sorry again to anyone waiting patiently for an update. my internet access has be limited as of late.

i flew into new york on january 12. had an appointment on january 13 and was accepted into the study. been bouncing all over new jersey and new york crashing with family. its been great seeing alot of people i havent seen in a long time and dont get to see very often anymore.

aside from the study drug, they prescribed me medicaton for my thyroid and to manage my blood pressure, which is fairly elevated by the study drug. i also monitor my blood pressure a few times a day with a meter i bought at a pharmacy. other than that, side effects are very mild. if i take it on an empty stomach, it completely knocks me out for about two hours.

we've had a great time while we've been here. seen pretty much everything there is to see in manhattan. ate some amazing food, which is what i will miss most in st. louis! also went to a few shows, one of which was a HUGE benefit show featuring bands that will probably never play st. louis again (if they ever have.) as much fun as it has been here, i can not wait to get home and see my friends. the past week or so has been rough. i've been hit with a serious case of "home sick."

although i'll be right back in new york by february 23 for new CT scans to measure my progress. then february 27 i meet with the doctor running the study to discuss how i'm doing and what direction i'll be taking. its a double blind type study, so if the conditions are right i might end up taking a placebo for a few weeks after that. but after that, as long as its benefiting me, i'll be allowed to take the study drug again.

needless to say, with all of this coming up, sleeping gets harder and harder every night (even with the ambien i take every night.)