[MUSIC PLAYING]
My name is Nicole Jeray.
I am from the small, blue collar neighborhood, Berwyn, Illinois.
My father died when I was six years old.
My mom raised us.
And my mom is such a survivor, and so that's
why I think I'm is positive the person as I
am in how I face the challenges that are given to me.
I play golf on the LPG tour, and I have narcolepsy.
When I was in college is when I started
falling asleep in my classes.
But everybody complains about being tired.
I was sleepy for about five years
before I was actually diagnosed with narcolepsy.
In those five years, I saw a few different doctors,
and was never diagnosed with anything other than overworked.
It progressively got worse.
And then when the cataplexy kicked in
was when I knew something was wrong.
The kids over there in college said
she was laughing and falling over.
We do that all the time when we're [INAUDIBLE].
I dated this guy, and every time he made me laugh,
I had to sit down.
And I thought I was in love.
This guy makes me laugh, and I completely melt, right?
I mean, I'm in love.
So I thought that was all normal.
But I was also falling asleep when I was driving.
One time, on the Expressway from one golf tournament
to the next, I woke up, and I was like underneath the truck.
That stuff happened all the time.
And I never said anything about it.
You kind of get used to it.
You got used to falling asleep in class,
you get used to falling asleep when you're driving.
When I hit a great golf shot, I would get week
after my golf shot.
And I'd have to divert my attention to something else.
So for years, I played like that.
But then in this one golf tournament
I played in, it got so bad that I was actually falling over.
I went and saw the doctor, and he went the extra mile
to do the research.
And he told me to go see a neurologist.
And then I went to a neurologist,
and he said classic, textbook case of narcolepsy.
I remember when I walked out of his office,
and walked down the stairwell, I had a cataplexy attack
in between the staircases because I
was so excited that there was a medicine that
was going to help me.
[LAUGHING] I was so happy!
I mean, I was so happy that there
was going to be a medicine that was
going to take care of my problem,
and I was going to be fine.
Does my setup look good?
Get your club down the target line.
I'm not going to die, and I can still play golf.
It's great.
Great position there at the top.
Now, when you come down--
As you know, in golf, one of the skills that you have to have
is focus and concentration.
And so that's very, very important
for her to continue to stay focused and concentrate
on every shot.
My cataplexy made me even-keeled.
So I would hit a good shot.
I would stay even-keeled.
I would hit a bad shot.
I would stay even-keeled.
Those two are right on top of one another.
Oh, good.
Medically, I think she's much more aware at this point.
She's got to wake her teacher up once and a while.
Narcolepsy for me makes me the person that I am today.
It's made me learn how to set priorities in my life.
It's made me focused on things that are important,
like family.
Last year, we had a softball game with a lot of people.
And I was pitching.
It was the most fun I've ever had,
and I was able to continue to play, and actually hit and run.
I love it.
Love it.
You should be awake for life.
And if you do have narcolepsy, there's good medicine,
and there's good lifestyle changes.
And it's just a part of who we are.
We can lead a normal, productive life.
And maybe even a better one.