I have had my second meeting with the UT people running the clinical trial in this part of the world. It’s a huge study and we here are just a small part of it.
Back with Christine. First they have to show me the results of my DNA test. I already knew that I had one ApoE 4 and one 3 but they had to make sure and they had to make sure that I saw the results. She is a cheerful soul but she had some trepidation about showing me what I consider to be old news. I wonder if some people being considered for the clinical trial have had a hard time dealing with the revelation?
I mean, why didn’t I qualify to test the long term effects of psylicibin in a party room in Basel Switzerland? That’s a real clinical trial by the way and it sounds really great.
But no, I might be facing the abyss behind the fog and they want to know if their pill will save me. The drug company is spending millions on this clinical trial and, if it succeeds, if they can pull people like me away from the fog even for a little while, they will make billions.
If you are interested in participating in a clinical research study,
go to clinicaltrials.gov
They list hundreds of studies all over the world.
After the first reveal (anticlimactic but a reveal nevertheless) a doctor who could have been my grandson gave me a neurological exam. As I am right now and hope to remain, I passed with flying colors. I can walk on my toes, heels, tight rope style without falling down. My muscles are equally strong on both sides of my body. My reflexes are great. I can follow the doctor’s finger without moving my head even though my right eye is lazy and tends to wander when I’m tired. No problem.
After the doctor (male) left, Christine and another young woman came in to do more stuff. It was kind of like a slumber party. They are still learning to do EKGs so I had to help. Then they took photos of me in my underwear. This was a bit of a surprise so you can understand that I was really glad I had worn the good stuff.
Evidently there could be a skin reaction to the drug and they need a baseline to compare if anything comes up, literally. they kept apologizing about the nudity until I reminded them that I graduated from high school in California in 1970. For many people from that time, it’s not such a big deal. I wouldn’t want to be seen on the internet but standing in my underwear while two nice people photograph me for a good cause, no problem.
The last task was to draw blood. They need to know everything, weird genetic stuff, exposure to lime disease, do I take illegal drugs… everything. So they drew a lot of blood.
I take medication for low blood pressure. I have the kind of low blood pressure where I get light headed if I get up too fast. I’ve been forbidden to donate blood because of my low blood pressure. Now I know why. I have had blood drawn before but never eight vials. I felt rotten for the rest of the day.
My next appointment will be a neuropsych test where they establish the baseline concerning my general cognitive functioning, memory stuff. I’ve had these done before and do well. This is one result I do want to know.