Yea, I’m an offical lab rat now. I got all the paperwork and counciling done and am officially in a clinical trial. Took my second pill this morning, it’s a one a day pill. I guess I am doing my part for the greater good on this one and hoping for some “activity” for my own sake in the process. It’s all dreadfully scientific mostly. Lots of monitoring and record keeping making sure Test Pilot Phil comes out of the other side in one piece.
So, this changes my schedule greatly. Instead of coming in two days every two weeks I will be coming in once every three weeks. And then there are some scans thrown occasionally. So less time on the road in Seattle which is more time at the ranch. And not sure how long this will last. It all depends on the performance as monitored by the scans and my ability to tolerate the agent. So, right now it is a So Far So Good thing.
The way I see it this will not change the walking schedule at all. That should just continue along as usual. On that account more visitors are showing up with the warmth of Spring. Alperfect.
Annie’s quote for Day 13 is “My search is over, and I rest in Thee.” from Rickie Byers and Michael Beckwith. I think if I am not mistaken that these are lyrics from a gospel song that these two wrote. It shows a certain maturity to finally reach a resting place like this. We might not understand everything but we have arrived to a sense of calm and trust. Alperfect.
Well, have to go. I am giving a talk tomorrow at 6:30 in the evening on my pilgrimage to Lourdes with the Order of Malta and need to prepare. That is at St. John Vianney’s on Vashon.
Enjoy the day. Something interesting will happen I am sure. Warm sunshine loves, Felipé.
So Far, So Good – keep it up my friend.
Ronaldo ~ it is exactly like jumping from rock to rock trying to get across the river. How’s spring in Spain? Hello to Ann. Felipé.
Greetings Phil!
Well put!
You and I are on the exact same path as far as the Clinical Trial goes. Mine is every 2 weeks with 3 infusions on 1 day and 2 infusions on the other.
All 3 chemo treatments are new to me and 1 is the experimental drug. I have had 2 treatments and all is going well so far. I thank our God daily in gratitude for so much….waking up, feeling good, walking. and being able to do my volunteer work….babysitting and some traveling also!!Speaking of traveling.. off to a 3 day retreat in Santa Cruz which I helped put together.
Love your posts.
Blessings, prayers always and big hugs…..
Your Lourdes “ Yellow Team” friend and malady,
Jan Reynolds.
PS… I have 2 very good friends ( malades) going to Lourdes in May.
Jan ~ good to hear from you! So glad that we are both, well here talking to each other. A year seems like a long time now. I just graduated from the infusions to the pills so I am happy about that, means less driving and parking. So you have some friends going on this year’s pilgrimage, that’s cool. You can compare notes, see if we got our money’s worth. I am giving a talk on Lourdes at my parish tomorrow evening. Should be fun. I’ve had a year to think about it. Hello to Bill. Felipé.x
Dear boss,
So, let me ask? Have we been all lab rats at the Camino too?… Just thinking… I know we call it a “Boot Camp”, but it may well be a Clinical Trial too… There is the population that goes to the Camino and the one that doesn’t. Then there is the population that during the Camino, goes for a pilgrimage and others that go for a hike… and then, there is Felipe, who is the Principal Investigator, who conducts the research, and the Caminoheads do the collection of the data, or the data entry into Felipe’s database, or gather for the training, etc. I think it is equivalent.
But, being someone who works in the Clinical Trials field, there is something larger than the scientific aspect of this all, and it is the altruism of those who participate. This is very often overlooked, and it seems that the reason for enrolling in a clinical trial is “to get better”… yes, that is a possibility (both at the intention level, and at the results level), but the informed consent you signed surely said that “it is uncertain if you will obtain any benefit from participating, but your participation will indeed help others in the future just by knowing what happened to patients who have their same disease and who have received a certain treatment” or maybe something like “you will be helping others by helping us learn more about the disease”… And that is what you are doing for participating in this Clinical Trial… Yes, we want the other piece too, but “this one” describes Felipe, I am sure.
Once we are gone, we will be remembered by what we are leaving in the world… among the many things you will leave, you will leave lots of bunch of data in a clinical trial database… Subject 010100110!!!!
Experimental Altruistic Love,
Cris
Yes— for the benefit if so many unknown others; so important, so significant in the broader effort to ease and cure and bring hope. I was just going to write about the altruism part, the gift that is wrapped in voluntary participation. There is Good in that. Thanks for so eloquently saying so. Steve
Hello Phil. Steve send me a link to your blog. I’ve read all of these March observations. I guess I’ll be seeing him Tuesday. It’s been a while. Best wishes to you and yours.
Aho’i
Aho’i ~ What a surprise! Hope that everything is going well with you. Are you still in Olympia? I’ll pick up your email address from this comment and be in touch with you. Happy Spring, Felipé.