Narcolepsy
Watch Now: Narcolepsy PSA Created with Honda Before TV Airing
I’m thrilled to share the narcolepsy public service announcement (PSA) created in collaboration with Honda. It was a huge honor to serve as a real voice and face of narcolepsy in this 30-second PSA, to air on TV in the next month. View here: Project Sleep’s Press Release: Bad Narcolepsy Joke Turns Honda into Awareness…
Read MoreUnveiling the new NARCOLEPSY: NOT ALONE website!
I’m so excited to share Project Sleep’s new NARCOLEPSY: NOT ALONE™ campaign website at: www.narcolepsynotalone.com. When I started this campaign last year, I never imagined it would become such an empowering international movement. Now, NARCOLEPSY: NOT ALONE™ is the world’s largest social media narcolepsy awareness campaign – setting a bold new precedent that narcolepsy is not a joke, but a real disorder…
Read MoreFilming the Honda Narcolepsy PSA
Over the past few months, I’ve worked with Honda and a Honda agency, RPA, to create a narcolepsy public service announcement (PSA). I’m so proud and honored to have served as a real face and voice of narcolepsy for this project. In preparation, I shared my memoir, fact sheets, patient experience and key awareness points. It…
Read MoreViral Narcolepsy with Cataplexy Video
A video of a young woman with narcolepsy and cataplexy has gone viral. Watch below or on YouTube. This is a powerful video and I am grateful to Sarah Elizabeth for bravely sharing her experience! Sarah Elizabeth is primarily experiencing a narcolepsy symptom called cataplexy here. Cataplexy is a sudden loss of muscle tone, resulting in…
Read MoreFinding Beauty In Narcolepsy
Do you know what drives me? What REALLY drives me as an advocate, writer and speaker? Beauty. I am obsessed with finding beautiful ways to convey narcolepsy. Why? Because I find it hard, and I LOVE the intellectual and artistic challenge. This is not a choice but a compulsion. I agonize over word choices. I scour the…
Read MoreWatch: Disruptive Innovations Interview on Narcolepsy, FDA & Project Sleep
I’m thrilled to share my Disruptive Innovations interview with the Conference Forum’s Exec. Director, Valerie Bowling. This fun discussion on narcolepsy, FDA and Project Sleep was filmed before my speech at the TCF’s Disruptive Innovations Conference in Boston, MA on Sept. 11, 2014. Thank you so much to Valerie and the Conference Forum’s team for…
Read MoreShhhh!!! I’M SLEEPING!!! Living with Narcolepsy’s Hallucinations
Dear Hypnagogic Hallucination Version of My Boyfriend, SHHH!! I’M SLEEPING!! Seriously, dude. You come home while I’m napping and wake me up from my precious naptime. I have narcolepsy and I NEED my sleep. But no, YOU are home and apparently, you could care less. I’d tell you to BE QUIET but, hmm, I’m paralyzed. You stomp…
Read MoreBringing the Patient Voice to Disruptive Innovations Conference
This week, I flew to Boston to speak at the Disruptive Innovations conference. My 15-minute TED-style talk was titled “How a Patient Helped to Define a New Clinical Endpoint in Narcolepsy”. Over the past few months, I researched and drafted my presentation and delivered two practice versions for my Toastmasters club. Knowing I was the “patient presenter”…
Read MoreSpeaking at Current Concepts in Sleep Conference
Over Labor Day weekend, I traveled to Tampa Bay, Florida to speak at the Current Concepts in Sleep Conference. Seeing tears in people’s eyes, I knew I’d opened their hearts to the REAL narcolepsy. It was an honor to present my journey to sleep doctors and technicians. Throughout the conference, Project Sleep was well-represented! Sleep…
Read MoreWhat does NARCOLEPSY: NOT ALONE mean to you?
What resonates with you? I created this word-collage using popular words from NARCOLEPSY: NOT ALONE campaign blog posts. For me, the words “connect”, “badass” and “tears” stand out. I love that positive and negative experiences are captured here. No matter where you are on your journey, your feelings are valid and normal, its all part of the narcolepsy roller-coaster.…
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