Four is my magical number?

Yesterday morning Mary and I were up early and on the road headed to Lincoln, NE. The purpose of our trip was to complete the enrollment for my fourth clinical trial, MDV3100. The drive was just over three hours. The travel was sure easier to look forward to than the planes, trains and automobiles that I have had to deal with in the past to reach the destination of the trial at hand.

In the days leading up to the trip I was slightly apprehensive because I am still dealing with an unbalanced equilibrium. Sitting in a car is better than walking, but not as comfortable as sitting in my chair reading or watching television. I tried not to focus on this and just loaded up on newspapers, magazines and anything I could load on my iPad. It seemed to help becasue the drive passed by faster than either of us expected. This was probably due to the anticipation we were both experiencing as we drove towards the destination that offered a new treatment, that offers us new hope.

I was a good fit for the trial inclusion criteria, but having been through this before, you just never know what could pop up on a test etc. and disqualify you for the trial.  Upon arriving, the staff offered us a warm welcome and were prepared to begin the preliminary tests which included a blood draw and an EKG. We spent approximately thirty minutes with the doctor. He was very knowledgeable about prostate cancer and obviously spent time reviewing my case, as he was familiar the the series of treatments and procedures that I have endured over the last seven plus years. 

The worst part of the day was the fact that we had to wait two and half hours after meeting with the doctor for the blood test results. So why all smiles in the picture? It's because what you can't see is the big vial of pills in my other hand! This picture was taken in the parking lot shortly after I was approved for the trial.  

So now we wait. Tonight I took dose number two. We are not sure how long before we see any measurable result,s but mid-September is our next trip to Lincoln. We remain hopeful that we will see positive results with this new treatment and that it will enable us to transition into some degree of normalcy. In the meantime, we are going to pursue a consultation with an ENT specialist to try to determine what is the cause of my issues with balance. Fortunately, the results of the brain scan and spinal tap were negative, so we are comfortable that it is not caused from any cancerous growths. It is greatly impairing my mobility, so we have to determine the root cause so that it can be treated. Taking it one day at a time!