughout California. Her story is as inspiring as it gets.
Seven years ago, Denise was diagnosed with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), a vascular disorder that means her blood doesn’t carry enough oxygen. She had always been physically active. She was a dancer, followed a regular routine of cardio and weight training, and loved mountain and road biking. But something was wrong, and getting worse. “I never understood why I hated running,” she says, “why I was usually the one struggling during a workout.” Then she started passing out in gyms: “It’s funny how fast a club will release you from a one-year contract when you loose consciousness in their facility.” Less funny was the discovery that HHT was the reason.
Photo: Facchino Photography
Before long, Denise was on therapeutic oxygen 24/7, and many things we take for granted, like doing the laundry, were “workouts” for her. But she was determined not to let her disease define her life. With the help of pulmonary therapist Cathe Pleasant, who she describes as “my hero,” she began an intense training regime that, she says, “brought me back from barely being able to make my bed, or sing my children to sleep, to running the 10K Wharf to Wharf race.” Since then, she’s done another 10K race, three Bay Area Mermaid races, and a 25-mile bike race…all with heavy oxygen tanks strapped to her back, or in her panniers. “I am healthier today than I was before being diagnosed, physically and mentally.”
Denise credits her accomplishments more to others than to herself: to Cathe, to the friends and family who lined her first race to help switch out her tanks. “It takes a village to get me across the finish line. It was so amazing that so many people came together to help me realize my goal.”
It also takes a very special woman to work her workouts into a life that would put many of us down for the count. But, as Denise puts it, sharing her favorite quote, ““Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
Home: Scotts Valley, CA
Occupation: Full time mom. Motivational Speaker. Entrepreneur.
Education: BS from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Partner: Scott, married for 13 years.
Children: Two wonderful (99.9% of the time) children Madeline 11, and Alexander 7.
Age: 42
Height: 5’6”
Weight: I stopped stepping on the scale years ago.
Sports, past and present: Dance (modern and jazz), diving, surfing, cycling and now running.
Athletic accomplishments: Ran Wharf to Wharf twice: first while pushing two ten-pound oxygen tanks, then while carrying an oxygen tank on my back in a hydration back pack.
Little known fact about you: I’m shy… really.
Environmentally incorrect preference: I have the reusable bags from every store, but I usually forget them in the car when I go shopping.
Guilty pleasure: Pirate Booty
Greatest triumph: Last Saturday riding with my friends and family in the Bike for Breath ride and watching my daughter finish her 18 miles, dashing across the finish line with the biggest smile on her face!
Favorite thing to do when not working or working out: Watching classic old movies during “family movie night” with all four of us squished together on the couch and sharing a big tub of popcorn. And, for my quiet, alone time—gardening.
Weekly Workout Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays with my Better Breathers group at the Hospital, doing cardio and weight training. Then, I try one other day with my friends from the neighborhood, usually a walk along the beach or around the ‘hood’ while our children play in the park. Last, one day on the weekend with my family usually a hike in the park.
Moment of Inspiration: When my daughter was three years old and I was just put on oxygen 24/7, I was very depressed. As I’m crying, from the other room, my husband and I hear our daughter talking to the dog. “C’mon Sam,” she said, “let’s go find mommy.” A few seconds later Maddie enters our room with a huge smile, looks at the dog, and exclaims, “See Sam, I told you we would find her, all you have to do is follow the hose,” referring to the fifty-foot oxygen tube that wound through the house to me. At that moment, I saw that I was no different from the mom Maddie had before. She didn’t see me any differently, so why should I?
Title Nine customer Jean Sanchirico doesn’t care much for down time, which is a good thing because she rarely gets any. Jean owns and operates a successful graphic design firm and is busy building a second career as a 
tremendous discipline, commitment, and enthusiasm, all of which Jean has in ample supply. When her graphic design business is busy, fitting in a workout often means working late nights in the studio after the kids go to bed. Jean would much rather skip a few zzz’s once in awhile than skip a workout.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Just ask 
already gone through standard in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation, they still find themselves confined to wheelchairs. Unwilling to simply accept their situations, they’ve chosen to undergo additional rehab consisting of three-hour sessions of intensive physical therapy. “They’re very motivated people,” Stacy says. “They could just sit at home and say, ‘This is my lot. I’m done. This is as good as it gets.’ But these are people who want to do everything they can to see how far they can improve.”
saw her fear of swimming as a challenge to tackle rather than an obstacle to avoid. So on January 1, 2008, Stacy resolved to begin training for triathlons. “I knew it would take serious commitment and would push me outside of my comfort zone,” Stacy says. “I find it empowering to face things that are difficult head on and trample out fears and perceived limitations in the process. Just running? Too familiar and safe. Biking? Fun, but not that different from running. Swimming? Now you are talking about no solid ground under me and no constant supply of oxygen for my lungs. Definitely outside my comfort zone. Swimming was the challenge I sought and running and biking were my reward for surviving the swim.”
the terrifying experience with her dad. The mere thought of putting her face in the water seemed scary. Actually doing so made her feel panicked, like she couldn’t breathe. Figuring she needed to start her swim training at square one, Stacy decided to take a five-week swim class at a local high school pool. “Pools are always easier,” Stacy says. “I don’t like to put my face in the water no matter what, but in a pool at least you can see the bottom and touch the sides.” The class went well, but Stacy knew she wasn’t yet ready for the open water. Next, she signed up for a ten-week triathlon training class with a local sports store. A few weeks into that class Stacy did her first open water swim. It was a great success, thanks in part to the fact that she swam in a wetsuit which increased her buoyancy and made her feel safer. “It kind of felt like wearing a life jacket,” Stacy says. But her newfound confidence didn’t last long. Near the end of the training course Stacy’s class did a trial swim at the site of the triathlon in which she intended to compete. “That’s when the nightmare happened,” Stacy says. “It was awful. My chest got tight. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t put my face in the water. I panicked.” Swimming without a wetsuit, Stacy swam sidestroke about half of the course and was one of the last few people out of the water.
Discouraged but not defeated, Stacy resolved to train even harder. She started doing frequent open water swims with her husband, Scott, who was also training for triathlons. He swam right next to her and they stayed close to shore. Slowly but surely, Stacy got more comfortable in the water. When race day arrived, she had a strategy- start the swim in the back of the pack and take her time. Stacy emerged from the water unscathed and with a smile on her face. And she did it without a wetsuit.
