Narcolepsy
Those that Carry Us
It was not out of strength or courage that I began this journey. In the months following my diagnosis in the fall of 2007, I struggled to find a balance between my symptoms and medications. I hated narcolepsy so much I wanted to crush it. Approaching this problem as any competitive athlete would, I was…
Read MoreWide Awake and Dreaming
With 16 days until the Marathon, I’ve decided to discuss an aspect of narcolepsy I’ve never discussed here on this blog. One evening in June of 2007, while sleeping overnight at my dad’s house, I awoke in the middle of the night to the repeated ringing of the doorbell. Hours earlier, I’d fallen asleep on…
Read MoreREMRunner in the News
I’m so honored to be featured in the Boston Globe health section today. (Check out: “A Race With Sleep” by Elizabeth Cooney, March 29th, 2010.) If you’re new to my blog today, welcome! Feel free to explore, but if you’d like to read more about narcolepsy and cataplexy affecting my life and training …
Read MoreWhat’s Sleep Got to Do With It?
For most of my life, I actively ignored sleep to get the most out of my “life.” I relished in my ability to burn the candle at both ends – although I never saw this as an “ability,” I saw it as a small sacrifice to pay (a few less hours of idle snoozing) to…
Read MoreSomething Worth Fighting For
I must admit that yesterday, for the first time, this experience brought me to tears. I’m usually incredibly poised, but yesterday I lost it. My feelings were just too strong. Here’s what happened. Given my recent flair-up of tendonitis in my knees, I’ve had to cut back almost entirely on my running to concentrate on…
Read MoreI think I’ll go to Boston…
With 43 days until the marathon, I traveled to Boston this past weekend for the Wake Up Narcolepsy marathon fundraiser, hosted in support of the four women (myself included) who will be running 26.2 miles on April 19th, 2010 towards finding a cure for narcolepsy. I was excited to be back in my old…
Read MoreRunning into Narcolepsy (Part II)
(Note to reader: This is a continuation of my last blog post. To read Part I, click here.) On July 10th, 2007, I returned to my school’s health services to meet with the sports medicine specialist about my “runner’s knee,” an issue that had developed over the last couple months. Athletics had always been an…
Read MoreRunning into Narcolepsy (Part I)
On July 10th, 2007, I entered my school’s health services with “runners’ knee” and exited with narcolepsy. This is the story of how I literally ran into my diagnosis. (Note to readers: I’ve broken this story up into two parts to keep my blog posts shorter… And to keep you, my patient and loyal readers, begging for more!)…
Read MoreWhy Not Today.
I was looking forward to my 3 mile run today, as these shorter runs have become a comforting and stress-relieving part of my winter routine. However, I’ve decided that it’s best that I don’t run today. Hopefully I’ll be able to get this run in tomorrow, so it’s really not the end of the world. None-the-less,…
Read MoreDecisions Decisions.
“What if you don’t finish?” My brow furrowed and my eyes squinted, as I mulled the question over in my head… Hmmm. What happens if I don’t finish the marathon? I didn’t know how to respond; I drew a blank. Noticing my dumb-founded expression, my inquisitor quickly backtracked, thinking they’d deeply offended me. Re-clarifying, they…
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