EP0057-201 Phase 2A Trial - Screening appointment - 28 September 2021

 I read the trial paperwork and sent off a mix of about 30 questions and statements for confirmation which Christopher said were incomprehensible. I admit they were done in a state of high anxiety but I dispute that they were incomprehensible. Answers sent back in writing weren't hugely helpful and in-person follow-up not much better. There's a lot of reference to different people reacting in different ways and no real steer on the symptom timeline during the fortnight between infusions.

But it does seem that one of the mechanisms of the nanoparticle is to gather perferentially around cancer tissue, and therefore have more chance of getting taken up  by cancer cells. The Wikipaedia article on nanoparticles in chemotherapy refers to this as the 'enhanced permeability and retention effect'. I assume some make their way to normal cells (and make you feel like crap) but like most chemo agents, it is more toxic to cancer cells due to their higher rate of divisison.

I did try asking through the Ovacome online forum but nothing back so far. Probably not surprising as I am Patient 2 on this trial and Ovacome probably wouldn't reach people who  have been on the previous lung, bladder and prostate cancer trials.

Anyway, the screening tests have been done - ECG, BP, pee pee, weight, height, Covid swab, gentle poking and stethoscoping by Dr M - and I have signed on the dotted line, so we shall see.

I have been feeling sad and existentially tired while at the same time much physically  improved by being off the olaparib - no more lingering nausea and it feels like my breath has reconnected to powering my muscles. So a bike ride feels like a bike ride and a walk uphill feels like a walk uphill and not a mitochondrial breakdown. 

But in general, I need to get back into the workaday mode where what's coming feels like a job that just needs to be done. In that vein, the next task is a repeat scan - trial protocol says I have to have a scan within 28 days of starting the trial and the previous one falls just outside the planned dates.

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