Little Did She Know

…ALKS 2680 Vibrance 3 IH Round 1 Side Effects

Editor’s Note: In December 2025, I was approved to participate in the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 clinical trial for Idiopathic Hypersomnia. IH is a rare neurological sleep disorder similar to Narcolepsy that is just now getting the research attention it deserves. If you have IH or you have a loved one with IH, feel free to follow along here and on my Facebook page, Little Did She Know. To learn more about the clinical trial, visit ClinicalTrials.gov.

If you read my last post, “Nearing the Starting Line for ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3,” you already know I traveled to the Cleveland Clinic on December 29th to complete the approval process for my participation in this study by undergoing a polysomnography (PSG) that night and a maintenance of wakefulness test (MWT) all day on December 30th. Bright and early on December 31st, I got my first dose of the trial drug.

First, I want to share the listed side effects for Vibrance-3:

Dizziness or feeling of lightheadedness
Frequent urination or urinary incontinence
Difficulties with sleep (difficulties falling asleep or interrupted night sleep)
Hypervigilance (increased awareness or feeling more alert), feeling jittery
Temporary visual changes (such as seeing things blurry or distorted, or increased sensitivity to light)
Headache
Increased blood pressure or heart rate
Euphoric mood, feeling relaxed
Increased saliva
Decreased appetite
Nausea (feeling sick to your stomach)
Hot flush (feeling hot)
Cold sweats or increased sweating

The frequent/urgent urination side effect was the first one to show up. Within 30 minutes of taking the first dose, I suddenly had to pee – like, right then. About an hour after I took the first dose, I went down to the lobby to meet my Lyft driver to go to the airport and start home. Once downstairs, I felt dizzy and short of breath. As I got in the Lyft ride, the nausea began.

I want to pause here and give a shout out to my Lyft driver, Elijah, who carried the conversation all the way to the airport and helped take my mind off the nausea. More importantly, when we got to the airport, he asked if he could pray for me. It was a heartfelt prayer after the long conversation we had about God and faith, and I will never forget when he prayed, “Dear Heavenly Father, I lift up to You Your beloved Jennifer….” That was a really impactful moment for me. I’ve never thought about myself that way when thinking about my relationship with God, but it’s true. We are all Papa God’s beloved children.

By the time I made it through security at the airport, I was sweating, nauseous, and dizzy, and I had upper arm muscle weakness and hand trembling. I was rueing the day I ever got that Idiopathic Hypersomnia diagnosis. (That rueing part happens every now and then.) I remember putting my shoes back on (because I missed the sign for the TSA Pre-Check line) and thinking, if I had never had that diagnosis, I could have just gone on oblivious and carrying the guilt of thinking I was lazy. At that moment, that felt like a better option than experimental drugs because if you know me, you know I’d rather go through just about anything other than nausea.

When I got to my gate, I added leg tremors to the list. It was like all these physiological responses were stacking up against me. By the time I made it back to Yeager Airport in Charleston, WV, that evening, I had already quit the study in my head three times. Clearly that was an emotional response only because I am still in the study.

Waiting at the gate, pretending I’m fine.

The next day – day two – the nausea and mild dizziness continued, as well as the random hot flashes and sweating. Bruxism – grinding teeth or clenching jaws – was another side effect not expected but in full effect.That was the day I first experienced the weird vision changes. It scared the crap out of me. Suddenly, it was like there was a shadow over my vision. When I closed my eyes, I could see glowing crescent moon shapes. That was the fourth time I told myself I was quitting the study. (Again, clearly I didn’t really quit.) Within about an hour and a half to two hours, my vision was back to normal, and the nausea was subsiding for the day.

The dizziness lasted probably about three days, and the nausea and sweating lasted about five days. The vision thing has happened randomly three times, all on different days. The sudden urge to pee remains, but it doesn’t happen that often and isn’t a big deal. I also noticed leg cramps when waking up a couple of mornings in the first week, as well as dry mouth. The bruxism is ongoing but seems to be mild now.

What I have not experienced from this study is a “euphoric mood, feeling relaxed,” which is listed above as a possible side effect. I’ve actually been pretty irritable for the last two weeks. I think part of that is because of the unexpected and negative impact it has had on my sleep.

That’s rights, friends: the drug that is supposed to help with my excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is causing even more poor quality sleep at night than I already had. (My nighttime sleep issues are attributed to a secondary diagnosis of delayed sleep tendency due to an abnormal circadian rhythm.)

Generally, I now fall asleep at bedtime for about an hour and then wake up, and I’m usually awake for an hour. I also wake up frequently at night, some nights as many times as every hour. Sometimes I wake up and am unable to go back to sleep, so I get up for an hour – or three – then go back to bed. I get up every morning at 7am to take my dose, and I got back to bed at least until 8am. I initially started doing this with the hope I could sleep through some of the side effects, and that seemed to help. I also do this because, well, sleep disorder, sleep inertia and never waking up refreshed. Once I hit the 8am, though, the other really odd impact of this drug comes into play.

Are you ready for this?

With worse sleep at night and no relief yet from sleep inertia or EDS, when I do lie down to take a nap during the day, most of the time I can’t go to sleep. I literally lie there, so close to sleep, and it’s like there’s a cinderblock wall stopping me from going under. It is so frustrating. Naps don’t refresh or fix the problem, but there is a relief in at least falling asleep and giving my body what it wants. Not on Vibrance-3. At least not in weeks 1-3.

I think it’s fair to say the jury is still out on Vibrance-3 for me. And it should be. I’m only at the beginning of Week 3 of the 8-week trial. And we all know it can take 8 weeks, sometimes longer, for certain medications to work. If you’re on an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety med (like me), you’ve heard your doctor say this before.

So, here’s what I’ve observed about me on Vibrance-3:

I still have sleep inertia. Wednesday morning, it might have been a shocking, record-breaking 10 minutes. This morning, it was two hours.

I still get the heavy IH feeling that, in my opinion, is easily confused for depression.

I still have EDS and feel the need to take naps during the day, but not every day. Wednesday was a really good day. Thursday, however, was really bad, and today, was mediocre.

I do find that I am not dying for a nap during the day like I was when I did the washout and was not on anything. But, again, falling asleep for a nap has become the new struggle.

One positive is that I pulled myself together enough last week (week 2) to restart Couch to 5k. I had enough wakefulness (despite yawning and feeling heavy) to go to the track at 4PM for three days in a row to exercise. Usually the draw of sleep is so strong by the afternoon that I’m lucky to get dinner made in the evening before I crash. I was able to break free of that pull and get some fresh air and exercise. (I have not been back this week, unfortunately.)

Given the time commitment of the trial and uncertainty of the drug’s effects, I had planned on taking another break from fostering kittens for a while. When a sick litter of four found their way to my Facebook page, though, I was able to scrounge up the energy to take them in. They were all sick, especially Junie who has calicivirus. They are all recovering now and will go to rescue in a couple of weeks. Honestly, I think I needed the distraction of them as much as they needed me. Sometimes commitment to others is the only thing that gets me up and moving. I hate to let people – or kittens – down.

This is the #WhoCrew: (L-R) Max (back) and Wholihan; Cindy Lou Who; and sick little Junie, who was receiving nebulizer treatments twice a day until her symptoms improved. You can learn more about the #WhoCrew and our foster operation on Facebook under Weasley Meowtain Lodge.

So, what’s next in the trial? In about a week and a half, I go back and repeat the MWT and get my third batch of meds. Starting Monday, I’ll have to wear the actigraphy watch again for seven days, culminating in the MWT, and I’ll have to use the journal app to log my experience during that timeframe. At the end of the eight weeks, I’ll repeat the PSG and MWT as well as the eye exam.

If you’re wondering if I’ve thought about what I’ll do if this medication doesn’t work for me, I have. For a minute or two. And then I turned it over to Papa God and stopped worrying about it. Before I started this trial, I told God to do with it what He will. If He uses it to help me, I’ll be grateful and blessed. If He doesn’t use it to help me but He uses my data to help other IH patients, I’ll still be grateful and blessed. He’s carried me every day of my life, even all those years when I ignored Him. He won’t leave me now. And nothing is wasted with Papa God. Not illness. Not grief. Not heartache. Not frustration. Not even EDS.

Trust me, kid. I’ve got you.

In fact, if I’m being honest, I’m seeing Him open so many doors for me right now. At a time when I feel I’m at my weakest, He’s asking more of me. So, I’m stepping out in faith. I’m accepting the opportunities without thinking about how I’ll be able to deliver. Because Papa God doesn’t call the qualified. He calls us to be obedient, and He makes things happen when we show up. We’re just here to plant seeds. He does the rest. Remember what He did for me in hurricane season? Even the winds and waves obey him. (If you don’t know, check out “She’d See God Move Mountains.”

Besides, I’ve got things to do – like disaster response, cat rescue and volunteering – regardless of whether Vibrance-3 is for me.

Speaking of giving my problems and fears to God and letting Him handle it all, I have a few really good songs for you this week.

“Flowers” by Samantha Ebert

“So I brought it up in a desperate prayer. Lord, why are you keeping me here? Then He said to me, “Child, I’m planting seeds. I’m a good God and I have a good plan. So trust that I’m holding a watering can. And someday you’ll see that flowers grow in the valley.”

“Even If” by Mercy Me

“I know You’re able and I know You can Save through the fire with Your mighty hand, But even if You don’t, My hope is You alone. I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt Would all go away if You’d just say the word, But even if You don’t, My hope is You alone.”

“Firm Foundation” by Cody Carnes

“Christ is my firm foundation, The rock on which I stand When everything around me is shaken. I’ve never been more glad That I put my faith in Jesus, ‘Cause He’s never let me down. He’s faithful through generations. Oh, so why would He fail now? He won’t.”

Did you know I have a Spotify list for the songs I mention in my blog posts?

Look for Little Did She Know on Spotify and follow along!

…Nearing the Starting Line for ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3

Editor’s Note: Since November, I’ve been working on approval to participate in the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 clinical trial for Idiopathic Hypersomnia patients. IH is a rare, neurological sleep disorder similar to narcolepsy that is just now getting the attention it deserves. If you have IH or you have a loved one with IH, feel free to follow along here and on my Facebook page, Little Did She Know. To learn more about the clinical trial, visit ClinicalTrials.gov.

It is just after 1 AM on December 31st. If all goes well, in just under seven and a half hours, I’ll receive my first dose for the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 clinical trial for #IdiopathicHypersomnia (IH). I’m not nervous about side effects or scared it won’t work. It’s an odd peace, a calm that can only come from Jesus. I know God has me on this path for a purpose. Whether the drug helps, hurts or ends up ineffective like all the others I’ve tried, I’ve given it all over to God. I’m just going through the motions so He can do His work.

Then why am I up at 1 AM, writing about this, you ask? I’m not sure. Could be excitement. Could be the Twix I had before bed. Could be my secondary #DelayedSleepTendency sleep disorder. That’s right, your girl here has not one but two sleep disorders that feud like the Hatfields and the McCoys.

If you read my last post, “…What the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 Clinical Trial for IH Is,” you know it’s been a bit of a journey to get to this point in the study. I’ve made three trips to Cleveland Clinic specifically for this clinical trial so far: the initial physical exam/testing appointment, the eye exam required for the study and now a three-day sleep study appointment. I’ve also had to wear an actigraphy watch for the last 10 days, and I started my 14-day Adderall washout 18 days ago. So, let’s talk about this three-day visit and nearing the finish line on meeting the participation requirements.

L-R: On a flight to Akron after the Cleveland flight was cancelled, and arriving at the Cleveland Clinic main campus after a rocky start. Can you tell I was so tired that morning, I forgot to brush my hair?

I arrived in Cleveland on Monday, December 29. Getting here in itself was a side quest. I had to fly from Charleston, WV, to Charlotte to Cleveland – yes, I had to go south to go north – and upon arriving in Charlotte for my connection, the Cleveland flights were cancelled due to wind from the winter storm in the Great Lakes region. I was rerouted to Akron, Ohio, and then took a 48-minute Lyft ride with a lovely driver named Janelle. Considering I had been off my stimulant for 16 days at that point and had not had any caffeine in two days as a requirement of the sleep studies, I think I navigated that situation pretty well.

When I arrived on Monday, I did some additional questionnaires and last-minute prep work for the sleep studies in the clinical trial wing at the Cleveland Clinic. Then I checked into my hotel and took a nap before returning to the hospital for the scheduled polysomnography (PSG) and the maintenance of wakefulness test (MWT).

I mentioned in “…What the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 Clinical Trial for IH Is” that the PSG is the nighttime test given to diagnose sleep apnea, and it’s the first of two sleep studies used to diagnose narcolepsy and IH. If a patient passes the PSG, they stay in the clinic to continue an MSLT for Narcolepsy or IH diagnosis. This was my third PSG, and I passed it with flying colors.

In my last post, I explained that diagnosis also requires the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT), which is a series of nap opportunities spaced two hours apart over 8 to 10 hours during which the patient is in bed in a dark room and is told to try to go to sleep. During an MSLT, the following is measured: if the patient goes to sleep, how fast the patient goes to sleep, if the patient hits REM and how fast the patient hits REM. Each opportunity is 30 minutes, and if the patient falls asleep, they are allowed to sleep up to the 30-minute window.

Similarly, the MWT places the patient in a darkened room, sitting up in bed instead of lying down. Like the MSLT, this test is done every two hours over an 8 to 10 hour period. The test measures if the patient falls asleep and how quickly they fall asleep. As soon as the patient falls asleep, the test facilitator wakes them up. For both tests, the patient must stay awake for the time between each nap opportunity.

L-R: (Left) Tuesday morning, we removed all the wiring except the electrodes that measured brain activity necessary for the MWT. (Middle) After MWT nap #1; I don’t know if you can see how tired I was, but I fell asleep twice playing one of the brain games. I’ve never done that before. (Right) Dressed and ready to go back to the hotel after a grueling 24 hours of sleep tests.

During the MWT, they also had me doing tests – or brain games – on an iPad to check my memory skills and my response time while being without stimulants or naps. They will use the PSG and MWT results to confirm my diagnosis, get approval for my receiving the medication and document a baseline, and they will use the computer games throughout the clinical trial to look for any improvements while on the new drug as compared to the results taken during the MWT.

Later this morning, I’ll return to the clinic to find out if I’m approved to receive the medication in the blind study. We expect a yes, especially since I fell asleep within 5 to 10 minutes of lights out yesterday for three of the four naps (we had some outside stimulant interference that had an impact on the last nap). If we get the go, I’ll have another physical exam by a doctor this morning and complete more blood work and an EKG. I’ll then receive my first dose at 8:30 AM, and they will monitor me for a while after taking that dose because initial side effects with the first dose varied among narcolepsy patients, and I’ll be the first IH patient at Cleveland Clinic to receive the medication.

If approved to begin, I’ll report back to Cleveland Clinic every two weeks for an in-person check-up, additional testing like another eye exam and blood work and to receive the next two weeks’ worth of medication. The trial is a blind study, so no one knows if I will get an actual dosage of the medicine or a placebo. In about 8 weeks, I’ll have to come back and do another sleep study test series to compare results.

When I agreed to this trial, I knew there would be a lot of visits to Cleveland. I didn’t remember what it felt like to not be on Adderall, and while I knew coming off of it in the washout would be hard, I underestimated how hard that would be. I’ve been a complete zombie since I came off the Adderall, napping two and three times a day, and it’s still not enough. The sleep inertia is terrible, my productivity for everything is low, and I am irritable. But I trust God to see me through this.

Because here’s the thing. After God moved mountains for me in hurricane season, I know without a doubt He’s got my back. He’s already at the end of this study. He’s already fought the battle for me. Whatever happens – whether this drug helps or doesn’t – He’s already got it all worked out. I feel like He’s leading me into this study, and something really special is going to come out of it. (Read about God moving mountains in hurricane season here: “…She’d See God Move Mountains.”)

Trust me, kid. I’ve got you.

I don’t like flying, and the flight into Akron was particularly rocky. To distract myself, I stuck an earbud in my ear and turned on my “God” playlist on my phone. I heard a really cool song by Anne Wilson that I had never listened to before, and I want to share it with you. The song is called “Scatter,” and the lyrics say:

“Before I hit the front line, You’ve already gone before. I know that I know the battle is the Lord’s.”

…What the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 Clinical Trial for IH Is

Blogger’s Note: About a month ago, I shared some information on my #chronicillness, #IdiopathicHypersomnia (IH). As I get closer to the start date for the clinical trial, I wanted to share some background information for those who have Narcolepsy or IH or those who have a loved one with one of these neurological sleep disorders that might find info about the clinical trial helpful.

I have pulled the following information specifically from a press release published by Alkermes (www.alkermes.com, a neuroscience-based research organization that “develops medicines designed to help people living with complex and difficult-to-treat psychiatric and neurological disorders”). You can find the press release about ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 here.

Before I share with you the crazy process of being approved as a participant in a clinical drug trial, let’s talk about what the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 trial is. Because when I tell you all the things I’ve had to do – and am still doing – to be approved for the trial, you may question whether it’s worth it.

What is Idiopathic Hypersomnia?

“Idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) is a rare, chronic, neurological sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness despite normal sleep durations. Additional common symptoms can include severe sleep inertia (individuals may feel groggy or disoriented for prolonged periods after waking up), unrefreshing naps, fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. The underlying neuropathology of idiopathic hypersomnia is unknown. IH affects an estimated 40,000 people in America.”

What is the ALKS 2680 Vibrance-3 clinical trial?

According to the Alkermes press release published April 1, 2025: “…Alkermes plc (Nasdaq: ALKS) today announced the initiation of Vibrance-3, a phase 2 clinical study evaluating the safety and efficacy of ALKS 2680 compared to placebo in adults with idiopathic hypersomnia (IH). ALKS 2680 is the company’s novel, investigational, oral, selective orexin 2 receptor (OX2R) agonist in development as a once-daily treatment for narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2 and IH – chronic, neurological disorders characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness.”

What is Orexin?

“Orexin, a neuropeptide produced in the lateral hypothalamus, is considered to be the master regulator of wakefulness due to its activation of multiple, downstream wake-promoting pathways that project widely throughout the brain. Targeting the orexin system may address excessive daytime sleepiness across hypersomnolence disorders, whether or not deficient orexin signaling is the underlying cause of disease.”

This part about orexin is really interesting to me. The way it was explained to me is that orexin is a chemical in the brain that promotes wakefulness. In Narcoleptics, the orexin pathway is destroyed, preventing the orexin from supporting wakefulness. In IH patients, the pathway is disrupted (but not destroyed!). The hope is Vibrance-3 will address the pathway issues to deliver the orexin and lead to more wakefulness in Narcolepsy and IH.

How does this trial work?

“Vibrance-3 is a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, dose-range-finding, placebo-controlled study evaluating the safety and efficacy of ALKS 2680 in adults with IH.” Basically, I will randomly get a dose of ALKS 2680 (10mg, 14 mg or 18mg) or receive the placebo every two weeks for eight weeks. No one knows what dosage I will get each time. “The primary endpoint will assess, by dose level, whether participants taking ALKS 2680 experience a greater decrease in sleepiness compared to participants taking placebo alone, as measured by the change in Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) score.”

How many participants are participating?

This study is expected to have 96 IH patients from the U.S., Australia and Europe. Last I heard, there are eight countries participating. I have accepted one of five slots available at the Cleveland Clinic. I know Cleveland is looking for more participants, so if you have IH and Cleveland is accessible, you should reach out to the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorder Center.

Why does this trial matter?

“The initiation of Vibrance-3 represents an important step forward for the ALKS 2680 development program as we seek to advance a potential new treatment option for people living with idiopathic hypersomnia. There remains high unmet need for the idiopathic hypersomnia community, as evidenced by a recent survey conducted by the Sleep Consortium in which more than 90% of patients surveyed indicated that IH symptoms had a moderate to high impact on their life,” said Craig Hopkinson, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Research & Development at Alkermes.

And it matters to yours truly because Adderall is the only other medication that has helped, despite the side effects, and it doesn’t help consistently. I have also tried Modafinil, Armodafinil, Sunosi, Jornay PM, Ritalin and Xywav, with no success or very little success combined with strong side effects.

Stick with me on this journey. Next up, I repeat sleep studies at the end of the month with the intention of starting Vibrance-3 – or a placebo – on New Year’s Eve.

…She Has Idiopathic Hypersomnia

Blogger’s Note: Follow my journey as I join an Idiopathic Hypersomnia clinical trial through Cleveland Clinic! If you have IH, know someone who has IH or just want to learn more about this rare sleep disorder, click follow at the bottom or check out Little Did She Know on Facebook.

All my life, I have struggled with sleep. I have always had a hard time waking up in the morning, and most of my life, I could sleep the day away if allowed. A typical nap has always been two or three hours if uninterrupted and still left me exhausted. Sleep has never been refreshing.

To look at me, I don’t necessarily think you would know there is a problem.

But there is a problem: idiopathic hypersomnia.

For starters, I have always struggled with being on time, especially in the morning. Now I know it’s due to sleep inertia. Sitting in meetings, classes and presentations at conferences always led to a struggle to stay awake regardless of what time of day it was. It did not matter how much sleep I got at night. I was still exhausted every day.

Sleep inertia or sleep drunkenness is defined by:

Difficulty waking up
Struggling to wake up fully (often with an overwhelming desire to go back to sleep)
Feeling disoriented, confused or irritable
Having poor coordination
Doing tasks without realizing it
May last for a few hours after waking up
www.hypersomniafoundation.org

I thought I was lazy because while there were things around me that needed to be done, I would find myself lying down to take a nap. I’m a driven person, so I didn’t understand how I could be lazy, and yet, there I was, taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon on a regular basis.

Idiopathic Hypersomnia, or IH, is a rare sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) (a strong daytime sleepiness or need to sleep during the day, even with enough sleep the night before), sleep inertia, long sleep (needing at least 11 hours of sleep per 24-hour period or more than 9 hours at night), needed naps (may be hard or impossible to avoid; usually last more than one hour; are unrestorative; may make the patient feel even worse) and poor quality sleep at night.

Source: Hypersomnia Foundation

IH is a neurological disorder similar to Narcolepsy (minus the cataplexy and sleep attacks). “Idiopathic” means unknown cause, which means I don’t have another health issue that is causing the disorder. Since there is no cause, there is no cure. There are treatments to minimize symptoms, but only one treatment has had any impact on me, and it is unreliable relief because I never know when the medication is going to work well, work a little or not work at all. And then there are the side effects to deal with.

In addition to the excessive sleepiness, IH also causes a feeling similar to depression. It feels like I’m wearing a weighted blanket that’s trying to hold me down, even though I have my depression and anxiety controlled (confirmed by my therapist and psychiatrist).

In fact, it can be confused with depression, and I think that’s part of why diagnosis is so hard to come by. It can take an average of 10-15 years to get a diagnosis of IH. My earliest memory of seeing a doctor about my “fatigue” was at the age of 21 being checked for chronic fatigue and testing to see if I had had mono at some point. I’ve been actively complaining about sleepiness since then.

IH causes brain fog. I have to work harder to focus and get things done both with my job in disaster at the American Red Cross and in my personal life. Have you heard of the “spoon theory?” It’s a metaphor for explaining the energy limitations of people with chronic illness. Each day, I have to pick the most important things I’m going to get done.

This Spoon Theory image and additional information can be found at https://kaleidoscopefightinglupus.org/spoon-theory/.

The similarities between IH and narcolepsy types 1 and 2, according to the Hypersomnia Foundation, are excessive daytime sleepiness and brain fog. IH and narcolepsy type 2 are more likely to have in common long sleep and severe sleep inertia. One difference, however, is that IH causes the need for long naps that are unrefreshing – like, you can’t fight the nap, but when you wake up, you’re no better off.

Comparison chart and additional information can be found at https://www.hypersomniafoundation.org/classification/.

Diagnosis of IH is a long process – clearly, 15-years long for some. For me it was at least 22 years. First, you need to find a good doctor who is knowledgeable about and experienced with IH. Then, your doctor will eliminate all of the normal causes for fatigue, like B12 deficiency and thyroid issues. Next, your doctor will order sleep studies.

The sleep studies consist of two parts in a 24-hour period: the PSG and the MSLT. The polysomnography (PSG) is an overnight test used to diagnose sleep apnea by monitoring you while you sleep. If the test determines you have sleep apnea, you don’t do the second part of the test. The doctor will address the sleep apnea first to see if that resolves the issues you’re having.

If you pass the PSG, you stay at the testing site to do a Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) where you are closely monitored and instructed to try to take a nap once every two hours to see if you fall asleep, how quickly you fall asleep and if you hit REM. After 30 minutes the test stops, and an hour and a half later, you go again. This is repeated four to five times in the same day. If you have excessive daytime sleepiness, this is brutal.

I am on my third IH doctor. By the time I got my diagnosis, I was no longer willing to put up with doctors who were unwilling or unable to help me. Now, my IH is managed by Dr. Foldvary, the director of the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorder Center. She is amazing. She thinks outside the box, and she never gives up. She is the one who got me into a new clinical trial.

Clinical trial physical and prep work, followed by a pre-trial eye exam at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute.

Fingers crossed we’re on to something with the clinical trial. If not, I’ll keep on keeping on because I’ve got stuff to do – like fostering kittens and going to Hogwarts and doing volunteer work – regardless of how many spoons I have or if I need a nap in the middle.

Resources for Idiopathic Hypersomnia

Hypersomnia Foundation Facebook Page

Hypersomnia Foundation Website

Living with IH (Jazz Pharmaceuticals)

What is Idiopathic Hypersomnia? (Cleveland Clinic)

Sleep Counts (Jazz Pharmaceuticals)

…She’d See God Move Mountains

This past summer, I was on the verge of quitting my job. Like, walking-away-without-a-plan quitting. My internal gas tank was completely empty.

Let me pause here to say that I really do like my job. I love that God uses the American Red Cross as a medium through which I can love and serve like Jesus. (Want to learn more about what I do in Disaster at the American Red Cross? Check out “Humberto, Imelda and Pre-Landfall Disaster Response.”)

But occasionally I go through one of these “episodes.” I don’t know what else to call them, but I know they are born out of burnout, compassion fatigue, extreme emotional exhaustion and exacerbated chronic illness symptoms. Every time I have experienced one of these episodes, I have prayed and asked God to open a door and move me to another job. A less stressful job. A job more compatible with my chronic illness symptoms. And every time, He has said the same thing.

Stay.

I know He hears my prayers when I have no words, so He has definitely heard every sigh when that’s the answer He gives. Every time I plead my case to Him, the end result is the same: I submit and say, “If this is where You want me to be, I’ll stay as long as You want me here.”

The episode I had this past summer was different. It felt bigger than the others, more desperate. Looking back, I think this episode was also compounded by #spiritualwarfare because what happened when I obeyed and stayed instead of jumping ship has had a huge impact on my faith.

It started when we stood up a disaster relief operation in mid-February for flooding in Southern West Virginia. Not only are operations stressful and demanding, but the impact of knowing others – in this case, West Virginians – were affected, is heartbreaking.

February 2025 flooding in Welch, WV. Photo and story can be found on https://www.wvnews.com/.

I had been to the town of Welch, WV, in June 2024 on a mission trip to assist in cleaning up buildings on the main street that had been damaged from a previous round of flooding. The 2025 flood was a personal hurt for me because I had met some of the people who had moved to Welch and put everything they had into those buildings and starting new businesses and faith-based operations to help the rural community.

It was during the Southern West Virginia disaster operation that my dad was hospitalized for pneumonia and my cat, Miles, had a life-threatening health episode. Did I mention stress exacerbates #IdiopathicHypersomnia symptoms?

On Father’s Day, flash flooding in both Wheeling (Ohio County) and Fairmont (Marion County), WV, led us to stand up a second disaster operation. In Wheeling there were fatalities, adding a different level of complexity to the urgency of providing help on the ground.

Aftermath of the flash flooding in Ohio County, WV, on Father’s Day 2025 that took the lives of 7. Photo and story can be found at https://wvmetronews.com.

Then, on July 4, I woke up to news of the Texas flash flooding that took at least 135 lives, including children attending Camp Mystic.

Through my tears, I had that same conversation with God again, and again I got the same answer.

Stay.

What I did next is what I think Papa God was waiting for me to do all along. I said, “Okay, but I need your help. This job is too hard. My IH is too hard. I can’t do it by myself.”

“By myself.” That was part of the problem. I was trying to do this job God wanted me to do without Him. I had asked God for this job, but I had never invited Him into it. I don’t think when He put me in this job He intended for me to carry it all on my own because He knew it would be a lot. And as soon as those words were out of my mouth – “I need your help” – I now know He immediately rolled up His sleeves and got to work.

I didn’t realize until just a couple of weeks ago what God had been working on for me between July and November. There are three big things in particular – mountains He moved – that stick out to me when I think about how He heard me and He responded. First, I realized He had grown the size of my volunteer team. This is no easy feat. There is a shortage of volunteers, and the work we do on my team can be very complex. He has given me smart, willing, compassionate volunteers to help me carry the load every day, which is helpful to me in my chronic illness and a benefit to the region – and nation – when we need to respond to disaster.

Second, He provided me with the only medication that has had any kind of impact on my Idiopathic Hypersomnia. I needed that wakefulness to be able to train my new team members. I have literally been on every medication, including Xywav, in the last three years, and this is the first time I’ve experienced any level of relief.

Third – and this is the big one – He literally rerouted every hurricane in the 2025 season that was heading for the East Coast.

You read that right.My God moved the Mount Everest of mountains for me. He did what I never even entertained as a possibility when asking for help to get through hurricane season. He made what was expected to be an above average season the opposite.

“…Even the wind and waves obey Him!” (Matthew 8:27, Mark 4:41, Luke 8:25)

There has not been one single hurricane that has made landfall on the East Coast this hurricane season. Yes, Tropical Storm Chantal made landfall, but it wasn’t a hurricane. Yes, Hurricane Erin came close enough to cause beach erosion, strong surf, rip currents and coastal flooding, but it didn’t make landfall. Yes, Hurricane Melissa made landfall, but it was in Jamaica, not the U.S., making it an International Red Cross response. Even Imelda, who appeared to be on track to make landfall on the East Coast near North Carolina on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, made a sharp right out at sea like the others.

Photo of Imelda path from https://www.accuweather.com.

If you google the reason why most of this year’s hurricanes turned right and stayed out at sea instead of making landfall, you’ll see articles and videos explaining that dips – or troughs – in the jet stream have helped push the tropical systems out to sea and away from the East Coast. If you google why Imelda turned away from North Carolina, you’ll see credit given to Hurricane Humberto and the Fujiwhara effect.

But I know the truth. There was a mountain called Hurricane Season standing in my way, and when I asked God for general help, He got specific about clearing a path.

I can hear you now. “Jenn, you really think God diverted the entire hurricane season for you? Seriously?”

Serious as a Cat 5.

I think God answered a lot of people’s prayers by diverting those storms because a lot of people are tired, and a lot of people still need time to recover from last year.

But I also believe He did it for me. I asked for help, and He heard me and He answered.

Trust me, kid. I’ve got you.

If I had left my job based on my emotions instead of obeying and staying, I would have missed out on seeing God do big things. Faith-changing things. Worship-inspiring things. Every day I listen to “What an Awesome God” by Phil Wickham because it expresses what I feel after seeing what He has done. “Fire in His eyes. Healing in His veins. Everywhere His glory on display. Take a look at the stars. He can name ’em all. Before His throne every knee falls. The demons have to run, the angels have to praise.Even the wind and waves obey.”

I have a confession. My faith in God following through for me has always been weak. Not because I don’t think He can but because I think why would He do for me when there are so many others hurting more than I am. If I had left my job instead of listening to Him, I would not have seen what He is willing to do for me. I would not have seen how truly big my God is. How awesome my God is. It is emboldening and exciting and beautiful to see what He can do. And I understand now when people say that if you trust God, He will work things out in ways that are bigger and better than you can ever imagine.

I literally can’t wait to see what He does next.

Did you know I have a Spotify list for the songs I mention in my blog posts?

Look for Little Did She Know on Spotify and follow along!

Song Recommendation for the Week:

“Don’t Stop Praying” by Matthew West

“What’s your impossible? You’re ‘I need a miracle?’ What’s got you barely hanging by a single thread? …Don’t stop believing ‘cause mountains move with just a little faith. And your Father’s heard every single word you’re saying, so don’t stop praying.”

…Luna’s Foster Fail Story

I got my start with fostering kittens in 2018. I lived in Columbus, Ohio, at the time, and on Mother’s Day weekend I was out on a run when I came across five six-week-old kittens. I had never fostered before. I had never had a kitten that small before. I don’t think I had ever done a flea bath before, and I had definitely never used kitten formula before.

I had also never had kids, although I always thought I would. Mother’s Day could be kind of a sad day when I let the absence of motherhood get to me, and I believe that Mother’s Day weekend God opened a door for healing by showing me a different kind of motherhood He had planned for me.

Fast forward to fall 2024: We lovingly call our home Weasley Meowtain Lodge in honor of Molly, Charlie and Percy Weasley (yes, named for #HarryPotter characters) that we rescued from a local gas station after we moved back home to West Virginia. Weasley Meowtain is what we call our fostering operation (visit our Facebook page!). We are not a 501(c)3; we just foster. But we foster a lot. And through Weasley Mountain we partner with and support other rescues and operations like Operation Fancy Free LLC, Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, and Fix ‘Em Clinic.

When we started fostering at Weasley Meowtain, I had to set very clear boundaries about the fact that we would not be foster failing any cats. (Foster Fail: to adopt the cat or cats you are fostering.) And it was hard because you do love all the cats and kittens you take in, and saying goodbye when they get adopted is hard even when that is the goal. But if you adopt your fosters, it’s hard to help other cats, and there are always other cats that need a foster home. Besides, we already had 5: the Weasleys, free-range felines that patrol our five acres, and Jovie and Miles, indoor adult cats.

In 2024, we had a constant flow of cats and kittens in foster care at our house. Come September, we took in #TeamHogwarts, five eight-week-old kittens rescued during a TNR operation in our county. Then we added Hermione, who was trapped on a riverbank and brought into the fold (see Hermione’s story here). All the kittens got adopted – all except Harry Potter. He was living in the kitten room by himself, and I was afraid he would miss his siblings, so I asked the rescue for a friend for him while we waited for him to get adopted. I got a call on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving about a four-week-old black little fluffball that had come in as TNR and was too small to fix and too small to go back outside. She was missing hair on her tail, and she had a deformed right eye. The day before Thanksgiving, we brought her home to Weasley Meowtain.

I named her Luna Lovegood because the intention was for her to be a good friend to Harry Potter.

Little did I know how good of a friend she would become.

Luna was very small, and at first I was worried about her being with Harry, who was a good three months older than her. I was so worried, in fact, that I was sure we would have to keep them separated. Luna desperately needed to be socialized, though, so I reached out to the rescue again for a friend for Luna. That’s when I ended up with #TeamFrosty.

Team Frosty is the litter that was abandoned in a box out in a snow storm, and by the time a good Samaritan delivered them to the rescue, they were critically ill, especially #JackFrost. They also had ringworm, which is a long kitten rescue story for another time.

Anna in front with Jack Frost behind her.

Since Team Frosty was so sick, I had to quarantine them. That meant Luna had to stay with Harry. Under supervision, Harry learned to play carefully with Luna, and it turned out beautifully – until Luna was diagnosed with ringworm. It made its way from Team Frosty’s quarantine room to her, likely through me. Ringworm is a nasty beast, and I don’t recommend it.

Anyway, she needed to be quarantined from Harry so he didn’t get it too. When I tried to introduce her to Team Frosty so they could quarantine together, Luna threw a holy fit. I made the introductions in a gated-off area of the hallway, and Harry was in the kitten room with the door closed. When I put Luna with Team Frosty, Luna hissed and growled. Harry stuck his arms under the door to get near Luna, and Luna went over and stood next to his arms. They did not want to be separated.

Now, listen. We don’t make decisions based on what the cats like necessarily because they definitely don’t like flea baths and Clavamox and ringworm treatment, but those things have to be done. But I did have a decision to make: force Luna into the other litter or let Luna and Harry quarantine together, knowing Harry had already been exposed and may or may not get ringworm. Luna won. We had two quarantine rooms for ringworm kittens for four months.

And no, Harry, by some miracle, did not get ringworm.

After the ringworm was cleared, we were able to have a procedure done on Luna’s eyes to alleviate any discomfort. The eye did not have to be removed because it was not causing her any issues, but her eyelid was rolling in, causing hair to irritate her eye. She had a little cosmetic procedure to address that. Her coat also went through a crazy transformation: at one point, so much of her hair had turned gray, it looked like she was wearing a vest. Now, she has tufts of gray behind her ears, under her chin, and on the backs of her legs. She’s pretty adorable.

In the time we quarantined them, Harry and Luna fully bonded. There was no separating them. When the ringworm was gone, we had to make another decision: do we try to get Luna and Harry adopted together, or do we foster fail them both?

Harry Albus Sirius Severus Potter and Luna Bellatrix Mad-Eye Moody Lovegood were, in fact, foster fails in Spring 2025.

I never intended to keep any foster kittens. I never intended to have seven cats. But motherhood doesn’t always look the way we think it will.

Happy 1st birthday to my Halloween-born black beauty, Luny Tunes. Momma loves you, you crazy, spastic, sassy, chatterbox who loves Harry, likes candy and never misses an opportunity to throw paws at Miles and Jovie.

Hermione’s Rescue Story

Let me introduce you to Hermione, aka Cliffy.

Hermione was a black female kitten dumped at a riverside park outside of Charleston, WV, last fall.

On September 18, 2024, my friend, Tara, texted me a picture of soon-to-be Hermione and said, “Jenn, there is a two-month kitty at the (park). Do you think you could take him in?” Tara had already named the kitten Cliffy, and I would come to find out just how fully invested Tara was in Cliffy’s rescue.

By that point, I had already fostered about 20 cats in the calendar year and about 24 the year before. Fostering had become a full-time volunteer gig because the need for help never stops.

The 21 cats #WeasleyMeowtain fostered in 2024.

I had heard of this kitten. I had seen posts about it on a local Facebook page. This park was about an hour away from where I live and a good 15-20 minutes from my office. I knew how hard this was going to be: trapping in a public area, finding time to get to the park on a regular basis to get the kitten on a feeding schedule before trapping, getting the playful and oblivious-to-danger kitten into the trap. So, that same day Tara texted me, I went to the park to check out the situation and take the kitten some food. Despite my best hopes, the kitten was not socialized and would not come near me. It confirmed my theory that this was going to be a challenge.

With trapping, you really need the cat to be on a feeding schedule. You need the only food to come from you and for it to come at a certain time every day so the cat develops a schedule and understands the food is coming from you. Sometimes you can establish this routine in a few days; sometimes it takes a while. There was no way I was going to be able to go to the park every evening to establish that routine, but thankfully Tara was more than willing to do that part.

More than just the kitten’s skittishness working against us was well-meaning adults who were bringing the kitten cheeseburgers and other tasty human morsels that are 1) bad for the kitten’s tummy and 2) a deterrent for the kitten to eat our food if they are full and if the human food tastes better. Several adults had made mention on the Facebook page that they were going to go try to catch him. People chasing him was also not helpful, and add to that the human food that smells and tastes better than Kitten Chow, and we had an issue.

So, I made a sign. I posted notice at the riverfront area where the kitten was commonly seen frolicking in the weeds on the bank between the river and the parking lot. “Please DO NOT Feed Kitten! Rescue In Progress!” This was also the area where food scraps and empty containers had been left by those well-meaning humans with their greasy leftovers, and I was really hoping they would look up from the kitten in the weeds, read the sign, and respect what we were trying to do.

Yep, that’s Hermione playing in the background while I put out my sign.

I went back several times and set the trap, but the kitten never even went close to it. Yep, I tried all the things, including making a trail of food toward and into the trap and using smelly food like tuna. Kitten was not interested, and I was fading quickly to stress and #IdiopathicHypersomnia. Living so far away made it feel impossible. At work, we were dealing with disaster response for Hurricanes Helene and Milton. At home, I had my own five cats plus a foster litter of five: #TeamHogwarts.

#TeamHogwarts: Draco, Ron, Fred, George and there in the bottom right corner under the pile is Harry Potter.

Tara never let me quit, though. Every time I would try and fail, she would say, “Okay, what do we do next?”

On October 12, I worked late at the office, preparing volunteers to deploy to North Carolina for Helene disaster response. When I left the office, I headed over to the park, ready to set the trap with dinner but afraid it would fail again. I prayed so hard on the car ride over: God, please put that kitten in the trap as only You can.

You see, He had done it for me before. He put Molly Weasley in the trap when we rescued her from the gas station where she was dumped, and He put Rory Gilmore in the trap after multiple failed attempts. He could do it again, I knew it. I needed that kitten to be safe. Halloween was approaching, which isn’t good for a black cat, and the weather would be turning soon.

At the park, I set up the trap and put a small trail of tuna into the trap. I sat on a nearby bench and watched. The kitten showed up right on queue, and it went toward the trap. I had never seen it go toward the trap before. I couldn’t believe it when the kitten sniffed around the trap and then stuck its head in. I remained perfectly still, but inside, I was on the edge of my seat, cheering for it to go all the way in.

Y’all, I’m not even kidding. When that trap slammed shut with the kitten inside, I jumped up on my feet in a cheer and then cried and thanked God. He made it look so easy to trap a cat. If you knew how many times the cat had run from me, hid from the trap, or refused to get near the food I put out or the number of times Tara and her boyfriend had been within arms’ length of the kitten only for the kitten to run way into the weeds, you would understand. That evening in 20 minutes it was done.

At the time, I was on the board of a local rescue. The rescue was aware of the kitten, and it had agreed ahead of time that if I could trap the kitten, they would intake it as one of the rescue’s kittens and I could foster it till adoption. Having a rescue to work with is pivotal because this rescue was willing to cover all vet expenses. I provided the safe space, food, litter, transportation to the vet, and socialization.

I brought the kitten home to #WeasleyMeowtainLodge and quarantined it until it could be treated for fleas and worms and get its first round of vaccines. Turns out the kitten was a she, so I named her Hermione. After about a week of quarantine, she was added to #TeamHogwarts. The boys welcomed her with open paws, and soon it was like she had always been part of the litter.

Cliffy, formerly Hermione, now lives with her mom who never gave up on her and a sibling to keep her company in a home where she’ll never have to worry about cold weather or going hungry again.

…God Will Avenge Your Hurt

If you know me, you know I am not a confrontational person. However, if you hurt my family, my friends, or my cats, my initial urge is to pay it back tenfold. Like Katniss Everdeen, I raise my hand to volunteer as tribune for the #AngerGames. I’m ready to fight for the title of judge, jury and punisher. Don’t act like you are surprised, and don’t act like you wouldn’t be the same way.

But here’s the good news: We don’t have to lash out with fists or words when someone hurts us because nothing we do in response to offense compares to God’s response when one of His children is hurt. (His children = you and me.)

On a rare morning when I wasn’t fighting wakefulness with #IdiopathicHypersomnia, I went outside to my God spot – the place I frequently go to talk to God – to read my Bible. He unexpectedly gifted me Psalm 18.

I didn’t have a plan of what I was going to read that morning, and I don’t even know how I landed on Psalm 18:6-19. I had to read it twice to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me. It left me stunned. To paraphrase:

“In my distress, I called upon the Lord, and from His temple, He heard me. The earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the mountains trembled and quaked, because He was angry. Smoke went from His nostrils, and a devouring fire from His mouth. He parted the heavens and came down; thick blackness under His feet…He came swiftly on the wings of the wind. And He sent out His arrows and scattered my enemies…The foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, Lord…He drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support…He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
Psalm 18:6-19

Do you want to see something really cool? When I asked ChatGPT to use Romans 18:6-19 to create an image of how God was depicted in those verses, this is what it gave me:

If this is even the tiniest bit of a true depiction of the God of the Universe – the One I get to call Papa God, the One who calls me chosen, the One who fights for me every minute and has already won all my battles, the One who delights in me – how blessed am I? And if I am blessed, so are you, friend, because He calls you chosen too.

There’s another image I came across about a year ago. There is a really talented painter who has a series of images I love. His name is Kevin Carden, and this is his depiction of when we are in trouble and Jesus comes running to save us:

Friend, no matter what you’re going through…

No matter what what they accuse you of…

No matter what they say about you…

No matter how alone you feel…

When you cry out to God, He hears you, and He responds. Even when the only words you can get out are a whispered “God, help me” or when there are no words at all, only tears.

The thing I love about Lauren Daigle’s song “Rescue” is that it is written from God’s POV when we send out an SOS to Him. I had never even thought about what God might possibly say when I cry out to Him, and hearing this song helped me understand just a little better God’s love for us.

Rescue – Lauren Daigle

“I hear you whisper underneath your breath, I hear your SOS. I will send out an army to find you In the middle of the darkest night. It’s true, I will rescue you. I will never stop marching to reach you In the middle of the hardest fight. It’s true, I will rescue you.”

I’m finally learning now, after 45 years, how passionate the God of the Universe is about me. Sinful, weak, judgmental, vengeance-seeking me. And friend, He loves you just as passionately with enormous, earth-trembling, mountain-foundation-shaking love.

He sees what they do to you. He hears what they say to you and what they say about you when you are not in the room. He knows it hurts, and He knows you want them to pay. And I think it’s okay to defend yourself, but don’t wage war. Don’t harbor hate. Don’t seek vengeance.

Vengeance is God’s, and He will make all things right.

Friend, this world is cold and hard and painful. Fix your eyes on the Father who created you in His image, on the God who delights in you. Let Him love you. Let Him carry your pain. Let Him have the vengeance.

Trust Him. He’s already won the battle for you.

The best place in this world is under His wings, fully protected and fully at peace, resting in the truth that His help is on the way, always.

Recommended Song for This Week: Help Is on the Way – Toby Mac

“Sometimes it’s days, Sometimes it’s years, Some face a lifetime of falling tears. But He’s in the darkness, He’s in the cold, Just like the morning, He always shows…Help is on the way.”

Humberto, Imelda and Pre-Landfall Disaster Response

This time last week, I was staring down Hurricane Humberto and the expected impact area of what would become Hurricane Imelda on the NOAA Hurricane Center website. For Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, it would be summed up best by the catch phrase of my disaster coworker, Todd:

“It’s not great.”

In case you don’t watch the news or the weather, #HurricaneHumberto in the Atlantic is credited with pulling #HurricaneImelda away from the East Coast, preventing landfall that would have impacted multiple states. That’s not to say the Bahamas were not impacted or that those coastal states would not end up seeing impact from the storm by way of coastal flooding and dangerous waves, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

I smile and think of the conversations I had with God late last week about how awesome it would be if He diverted Imelda and prevented loss of life and loss of homes and businesses. So while Humberto gets the credit for derailing a disaster on the East Coast, I know the truth:

#GodDidIt

But answered prayers and miracles and those special conversations with #PapaGod will have to wait because that’s not what I want to share with you right now. What I want to share with you is what it looks like when the American Red Cross’ Disaster Cycle Services line of service prepares for hurricane landfall and pre-landfall deployment. Unfortunately, I think one of the Red Cross’ best kept secrets is Disaster Cycle Services. So, I’m going to let you in on this secret with the hope that word will get out and more people will want to join this diverse band of humanitarians and help those in need alongside of us.

Central Appalachia Region volunteers on an operation in Huntington, WV.

Every morning, Disaster Cycle Services team members from all over the U.S. get on a sync call with our national disaster leadership to discuss potential threats and current humanitarian responses. Early last week, conversations were being held about Hurricane Humberto and what would become Hurricane Imelda. From what I understand, hurricanes can spin up and strengthen very quickly due to the warm temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s hard to know a week out if and how a disturbance will develop, but Invest 94L – which would become Imelda – had us in full-on preparedness mode.

Note: According to The Weather Channel, “An invest – short for ‘investigation’ – is a naming convention used by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to identify features they are monitoring for potential future development into a tropical depression or storm.”

This was the type of image that had me worried last week: (Credit: Accuweather on 9/26):

By Thursday of last week, the American Red Cross had five disaster operations standing up ahead of Imelda’s anticipated landfall – Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia – and the Disaster Workforce Engagement Teams in regions all over the U.S. were working on putting trained Red Cross disaster responders on standby for pre-landfall deployment to travel ahead of the storm and prepare for impact.

Rabbit Trail: I am the Disaster Workforce Engagement Manager (DWEM) for Central Appalachia Region (CAR). CAR is compromised of all 55 West Virginia counties and 22 counties in the border states of Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and Maryland. One of my responsibilities as DWEM is having a national disaster deployment team in place and a deployment plan ready to respond to whatever happens, whenever it might happen.

Pre-landfall deployment is exactly what it sounds like: we send trained disaster responders to the regions where impact is expected by a major storm. We mobilize our workforce before any travel stops are caused by incoming bad weather so we can prep evacuation shelters and get our resources in place. When the preparedness tasks are done, the responders hunker down and wait out the storm. Once the storm passes, the needs of the area are assessed with local community partners, and our Red Cross workforce begins delivering the mission of help and hope.

The work of the Disaster Workforce Engagement/Deployment Team never stops – we are always in a posture of preparedness for response. This is so that if a disaster occurs at any time, we are ready to mobilize disaster responders to impacted communities. With pre-landfall preparedness, we check the availability of all of our trained responders, and if they are able to deploy, we put them on alert or standby.

When the Deployment Team gets the go to mobilize any responders who are on alert, we confirm those responders can leave by the next morning and go over the assignment location and hardship codes with them. Hardship codes are any challenges the volunteer might face on that assignment, like no electricity, no running water, travel difficulties, and no immediate access to health care.

The Deployment Team members provide as much info as we can to our responders so they can make an educated decision about whether the deployment opportunity is right for them. If they agree to go, we instruct them on next steps, like finishing their pre-assignment health questionnaire (responders must be healthy and physically able to deploy) and booking their travel through the Red Cross’ travel agency. In Central Appalachia, every responder who deploys is assigned a deployment buddy. A deployment buddy is someone from the Deployment Team who has experience with deployment and is able to answer questions and give the responder guidance as they travel to the disaster relief operation and while they are deployed for two weeks.

So, what do American Red Cross disaster responders do in disaster-impacted communities when they deploy? To answer that, I want to circle back to the name of our line of service. We are Disaster Cycle Services because there is a cycle to what we do. We prepare (ourselves, our responders and our communities) for disaster, we respond to disaster (“boots on the ground”), and we help clients recover (get to their new normal).

Disaster Fact: A disaster can be a tornado, flood, volcanic eruption, hurricane, earthquake, train derailment, mass casualty incident, or even a man-made disaster.

Our initial goal in disaster response is to make sure people have the essentials: food, water, and a safe place to stay. We call this #MassCare. One of the very first things we do for a disaster operation is set up shelters or support community shelters being opened. We serve meals in our shelters, and we also have our awesome Emergency Response Vehicles – ERVs – that drive around communities and hand out hot meals.

Three ERVs deployed to Kentucky for the 2022 flood.

Under Mass Care, we also do distribution of emergency supplies where we deliver clean-up supplies to communities where the houses can be salvaged, and we offer reunification support to the local communities. Mass Care is just one group of activities the Red Cross performs on a disaster relief operation, but it is the first line of response and arguably the most important.

With Humberto safely out at sea and Imelda changing paths, we were able to stand down the disaster responders we had on standby last week. It was a huge relief that Imelda changed course and pulled away from the East Coast, and the efforts we made last week to respond were in no way wasted. In fact, I believe our preparedness activities last week were a great practice for when the next storm forms. #2025HurricaneSeason doesn’t end till November 30, and there are already two new disturbances in the Atlantic. One has a 10% chance of formation in the next seven days, and the other has a 20% chance.

My point is, we’re far from out of the woods this season. And when hurricane season ends, we will deal with winter storms, followed by spring flooding. Tornado season begins April 1, and then June 1, we’re back to hurricane season again. Meanwhile, wildfire season is no longer confined to a season.

If you take nothing else away from this info, please consider the following:

1) Tell all your friends about what we do in Disaster Cycle Services so everyone knows the Red Cross is more than just blood donations (it’s also training services and services to the Armed Forces!), and

2) Consider becoming a Red Cross volunteer. Even if you can’t deploy nationally, disasters happen at home too, where we also respond to house fires and install free smoke alarms, among other activities. You can visit www.redcross.org for more information.

Special THANK YOU to the Central Appalachia Region Disaster Workforce Engagement/Deployment Team for all their ongoing hard work: Vickie, Brenda, Jerin, Holly, Lori, and Janetta. We couldn’t do this important work without you! #SleevesUpHeartsOpenAllIn

Recommended Song for This Week: “God Did It” by Micah Tyler

“And there’s only One who’s getting all of the credit. God did it.”

Little Did She Know: Origin Story

You ever hit rock bottom and found God there? I did. And He delivered on examples of His faithfulness all on one Sunday morning to the point there was no doubt left in me that He is for me.

April 2025 was a tough month. Our foster kittens, #TeamFrosty, were on month four of a grueling ringworm treatment regimen. At work, we had wrapped up a disaster operation for flooding in Southern West Virginia, and those operations always take a toll. My #idiopathichypersomnia was flaring. My immune-compromised cat, Miles, got very sick.

Then my dad ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. It felt like things all around me were spinning out of control, and I was so defeated.

On Sunday, April 13th, I went to church. During the 30-minute drive, I told God I was broken, and then I proceeded to list off all the ways to prove my point. Looking back, I imagine He smiled and shook His head because He knew what I was going to find at church.

It’s true I always cry during the worship songs, but on this day, I was bawling, that whole-body-shaking kind of cry you never want anyone to see. Every single worship song sung that morning spoke directly to me:

God So Loved (We the Kingdom): “Come all you weary, come all you thirsty, Come to the well that never runs dry. Drink of the water, come and thirst no more.”

Stand in Your Love (Josh Baldwin): “When darkness tries to roll over my bones, When sorrow comes to steal the joy I own, When brokenness and pain is all I know, I won’t be shaken, no, I won’t be shaken. ‘Cause my fear doesn’t stand a chance When I stand in Your love.”

This Is Our God (Phil Wickham): “Remember that fear that took our breath away? Faith so weak that we could barely pray, But He heard every word, every whisper. This is our God, this is who He is, He loves us.”

I Was Made for More (Bethel Music, Josh Baldwin, and Jenn Johnson): “’Cause I wasn’t made to be tending a grave. I was called by name, Born and raised back to life again. I was made for more.”

The words that came to me over and over were: Trust me, kid. I’ve got you.

I sat down and began taking note in my phone of what was happening: Every single worship song is a love letter from Him to me. A DM from His lips to my heart. A not-so-gentle reminder that He is not limited by what I think makes me unworthy and that He is working for me.

The sermon that day, delivered by Pastor Jay, was on the last chapter of Ruth: “Ruth & Redemption.” The sermon’s theme was “Little did they know.”

That’s right – the blog name I had been praying for, asking God to give me, for over a year was handed to me just like that.

The sermon talked about how every person’s story has pain, death, and suffering. About how “We’re written into a greater story, and we’re sent out for the greatest purpose: to love God, to love others, to serve God, and help others know Him.”

About how “God uses broken people to fulfill His plan.”

I’m sure I was sitting there with my mouth wide open. I had just confessed that morning how broken I was, and God gave me reassurance through Jay’s sermon that my brokenness can’t stop Him.

Trust me, kid. I’ve got you.

“We don’t have it together, but we trust our lives to the One who does.”

After the service, I went back to the K-3 room for Sunday School duty, and reminders of God’s faithfulness continued to overwhelm me. I stood there, crying again, reading the month’s memory verse. John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Trust me, kid.

The takeaway for the Sunday school lesson that day was “Whatever happens, remember God is still working.”

I’ve got you.

On April 13, I sought Him, and He didn’t just show up. He delivered reassurance after reassurance to me in a way that left no doubt. I don’t believe in coincidences. I do believe God moves us to do certain things, like pick those worship songs or write that sermon with specific words, because someone needs to hear the message a certain way.

God laid on my heart over a year ago to do this blog, and I have dragged my feet. Maybe it’s an exercise in obedience; maybe He wants me to get my creative juices flowing again for the next big adventure. I think, though, He wants me to do this blog because like I needed those worship songs and those sermon words that morning, someone out there needs to see examples of how faithful and loving our God is.

Thank you to Jay Teodoro for letting me borrow “Little Did She Know” for this blog. You can hear his sermon on Ruth & Redemption here.