Raisin’ Dough for our K-Sto

My world stopped on January 2, 2013 when I was told that my beautiful 28-year-old sister, Kelli ("K-Sto") Stovall, had passed away in her apartment.  Even now it's difficult to write those words.  As we later found out, Kel had passed away from respiratory failure as a result of sleep apnea.  No one, including Kel, knew she had it, which makes everything more heartbreaking.  I like to think of it as she went to sleep for the night and woke up in heaven.  That's what gets me through.Sleep apnea can happen to anyone of any age at any time.  It's a fairly common disorder in which one has one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while sleeping. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They may occur 30 times or more an hour.  Even my husband Andy has sleep apnea, but it was diagnosed during a sleep study and he now uses a C-PAP machine that regulates his breathing during sleep.My sister Kelli was full of life and love and had the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met.  She wouldn't think twice about helping anyone who needed her.  Sleep apnea robbed me of my best friend and only sibling...and now I'm fighting back.  The American Sleep Apnea Association (http://sleepapnea.org/) works to diagnose and treat sleep apnea and by raising funds for them to help others, I can think of no better way than to honor Kel's memory.  Please visit their website and consider donating through my page. The more money we raise to get the word out, the fewer deaths this terrible condition can claim.