Posted on 05/10/2008 1:28:05 PM PDT by kingattax
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A 3-year-old Florida boy with a rare condition has not slept in three years.
Doctors said Rhett Lamb of St. Petersburg apparently has a condition called chiari malformation that puts pressure on his brain. Click here to find out more!
Rhett has never taken a nap or gone to sleep at night, forcing his parents to keep watch day and night.
"(My husband) has the day shift and I kind of have the afternoon shift," mother Shannon Lamb said. "We share the night shift because no one can sleep in the house when he is up anyway."
Lamb said she is working extra to pay for Rhett's large medical bills. She also said her husband, David, has given up his job to care for their child.
"I would give anything for Rhett to be this normal little boy who plays and has a good time," Lamb said. "If it takes going to every single solitary doctor, I will do it."
According to the May Clinic, chiari malformation is a rare abnormality where brain tissue protrudes in the spinal canal.
Part of the skull is abnormally small and puts pressure on the brain.
Rhett checked into a hospital for an experimental surgery Thursday.
At about 60 hours, I start seeing bears, particularly if I'm driving. By 72, I'm beginning to discover their beautiful language.
“How would I cure Rhett Lamb? As Preston Brooks said about Charles Sumner...‘I’d hit it.’”
I thought people died without sleep - familial insomnia kills less than a year after insomnia sets in. You can torture people to death by not letting them sleep.
If you google “chiari malformation” and “sleep” you get a lot of stuff about sleep apnea but not sleeplessness.
I have searched all over the net, but I can’t find the article. The guy was a sheep herder or something and he hadn’t slept in more than 20 years.
First three words to pop into my brain upon reading the title: “His poor parents!”
LOL! Once I didn't sleep for a few days straight, and then I got a few hours sleep one night. When I woke up the following morning at the sound of my alarm, I thought the smoke detector was going off. I leapt out of bed and unscrewed the light fixture in the hallway, burst into my mom's room with it in my hand, and yelled, "I can't turn off the FIRE ALARM!" Lack of sleep does some crazy things to your brain.
Please accept my condolences on the loss of your dear friend.
Prayers for everyone affected by this condition.
ROFL! That was my thought.
I googled this up and it makes no mention of sleeplessness being a part of the condition.
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