Sleeping While Awake | A Life with Narcolepsy Type 1
Sickboy
CBC
4.8 • 524 Ratings
🗓️ 8 July 2025
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Falling asleep is easy—until it becomes the hardest part of your day. Recorded live in Toronto, this episode dives into the unpredictable world of narcolepsy type 1 with Heather, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner living with both narcolepsy and cataplexy. From sleep-deprived misdiagnoses to lucid hallucinations and arms that give out mid-laugh, Heather walks us through the reality behind the disorder’s misunderstood pop culture image. She opens up about losing her spontaneity, finding community, and redefining rest, all while navigating a healthcare system still catching up. It’s funny, eye-opening, and more than a little dreamlike.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's becoming pretty clear that U.S. President Donald Trump is ripping up the political |
| 0:05.3 | playbook. |
| 0:05.8 | And when it comes to what it all means for Canada, well, as they say, it's complicated. |
| 0:09.8 | But our podcast, two blocks from the White House, is a way to make sense of it all. |
| 0:13.8 | Join me, Willie Lowry, and senior Washington correspondents, Paul Hunter and Katie Simpson |
| 0:18.6 | every week as we break down the headlines from Capitol Hill with a Canadian spin. |
| 0:24.2 | Find and follow two blocks from the White House on your favorite podcast app, including YouTube. |
| 0:30.2 | This is a CBC podcast. |
| 0:46.9 | Hello, folks. This week, we have a very special live recording with the help from the fine folks over at Takeda. Taylor and I had the absolute pleasure of recording this episode, |
| 0:53.8 | live in Toronto at the Takeda's |
| 0:57.5 | all-employee meeting where we got to sit down in front of a beautiful live audience to speak |
| 1:03.4 | with our new friend, Heather, all about her experience in living with narcolepsy. Heather is an |
| 1:09.8 | absolute gem. |
| 1:11.1 | We loved this conversation, and we think you're going to enjoy it, too. |
| 1:14.4 | So please, if you love the podcast, if you want to support, give the podcast a like, |
| 1:19.9 | subscribe, wherever you're listening to it. |
| 1:22.5 | Be sure to tell a friend who you think might enjoy it, too, because that always helps. |
| 1:27.6 | And enough of me. |
| 1:29.4 | Let's get right to it. |
| 1:30.6 | This is our conversation with Heather. |
| 1:39.0 | Welcome to Sick Boy, a podcast where we talk about what it's like to be sick live from the Takeda all-employee |
| 1:46.0 | patient session in Toronto. All right. And this is amazing. Thank you all so much for that |
... |
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