Almost Died Last August, Critical Situation

Sharlette’s battle with extreme sleeplessness began 13 years ago. Sharlette has been dealing with unbelievably brutal sleeplesness for the vast, vast majority of the last 13 years. She describes is it as literal hell. It has been completely relentless, and she tried to keep going and going. Having such a long history, it is really quite impossible to describe the whole story.

Last year, after getting to a point where she was knocking down the door at her doctors office on nearly a weekly basis because she knew how weak she was, she would have died on August 6, 2018 if her brother had been gone 5 minutes longer.

She suffered a syndrome known as PRES (Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome) where her brain swelled, causing her to have a grand mal seizure. Concurrently, she also had Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy (broken heart syndrome) or weak heart, and a non-ST myocardial infarction, or a heart attack not resulting from clogged arteries, along with pulmonary edema and was diagnosed with adrenal insufficiency.

This wasn't much of a surprise to her, since she suffers from what she refers to as 'feeling like suffocating all the time, shallow, labored, distressed breathing' ...which has been a feature of sleeplessness from the start, although she wasn't able to describe many things for a long time as the not sleeping alone and trying to work and live is overwhelming.

We are looking to pursue private medicine or go somewhere overseas, as unfortunately we have become aware in a slow and deadly way how incredibly ineffective, bureaucratic, non-dynamic and non-individualized medicine is practiced in the standard model. Unfortunately, money has always been an issue, and Sharlette didn't even realize there was something different than the standard 10 minute visit where you get dismissed summarily. She has been dismissed before and after almost dying by "sleep specialists/neurologist" on both sides of the state.  

She is looking to seek private and perhaps overseas treatment where the treatment can actually be personalized, effective and dynamic. No person in America should be sent home week after week, month after month, year after year, continuously not sleeping, and have contempt shown to them because standard treatments, and even more aggressive do not work.

It is very obvious that it is by the grace of God that she is here, and people have been persistently praying for her. God often chooses to work through people, and we want to make sure that door is open and that people know that we need help. She has not been able to work for years, and it is not easier to sleep when your brain is not able to detoxify itself or consolidate memories.