I quit the clinical trial
You might be expecting me to tell you I’d had it with all the redundant questionnaires, the symptom diaries, the schlepping to and from the hospital for assorted pokings and proddings, and the endless queries from friends and acquaintances about the scientific underpinnings of the project. Folks, I practically flunked freshman biology. I have the…
Keep readingI had my head examined
Wednesday, 3:45 am. My airport chauffeur has arrived. Ooh fun, you’re thinking, maybe like me, associating middle of the night flights with Negronis by the pool, the satisfying thwack of balls being volleyed down at the beach. Um, not exactly. I’m flying from Boston to New York for a PETscan, a requirement for my clinical…
Keep readingAdventures in Transportation
A wee bit of background. I’m having surgery on my brain as a participant in a clinical trial for a new gene therapy for Parkinson’s. Yes, there will be holes drilled into my brain. No, I won’t be awake for it, and it isn’t expected to be painful. The study provides what they call “concierge”…
Keep readingDrill baby drill
That’s what I’ll tell the surgeon some months hence as he prepares to inject a virus into the command center of my very essence, that is, my brain. Yes, the clinical trial testing a gene therapy’s efficacy in slowing disease progression in Parkinson’s Disease is on, baby! In my typical Only Know What You Need…
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Moving and Shaking 