The other day for no particular reason, I clicked on a YouTube video of a Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? from February 28, 2000 and I just clicked on the timeline to begin watching in the middle. This was all random. And like you (probably), I think to myself how I would have fared if I'd gone on the show. And like you (probably), I am pleased with the vast accumulation of cash and prizes I know I would have amassed. And like you (probably), I know that if I had gone on, I would have been lucky to go home with a case of Turtle Wax and the last vestige of my dignity.
On the episode I came across, I quickly came across this question: "Which of these medical conditions often causes sufferers to suddenly and unexpectedly fall asleep?"
The choices, as you may be able to make out in the fuzzy screengrab above, are (A) Sleep Apnea, (B) Epilsepsy, (C) Narcolepsy and (D) Eczema. This was for $4000. What's your answer?
You probably would quickly eliminate Epilepsy, which is a brain disorder that causes seizures. You'd probably also rule out Eczema, which is a skin condition. You're a smart person. So then, of the two remaining choices, which would you pick as your Final Answer?
My Final Answer: Both (A) and (C). Narcolepsy is a condition that more famously causes people to suddenly fall asleep…but I have Sleep Apnea and before I began sleeping with a C-PAP machine, it caused me to suddenly fall asleep — suddenly and unexpectedly.
Deprived of a peaceful night's slumber by my then-undiagnosed condition, I stumbled through my days' activity in about a tenth of a stupor and sometimes did fall asleep. Once, it was during a network-type meeting at CBS all about a TV pilot I was writing. I was later told that one exec in the meeting took it as a sign of my not paying attention. Another, who had championed my hiring, successfully spun it as proof of how hard I was working, staying up all night to make the script as good as humanly possible.
Neither was the truth. I just had Sleep Apnea. If you don't know what that is, read this explanation. And note that one of the things it says is a symptom of Sleep Apnea is "Excessive daytime sleepiness." Doesn't that sound to you like it's a correct answer to the game show question?
Also listed on that page among the dangers of Sleep Apnea is "Car accidents from drowsy driving." That's what almost happened to me. I was driving home on the Ventura Freeway having just attended — here's some irony for you — a memorial service for a fine gent named Peter Ledger, a comic book artist who had been killed in a car accident at the way-too-young age of 49. As I passed Topanga Canyon Boulevard, I fell asleep at the wheel.
It was just for a second. I did not swerve. I did not crash. I woke up instantly, realized what had happened and promptly took the next off-ramp. I then quickly found a 7-Eleven store where I chug-a-lugged a cup of Pepsi that was about the size of one of the smaller Great Lakes. The Caffeine kept me alert as I drove cautiously home on surface streets and I didn't drive again until I'd had medical attention and solved my problem.
Anyway: I've written about my Sleep Apnea here many times and have been pleased to hear that it inspired others to find out that they needed treatment. My main point here is about the question on the game show. Narcolepsy turned out to be the correct answer to the question and the guy in the photo chose it and won the money. But Sleep Apnea would also have been correct and I don't know why I'm spending any time on this 23 years after the show aired but nothing is too trivial for this blog.