Two days down on a three-day weekend. I am doing reasonably well with my ‘to do’ list. Progress through those is a good thing. It makes me feel a bit more accomplished.
I sent an Easter greeting to the researchers who will be conducting the clinical trial I have been trying to get into. The answer I got was the trial that was slated to launch in March (never believe those predictions!) is now in startup phase and should be ready this Summer. Maybe.
Of course, I was hoping – still AM hoping! – to be a first draft pick lab rat and for the research to actually begin this Summer. It will work out better for my schedule.
Not that the world revolves around moi…although it would make things a lot easier. You know what I am saying?
Of course, the treatment I have been wishin’ and’ hopin’ and thinkin’ and prayin’ (with apologies to Dionne Warwick way back in 1958) for is a stem cell treatment. Regenerative medicine. Therefore it was with interest that I read the article Nine Things You Should Know About Stem Cells that was shared in the Facebook group.
The article says there are complications that may occur with any treatment. The trial I am signed up for involves a vitrectomy. Vitrectomies almost inevitably lead to cataracts. The stem cells themselves may trigger an innate, immune response that could cause more damage. Then there is the possibility the stem cells could be contaminated and cause infection. Or they might migrate and cause a growth. There are dozens of potential SNAFUs. Most of us are old enough and wise enough to know there is no such thing as a sure thing.
If clinical trials were sure things they would not be called experiments. They would be called certainties. Who said “Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out”? (Found it. James Bryant Conant). Sometimes you have got to stick your neck out. You do it with thought. You do it with your eyes wide open but you do it.
Doing this trial will automatically make me ineligible for any other trials. That is just the way it works. It is important the researchers know the results they got are a result of THEIR treatment. Not the result of a treatment you had somewhere else.
It is for that reason you chose a clinical trial with a treatment you have researched and believe in. We have a Facebook group member whom Lin told me was offered a trial with a treatment he was not sold on. He turned it down. You get one trial. You get one shot at this. Pick something you know about and believe in. [Lin/Linda: you can read about Facebook group member Bob O’Connell’s decision making process on page 2 of his Guest Author’s pages]
Those were just two points under the first of the nine reasons; believe it or not. I will look at the rest and may just write a follow-up page. Maybe not. Right now, it is bedtime for this ‘turtle’. Catch ya later!
Written April 1st, 2018 Continue reading “Behold the Turtle”
