Candies for a Cause

I've started something that is sort of a start up 'campaign' because I'm not sure what else to call it. The first weekend of December was my towns' Main Street open house and I handed out over 200 candy canes with facts about Narcolepsy on them. I handed them out not to ask for donations, but simply to Educate people about this rare disorder. All I want is for people to know that Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder, caused by a lack of certain proteins and other environmental factors. It is NOT a mental disorder as so many people believe. And please... stop confusing Narcolepsy with Necrophilia. That's gross. A lot of my motivation for this little project comes from seeing how little information there is on the internet, in libraries, and just in general. I wanted to raise people's awareness so that maybe they can say 'you know, I feel the same way, maybe I should ask my doctor.' and hopefully get the treatment they need. Handing them out was a very lifting experience. A lot of people had questions about the disorder and about my cause. Some reactions weren't always so curious. Some people were skeptical but still begrudgingly agreed to help. I went around to lots of stores on Main Street and asked them to simply display the Candy Canes and let people know they were free. Anyway, that's what my campaign is for. I'm handing out candy canes to help educate people on Narcolepsy and raise awareness for this devastating disorder. I'd love to start having people do this in other cities as well and post pictures of themselves handing out these delicious and factual treats!

Please visit my website: http://www.candiesforacause.webs.com/ it's under construction at the moment, but bookmark it so you can come back and see all the awesome updates!

Just read 'The Little Sleep'

This book 'The Little Sleep' has been staring at me for months. Sitting on my bookshelf like with it's yellow cover, glaring at me in the early morning light of every morning I didn't pick it up. I ordered this book online, due to the fact that I couldn't find it in any local library, bookstore or yard sale within 30 miles. I received it about a week after I had ordered it, which was about maybe a month after my own Narcoleptic diagnoses. This book was not only amazing in it's mystery and piece by piece time line, but also in it's way to describe a Narcoleptic in their day by day.
Now I won't give much of the book away because, well I'd hate to ruin such a good ending, but I want to hit on a key point in the book that makes it so good. The lack of a real time line. Why is this interesting? You may ask, because... without a time line, how can a book truly make sense? All books tend to have timelines, though some may start at the end, or in the middle and jump around, but they still have one. Narcolepsy can cause major gaps in time and in memory. When I read this book I felt right at home. The gaps in memory, the gaps in days, the days feeling like weeks, and weeks like minutes. To a narcoleptic, time is nearly irrelevant, and as the author (his name slips my mind right now) describes, time and sleep were once a pet to be tamed. Sleep came and went as I once lived without the fear of black outs, and I determined when I slept and didn't. Now, that pet owns me, like a bad monster waiting in my closet. I cannot recreate his wording so perfectly, mostly because I only remember the vague theme of the book as time wears on (note I started it today, and finished it tonight).
Being as this is my introductory blog, I won't yet go into the intricacies of the disease, but I want those of you to know that if you want to know what a narcoleptic goes through on a daily bases, or at least the tip of the iceberg, please read this book. The best way to combat stigma, is knowledge.