The Nurse and the Narco: A Narcoleptic Tale

One thing that you might find odd and somewhat amusing about a person with narcolepsy is that “being still” for a prolonged period of time often results in sleep attacks for the narcoleptic, which, to a stranger, probably looks like someone simply “dozing off.”

In my 40+ years of life, I have fallen asleep nearly everywhere imaginable. I’ve dozed off…

• at sporting events,
• on hard concrete surfaces,
• lying on a railroad tie,
• in waiting rooms,
• in movie theaters (even when the movie was good),
• in classrooms,
• on church pews,
• in baseball dugouts mid-game,
• in planes, trains, boats, and even once on a riding lawn mower,

… just to name a few.

As most narcoleptics know, when it’s time — it’s time; and there isn’t much we or others can do to stop it. The best we can do is find somewhere we can either lay down or at minimum sit down with our heads leaning on something as a makeshift pillow… then off to vivid dreamland we go.

So, of all the places I’ve fallen asleep, the most amusing to me happened last year at the hospital as I was checking in for my scheduled MRI exam. Enjoy the…