this american life

In Boston, I used to listen to podcasts on my commute to work.  Of course, any story almost monotonically narrated by Ira Glass (I think every NPR girl/boy has just a little crush on that voice) was a hands-down favorite.  In June, I was entranced by the story of Matt Frerking, who Mr. Glass described as being a literal prisoner of love.  He has what is called narcolepsy with cataplexy, a rare disease that, in Mr. Frerking’s case, presents as “sleep attacks” any time he feels strong emotions.  He takes drugs that minimize the number of attacks (which still occur many times daily), but they mostly succeed in simply dampening his emotions.  Matt has lost friends who can’t help but feel offended that their presence sends him into a state of paralysis; his wife tries to explain that these attacks only demonstrate how much Matt cares for them.  His wife continues to stick by him although, for now, they are not holding hands.

Right now we’re learning about sleep disorders and anesthesia.  SO glad I had surgery before this block, otherwise I might not have had the guts to go ahead with anesthesia…I would have had to learn hypnosis pretty damn quickly!