I heard back from the nurse at LA2 regarding their clinical trial. Another thorough interview and I haven’t even spoken with the doctor yet. They advised me to allow two hours for the appointment with the lead researcher, including registration, once I’ve gathered the requested information.
In addition to CDs of recent imaging studies and current doctor’s reports, I’m to gather and bring pathology reports and representative slides from all previous biopsies. Yes, glass slides containing actual malignant tissue samples. Never mind that the requested material is geographically scattered from Santa Barbara to New York and temporally strewn between 1992 to 2008 – these guys seem serious. So I’ve issued the requisite orders and I can just envision some poor fool stumbling through a New York basement blowing the dust off of boxes containing random medical antiquities in search of long-ago discarded pieces of Paul.
There are downsides to clinical trials, of course, beyond the nagging uncertainties regarding trivialities such as safety and efficacy of the treatment regimens. For instance, in this particular study they also apparently insist on biopsying normal tissue in addition to diseased tissue to determine if normal tissue can be used in place of tumor tissue to predict how tumors will respond to treatment. This may have applicability to future patients but it is of no use to me given that I’ve already had the diseased tissue biopsied. Nevertheless, I’ll go to the appointment with an open mind, but I’ll certainly be looking to see if the doc is packing a nail gun.
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