Book Review: Wide Awake And Dreaming

Merry Christmas!

It was an honor and a pleasure to be able to read a book that so much heart and passion was put into. Wide Awake and Dreaming was a trouble-free read that left me consuming the novel all in one day.

Julie Flygare has been an inspiration to me since day one of my diagnosis of both Narcolepsy and Cataplexy. Ever since finding her REMrunner blog I have had a constant positive role model who made a choice to overcome Narcolepsy, not suffer from it. Three years have passed and her writing has been an endless source of positive energy and has contributed to creating my own positive future.

In the beginnings of her book I found myself relating to every single question she raised on her pursuit to a diagnosis. The detail and the description Julie writes with had me questioning if in fact I wasn’t reading my own memoir. Whether she was sleeping in class or thinking up absurd ways to stay awake I was right there reminiscing my High School days. Julie sent me on a roller coaster of emotions; her words brought laughter, but they also brought tears as I was reminded of some of my own darkest day. It’s a book of struggles, lost dreams, uncertainty, but most of all it’s a book about rising above an illness and achieving what once was the unthinkable.

            The community of narcoleptics or PWN (person with narcolepsy) owes a huge thank you and a huge round of applause to Julie for not only writing a book, but for writing a memoir we all can relate to. Flygare’s writing goes into detail about the challenges we face not just with the sleepiness but the emotional and physical battles we constantly endure. Julie continues to be a upbeat advocate for people living with Narcolepsy with contagious optimism. I thank her for having the courage to talk about her narcolepsy/cataplexy in such a raw way but also for being brave enough to let it hit the shelves.

            I strongly recommend and encourage Wide Awake and Dreaming. It’s a must read for anyone who has encountered Narcolepsy and or Cataplexy, whether you are a family member, a friend, or the person who is confronting it first hand you will find inspiration and endless knowledge in all 213 pages! 

The Memoir can be found and purchased below:

Wide Awake and Dreaming

Jumble of Irrelevant Thoughts;

Six Meaningless Meanderings

• Exams and studying sucks therefore I have managed to procrastinate and find myself on blogger rather than buried in my text book.
• This morning during my last lecture for Financial Accounting I came to the realization that there are three days left of school and I have yet to even comprehend what happened in the first three weeks of my Accounting class.
• I have acquired a lot of stuff in just two years, I have a lot of clothes, a lot of shoes and by a lot I actually mean I have too many to fit in three bags.
• I am super excited for Thursday because Thursday is when school is over, and Thursday is when I get to go to the cities to spend my last night with my best friend. We will be eating junk food and drinking wine, and celebrating the end of both our times here at this particular college.
• Not only do I get to see my family on Friday but I get to see my favourite thing in the entire world, my dog Puma. I love the excitement she feels when I come home, seriously everyone should own a dog at least once in there life so they know how awesome it is to come home to one.
• Tomorrow I am suppose to receive my copy of Julie Flygare's first book "Wide Awake and Dreaming". I am beyond excited to read it on my flight home! Everyone I know, everyone who knows me or anyone with narcolepsy needs to read it. I haven't even read it yet but I know she's a phenomenal writer based off reading her blog the past three years! 

Five Things I Will Miss

• College soccer, a few of my teammates and the structured daily workouts that have kept me motivated and in shape up until now
• The fact that I could basically walk anywhere and everywhere and a car payment and gas money were irrelevant
• Photography Class & Art Students, being surrounded by art students and other photo students totally inspires you to try new things, explore new medias and all around just sparks your creativity. I will miss walking through those halls and seeing what everyone is up to these days!
• The Independence and ability to literally do whatever I want, whenever I want and having no one around to judge me for staying in my pajamas all Sunday
• I babysat a little girl named Abbey for the past year and a half, she is Four and really was a fun kid to be around. I will miss her and her awesome jokes. :)

Four Things I Look Forward Too

• Free Food, Free Laundry, and the occasional home cooked meal.
• Cable, It will be so nice to have a television again and being able to watch Ellen Degeneres and to watch Criminal Minds. 
• My family obviously, and my friends too. I will be able to see them when I want and catching up will no longer rely on a good internet connection for skype.
• Making money rather than spending money, it will be so nice to work again, I cannot wait to work my way out of this debt!

Three Things I Learned

• My dad was always a hard ass, my rules were sometimes strict but damn while moving out was a fun experience it definitely made me realize why my parents had rules. I may live in an apartment with "no rules" but some of these kids here have no morals and no conscience...So I suppose I learned to appreciate my parents a little bit of a lot more.
• Balance is key, my health comes first and a healthy balance is sometimes hard to maintain when there are one too many things I need to do and ten too many things I want to do. Narcolepsy can become ten times worse in just 24 hours of neglect, and it can take a lot longer than 24 hours to get it back on track.
• Just because you are good at something does not mean you have a responsibility to pursue it; Two All American Awards does not mean I need to go to any school to play soccer, it simply means I worked hard to get where I am and I am happy with where I am. If I wanted to be somewhere or if I wanted to do something, I would be there doing it. So to all the football boys and to the few soccer girl: I am happy not playing in the states anymore, I am happy pursuing my passions of traveling and photography.

Two Things I Highly Recommend You Do Over The Holidays

• Purchase this book to not only support and help a fellow narcoleptic but to also read it and learn something. Amazon: Author Julie Flygare Wide Awake & Dreaming
• Add Julie's REM Runner blog to your regular readings REM Runner Blog

One Thing I Will Do Today

• Ace my final exam in my Business Retailing Class.

Happy Holidays!

Sarah Beaulieu

You Might Want to Take Notes;

The thing I remember most about my narcolepsy when I was undiagnosed was school. Well that might be an ironic statement, I don’t remember much of school, I remember the struggle of school. I recall going to class and leaving class but never recall being in class. I would go home for the evening open up my notebook and see scribbles of notes I attempted to take. I would see the homework assignment, my notes, and realize I really don’t know how to do any of this. I am the type of person who hates asking for help, therefore I simply would just not do my homework, the vicious circle formed and soon I was slipping in class.

Now in college and having been diagnosed I am able to keep it together enough for classes...most of the time. This past week however I have had my fair share of micro sleeps and naps in class. While asleep I somehow always manage to still take notes…they never really make sense though…

What my writing usually looks like

Some Scribbles I apparently did...

What my writing turned into...really helpful notes ;)

Anyways haha, thought I would share my very informative notes I managed to make this week while sleeping in class.
Cheers

Sarah

worst kind of heartbreak;

Nothing says heartbreak like playing your last college game in America. Today was the end of it all, I knew going into the game that it could be my last game, but I never figured it would legitimately be my last. I pictured placing the ball in the back of the net a thousand times, got a good nights rest, stayed hydrated, iced, did everything in my own power I could to be prepared for today’s game. We all know that one person can’t win the game. It takes a team to win, and that’s something that this years group lacked. We weren’t ever a team, we faked it, and there was always drama between two or more people. It was just not our year, too bad for us sophomores because it was pretty apparent out there that we wanted it.

We had a brilliant first half, never gave up, and had great shots against our opponent. Sadly out of the 14 on net we came up with zero goals. The opponents well they had a total of 4 shots and 1 goal. Second half I felt like we put up a fight, we didn’t fight to win we fought to stay alive. I don’t think all of us can say we played our hearts out, I know we all didn’t leave everything we had in us on the field. That is what really gets to me. When I look at the clock, I am telling myself, 45 minutes left and you get that break, 30 minutes left, 10 left leave it all on the field, I even say it to my teammates…yet it didn’t get through. I don’t know if they just aren’t mentally strong or if they just don’t give a shit. Either way, I can’t change the outcome. I’m not happy with the end result, but I am certainly not disappointed with my own performance. Yes I could have better finished my shots, but I got shots away and I gave amazing passes to my teammates. I gave it my all, and although it wasn’t enough, I can’t be upset with myself. It was a great experience playing here in the states; it allowed me to do a lot of growing up. This won’t be the last game I play but it is the last game I will be playing here in the states. It’s a saddening way to go out, but it is what it is and I can only grow from it.

Now for the nine-hour bus ride home with a team that hates themselves and hates each other…oh joy.

My Parents are Pretty Smart;

I know I got lucky in the world of supportive family members when it comes to Narcolepsy. I have met many narcoleptics over the years of all ages, and honestly one of the main issues and contributors to their uncontrolled narcolepsy was the lack of support they got from there loved ones. It’s a huge stress when you feel misunderstood, when you constantly have to explain yourself or simply when someone says it’s all in your head. Trust me, I’ve been told plenty of times by peers, teachers, coaches and even teammates that it is all in my head or come on you can’t be that tired… or my favorite You’re lucky you can sleep whenever. It use to drive me nuts, it use to hurt my feelings, but sometimes you have to let those things go and just deal with the ones who understand or try to understand.

Lately I’ve had a tough go of it, I couldn’t even find the time to think any of my issues through, I felt like I was 14 again…Waking up and wondering when I fell asleep, wondering how long I’ve been out, and oh @!%# what time is it; am I suppose to be somewhere?! It’s an awful feeling but it’s a feeling all narcoleptics are faced with.

I finally had a bit of a break down last night, a bit of a realization thanks to my parents. I am finished my Photography certificate, the main reason I came to school in the first place. I only came back this year to play soccer and it was my choice to take on this Business Management Certificate. It was my decision, my parents had no influence on it, and I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone but myself. I hate failure; I hate struggling and worse I hate asking for help. With classes this year I am uninterested, unmotivated and struggling to find the time to do all the homework requirements. My schedule is busy, my narcolepsy gets worse with stress and with the never ending homework I am having trouble staying awake long enough to enjoy any of this school year. Did I mention I came back this year for fun, for the enjoyment of one more soccer season? Yes, apparently somewhere in the past 2 months I forgot to remind myself why I am here. Thankfully during a phone call with my two wonderful parents last night they reminded me to slow down, my health comes first. I’m not going to be disappointing anyone if I don’t pass a class, I’m not going to be a failure if I don’t get this certificate that I don’t need. I need to start remembering to eat, remembering to sleep, and reminding myself that I have 2 months left and this experience is over…I need to enjoy it and be able to look back on the good times, not the time I slept through it all!

Now I am saying screw grades, screw trying to get all A’s and B’s when I can have all C’s and D’s. My future is not at risk by taking these grades; I already accomplished good grades in my passion of Photography.

Now I must get back to homework so that I can go out to a movie tonight after practice…I need to have a social life again.

Cheers!

P.s

I am glad I have the parents I do, I never feel like I can't talk to them, I am constantly supported in all that I do, and most of all I am surrounded by their love. I couldn't ask for anything more from them, so thank you Mom & Dad.

My Bad;

We ended up loosing a game that we shouldn’t have lost, apparently loosing that game called for a 6am practice the next morning along with our usual 2pm practice. I understand our coach’s point but damn narcolepsy was not ready for this. My sleep schedule has been a little screwed as of late, simply just get 6-7 hours each night, going to 9am class and then sleeping 1-2 hours from 10-12 before heading to the training room. Not my ideal sleep schedule but I’ve been surviving. Throwing a 5am wake up call at me so that I could be at the school for 530 was not pretty.

I told myself I would go to bed early, I told myself I would shoot for 8 hours of sleep, 9pm bed time? Next thing you know its 10 and I’m not tired. I took some sleeping meds, tried to sleep but it was almost like narcolepsy had disappeared. I finally dosed off around 11:30 only to find myself awake at 1230, 2, 345, and 430. No such thing as sleeping the whole night through for this narcoleptic!

Now with it being 5am or 6am I can’t exactly take my meds or I’ll be passing out in class or passing out in the afternoon. I can’t exactly screw with the times I take it each day, especially that early in the morning. Well practice was a challenge but I did it. Next thing you know its 730 and I had class at 9am. Caitlin and I decided we would go to this really yummy bagel café, Brueggers. We had a delicious breakfast and then headed to school. I got there at 830; I was by myself, which probably was my first mistake. I had taken my Concerta, but apparently I was so far past tired that it wasn’t even going to make a difference. I took a seat down in the atrium, all I had to do was make it through 30 minutes then I would be in class able to listen to the instructor, doodle, etc. for 50 minutes. I was texting people to keep me awake, next thing you know I’m waking up and checking my phone. 920. Whoops, not what I had planned. How many people saw me asleep, how long have I been asleep!? I’ve missed 20 minutes of class and I am far too embarrassed to even think about walking into class late. I walked home, and went straight to bed. Fell asleep and slept for 3 hours straight. Felt so good to sleep but missing class kind of was a buzz kill. Oh well, can’t have everything.

Don't Understand What I Understood;

Financial Accounting is the hardest class I have ever taken simply because I find nothing fun about it. I honestly feel like it is the last career I ever want to engage in, and it mind boggles me that my brother is an accounting major. This class which is Monday to Thursday 9-10am is just a huge mind explosion in the morning. Miss a single class and you will sit there having an anxiety attack for the rest of the classes during that week. Not to mention the minimum of an hour of homework each night that he assigns, an hour is for those who completely understand it...I usually take a wee bit longer!
Basically what I am trying to say is that this class is not for me, and I honestly feel lost in it as if I literally don't comprehend a single thing in the class. The messed up part of it all is that my grades are awesome in the class. I have yet to fail a pop quiz, assignment or an exam...knock on wood. 87% in the class currently which works out to be a B+. It frustrates me to no end though that I don't understand how I am getting these grades, I walk away from each test thinking "I hope those guesses will get at least some half points". Anyways, that's the life of school I suppose, can't understand everything, but I'll take the pass in the class.
In other news soccer is going well this season, I really hope it continues this way through Regionals which is in two weeks. Provided we win Regionals we will find ourselves packing our bags to head to Nationals which is once again in Dryden, New York. Fingers crossed we make it happen! My body is falling apart, but taping my ankles before every game and practice has allowed me to continue to participate and play my 90 minutes. I can rest mid November when it all is over!
I am off to hang out with a few teammates for the evening. Tomorrow we have our home game in the evening at 7pm. During the day I plan on attending the Mens Football game which is also home! Should be a windy day so I'll be dressing warm!!!
Happy Napping!  =)