I, John Nozum, was born on February 28, 1967 in Bellaire, OH at around 2:00 AM. It was probably during the biggest snowstorm of Winter 1966-1967. Unfortunately, I was born with Goldenhar’s syndrome, a rare congenital disorder that is largely blamed on chemical exposure shortly before or during pregnancy. As a result, I had a double-cleft lip, cleft palate, flattened nose, missing eyelids in the left eye, misaligned jaws, misaligned ears, very small canal in right ear, and internal problems in my mouth. I had at least about 35-40 surgeries so far in my life due to Goldenhar’s syndrome.

    While I am currently 33 years old at the time of this writing, I have never been officially employed due to these problems, along with impairments in my vision, hearing, and speech. I have, however, completed high school and made it through a two-year college with an associate’s degree in medical assisting. However, due to very poor demand for medical assistants, particularly in hospitals, I was unable to find work, even though I looked in four states. I completed my degree in medical assisting in 1992.

    In 1996, I started going to West Virginia University (WVU) in Morgantown, WV to study computer engineering. However, my sleep apnea, depression, and burnout all took their toll on me and caused my GPA to fall to the basement. While the first 2-3 years, I averaged around 2.5, my semester GPA plummeted down to 0.93 in the Fall of 1999. Even though I sought help both medically and mentally, I was as if being pulled down into soft ground by my feet and reaching out for someone to save me. In addition, I prayed to God for help. Since I was beating up against a brick wall, I decided to just get out of WVU for a while until I get these problems fixed.  As of May 18, 2003, I FINALLY graduated from WVU with a Bachelors of Science degree in computer engineering.  While the sleep apnea is HISTORY, I still have problems with depression.

    As for my interests, I am into computers, playing music, medical stuff, woodworking, electronics, electrical, massage therapy, and reiki. Needless to say, God has blessed me with a powerful brain to handle all this stuff.

    May God’s peace be with you always. If you have sleep apnea, may it depart from you and be thrown into the everlasting fire in Hell! Peace be with you, but not your sleep apnea!