Well now here’s a pickle. Christine, my case manager, called the day before Thanksgiving. Sadly, this was not to wish me a happy holiday. She told me that there was a conference in Barcelona. One of the goals of the conference was to allow researchers to share information. Two researchers shared their failures and why […]
Category: Alzheimer’s Study
Alzheimer’s Study Number 13
I’m sitting in an office at the clinical trial location bored out of my mind. The battery on my phone is low so I can’t play a game and the doctor who is supposed to do my physical is late. I have had the requisite blood draw. Ian is a magician. His shots never hurt. […]
Alzheimer’s Clinical Trial Number 12
I am in another ALZ study. This is an actual longitudinal study—no mystery pill or mystery procedure. They just contact me once a year and give me a cognitive test. I just took the first one. In many respects, I have a remarkable memory. In other respects, my memory is terrible. I never remember the […]
Alzheimer’s Clinical trial entries 9, 10 and 11
NUMBER 9 I no longer qualify for long term care insurance. If I had applied last year—no problem. Now, the agent I was discussing this with practically had a heart attack over the phone. She halfway counseled me to withhold information about the clinical trial without coming right out and saying, “Don’t tell.” According to […]
Read More… from Alzheimer’s Clinical trial entries 9, 10 and 11
ALZHEIMER’S STUDY ENTRY NUMBER 8
My blood pressure is normal! Best side effect ever. I have struggled with low blood pressure all my life, the kind of stand-up-too-fast-and-faint blood pressure. I laugh at the doctor shows when someone anxiously says, “His BP is 80 over 50. He’s going into shock.” Hah, unmedicated, I walk around all day with 75/45. Granted […]
ALZ study, visit 7
My rational brain has looked at the odds and decided to be proactive and not worry about the far future. I’m not sure my body got the memo. I have had two or three events of gastric distress around finding out the results of the PET scan. Soon after that meeting, I came back to […]
ALZ Trial-sixth visit
This was the day that I met with the doctor. This was the day that I found out if I qualified for the study, if my brain was already showing suspicious signs of potential disease. My friend, Larry, drove me to the office because I wasn’t sure of my reaction to the news and was […]
ALZ Study, Fifth visit
This is the big one, the PET scan, the one that tells me if I have plaques and tangles in my brain. I am anxious. They can’t tell me much but this is the door. If I step through, I will have a better idea about my odds of getting Alzheimers. The more plaques they […]
Clinical Trial, the fourth visit
The next phase of the study is to have an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of my head. Bear in mind, I’m not yet in the actual study. This is just preliminary to make sure I qualify. The neuropsych test was to establish a baseline of cognitive function. I’m not sure but I think that if […]
Alzheimer’s Study, Third Meeting
ALZHIEMER’S STUDY, THIRD MEETING So I finished the neuropsych test. I’ve taken them before. The first was after we had to place my mother in a nursing home. Her boyfriend and the eldercare social worker both called me and my sister to tell us that Mother could no longer live without support. She lived in […]