Cheers to 2015: A New Year, A New Attitude

Looking back on 2014, I had a lot of changes happen in my life for such a short year.

Ringing in the new year last year, I had to leave my friend's annual party early due to exhaustion, which I would find out a few days later was actually mono (boy, that was NOT fun!). I was a junior at Baldwin Wallace University, getting ready to head back to campus to my sorority sisters and hoping that I would finally find success in my classes after struggling for so long. 

Six months later, I was home for the summer, terrified to tell my parents that I wouldn't be returning to BWU in the fall, and frustrated by where I was in life. I felt so stuck. Lost. It wasn't a very good time for me.

But this year, as I rang in 2015 at that same friend's house playing Cards Against Humanity with him and his roommates til well past midnight, I realized I had experienced a complete 180 degree change since the year before. We were all laughing and joking, and I was barely having cataplexy. A true miracle, where a year ago I would have been entirely incapacitated early into my favorite game. I was cheerful and excited, looking forward to starting classes at the University of Toledo in two weeks. I even drove myself and my brother home at 1 a.m., in my OWN car that I just recently financed completely on my own at only 20 years old.

So I'm looking back on 2014 as a year of great transition for me. From the very "sick", sleepy person I was at the beginning of the year, with so many struggles and fears to face before I was able to reach a stronger and happier point with these last few months. 

And I'm looking forward to 2015 with a big smile and a level of confidence that I didn't even know I was capable of! :)

Narcoleptic Babysitting?

     Since I'm starting to feel so much better, I figure it's time to start trying more of the things I've avoided since I got narcolepsy. If it were up to me, I'd be driving already, but unfortunately cars are pretty expensive and my job isn't THAT great haha. So baby-steps it is for now. 

     Tomorrow I'm going to babysit for a family at the school I work at. The mom and dad are going out for the day with friends, so I'll be at their home with their adorable little girls. One of the kids is in 1st grade, and the other is a toddler (she's 2) , but they're both total sweethearts and are so excited for me to come over.

     At first, 10:30-7ish made me super nervous and I was going to back down, for fear of getting too tired while I'm there. But after thinking on it, I realized that this is something I can totally handle! I have extra Concerta as a back up and I'll be sure to sleep in the car on the drive there and home afterwords.

     Wish me luck! :)

Taking A Break

This semester I've decided to take a much needed break from my university life to try to feel like a human being again. Can you believe it, a college narcoleptic that feels less than human?? Crazy, I know.

Things were getting to be too much for me and I was struggling with my grades pretty badly. This for the girl who always was a stellar student before getting narcolepsy is a little tough to swallow, let alone admit out loud to other people. So I mostly kept it to myself, suffered in silence, and tried to find new ways to be successful. Unfortunately that's not as easy as it sounds when your college disability office is being less than helpful and making your life harder rather than easier.

But this summer my friend Katie (another PWN) was telling me about her recent success with Xyrem, the narcolepsy "miracle drug" for many. I finally decided to give it a try... and now I am indebted to Katie forever for convincing and encouraging me to see how Xyrem could help improve my life :)

I honestly feel better than I have in years! After almost 4 years of having narcolepsy and cataplexy, with nights full of sleep paralysis, terrifying nightmares, and disturbing hypnagogic hallucinations, I feel like a new person almost. I can function almost like a normal person again, and its an amazing feeling.

So now I realize that taking a break is probably the best thing to happen to me in a long time. I am currently working at my former Montessori school, working in the office and around the school helping wherever I am needed. And in January I plan on transferring to the University of Toledo to finish my degree and feel good about the grades I earn. I'm even interested in going on to get my Master's degree as well, but let's wait until after my first good semester at UT to talk about that... :)

Back To Stay!

I've been gone for a while, but I am going to make it one of my primary summer goals to continue the upkeep on my blog. Keep your fingers crossed for me! :)

That's all for right now. That was awfully short, I know. But I'm going to jump right back in as if I never left. Here we gooo...

A New Year and A Fresh Start

I've been slacking on the blog communication, I know. But I've found some time this morning to fit in a post to update anyone who cares about how my second semester of college has been going so far :)

First off, I have a new roommate! Beckah had to return home to England unfortunately :( but my new roommate, Samantha, has turned out to be another great match for me to be living with! She just transferred from a local community college so she is a 20 year old sophomore Communication Disorders major with a Psychology minor. Although she is older than me, she is just learning to branch out from underneath the harsh restrictions her parents have held over her for so long and to become her own person so the whole college life is new to her. She's extremely shy, which shocked me at first, but we've been working on that over the past few weeks and she's gotten much better on that matter! We even went to a party at a "fraternity house" (unofficially, as we aren't allowed to have actual Greek Life housing here in Berea) this past weekend and had a blast with mostly people we hadn't met before.

My class schedule is great this semester; not a single class before 10:10am ;)

M-W-F
US Chemical Industry 10:10-11am
Social Psychology 12:45-1:50pm
English 2:05-3pm

T-Th
History of Europe II 10:10-11:15am
Professions in Psychology 6ish-8ish (only Tuesdays; starts March 18th)

Not too bad if you ask me! I have plenty of time to go to class rested, and my neurologist even added an afternoon dose of medicine to my day to help me get through my evenings. I didn't even ask for more, but once I started this semester and started taking an extra 18mg of Concerta around 1-2pm, I am extremely grateful for his suggested! It helps especially if I find I don't have time for a nap before Social Psychology and English back-to-back on those days.

- I'm still a photographer for the school yearbook. Getting paid to take pictures? Can't beat that!
- I joined a group that gives middle school kids tours of campus to get them excited about it early so they can work hard in high school.
- My boyfriend Will and I are still happily together: January 30th was our 5 month mark <3

At least now I don't feel as bad for ignoring this blog for so long :S I'll make it a point to post more soon, this is a promise! On my way to Social Psych, wish me wakeful thoughts!

Christmas Break! Do I HAVE to Leave??

I can't believe that it's been 16 whole weeks since I sat in my new dorm, eager for classes to start and my collegiate career to finally begin. Now as I write this, I'm sitting in my dorm again, waiting for my brother Bailey to come pick me up and take me home for the holidays. My first semester of college is finished, and it's gone by so fast looking back I'm surprised by and proud of all the accomplishments and changes that have happened in my life in such a short time!

Here's a brief summary of the highlights of my semester, more to help me remember than to inform you haha:
- Joined the marching band (and survived band camp as a complete rookie!)
- Met my awesome roommate, Rebekah; a.k.a. "the British bitch in room 302" haha
- Met my incredible boyfriend Will and fell for him immediately :)
- Found my home and sisters in Alpha Gamma Delta Fraternity
- Changed my major from neuroscience to psychology
- Became a photographer for the yearbook (a paying job!)
- Survived the BW Apocalypse 2012 (city-wide blackout from Hurricane Sandy)
- Became the Purchasing Coordinator for my sorority
And throughout all of this, I've met so many cool friends and got through all of my classes without pulling all of my hair out!

There's been a lot to experience, and now I'll be going back home for an entire month to be with my family again and trto survive a it back on my independence. I've gotten used to having my own schedule, walking everywhere I needed to go, living on a floor with 50+ other girls, etc.

Worst of all? My roommates' study abroad time is up, so we drove her to the airport early this morning for her flight home. Wahhh! :'( AND my boyfriend left yesterday afternoon to go home for the break as well; home for him being in Cincinnati, which is 4 whole hours away from me! (When I'm used to him being just downstairs whenever I want to see him.)

So here's to hoping I can survive one lowly month of holidays at home without cable or wifi, after I already managed one full semester of being alone at college with a foreign roommate and communal bathrooms :/

Wish me luck; I think I'll need it!

Wide Awake and Dreaming by Julie Flygare

I can't believe it's finally here! On December 15th, 2012, Narcaplexy advocate and REM Runner blogger Julie Flygare's memoir, Wide Awake and Dreaming, will "hit the shelves" of Amazon.com. Check out her website, www.julieflygare.com, for more information on and a few excerpts from her book.

I'm so incredibly happy for Julie and proud of all the things she has done for herself and for the entire narcolepsy community. I feel like I owe her so much for being one of the strong few to find her voice and make sure it is heard loud and clear, for the benefit of everyone living with this sleep disorder and those that have yet to be diagnosed. She is a fantastic role model, and I'm always proud to call her my friend!

Be sure to check out this book; I PROMISE it will be well worth it :)