Imagine not being able to control when you fall asleep – literally, and feeling so exhausted it has been compared to others going without sleep for 48 – 72 hours. For the past two years, I have struggled with this not knowing what was going on. Most people thought I was being lazy, but that wasn't the case at all.  Some figured I was just staying up too late on my smart phone - they were wrong too. 
     
I can recall being in class, feeling somewhat awake, I have my notebook and pen out ready to take notes. I start writing and when I look down at my paper, it’s all gibberish. A mumble of letters and numbers. I don’t remember ever writing that. What happened? I took a micro-nap. Micro-naps happen in very short bursts of sleep at random times. The best way to describe it is my brain is asleep but my body is awake.

Because of my narcolepsy, I have gotten into trouble a lot at school for sleeping and my grades have certainly suffered. EVERYBODY kept telling me to get more sleep, but no matter how long I slept, it just didn’t make a difference. I found it harder and harder to stay awake during the day. I began cancelling plans with friends because all I wanted to do was sleep. I would even avoid going to movies (one of my favorite pastimes) because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stay awake the whole time. Then I started noticing whenever I would get upset (really angry, or really sad) I would have trouble walking, keeping my balance and holding things in my hands. One time, it got so bad that I actually walked into a door at school – in front of everybody – that was so embarrassing I wanted to just disappear.

Having Narcolepsy with Cataplexy is difficult. It is a life-long condition with no cure. It makes it very difficult to concentrate or take notes in class, I’m not able to drive by myself (yet), and I can’t go very long without my body begging for a nap. While I am taking medication to help cope with the symptoms, finding the treatment that works best for me will be time consuming, and as of right now, I still feel tired most of the time, and have to nap often.

In order to help me stay awake, I have adopted Olive, a border collie and lab mix from a local shelter. With the proper training, Olive will be able to alert me when I am about to fall asleep (even before I realize it is about to happen), when I’m having an anxiety attack she will be able to help me calm down, and she will learn to wake me up when I have nightmares (a frequent side effect of Narcolepsy).

With your generous donation, I will be one step closer to reaching the $3,300 I need to get Olive trained as my service dog.

Thank you so much for your consideration.