Day -2

As of right now it seems entirely possible that I am in a trial that I am not supposed to be in. I'll tell you how its come to this, but first a little background on West Coast Clinical Trials.

WCCT is essentially broken into two different parts. One part is the business and the other is the medical. The business part takes care of finding and organizing volunteers for every trial, along with many other things, but the rest doesn't really pertain to the story. The medical part actually conducts the trial on the volunteers. We will call these two parts the office and the clinic.

A couple weeks ago I call the office to set up a screening to see if I qualify for a trial. A couple days later I go to the appointment and do the procedures. A doctor does a physical and says I'm fine, so I only have to wait for the blood tests to come back. WCCT is notorious for not calling back and informing you about your tests, so after a while I call to inquire. I was told that the tests were good accept that one hadn't come back yet, but that I was expected to pass that one so I should get a confirmation email soon after its come back. This was last Tuesday and the rest of the week went by without any email. I knew that I was supposed to check in next week on Monday, so I called Saturday to see if the other test has come back. Except unlike the clinic the office has normal operating hours, which means they're not open on the weekend and that they wont be open till Tuesday since Monday is a holiday. Monday comes and I contemplate waiting for them to call to see why I am late for check in. This was a possibility since once before for a different trial they had neglected to send me an email even though I qualified and was expected to check in, but I decide that even though I can't get a hold of anyone I was just going to try and check in instead of wait for the call. I figured if I wasn't supposed to be there they would tell me to leave.

As I expected there was no secretary at the window, but a medical assistant saw me and came up to the window. I told him that I didn't know if I was supposed to check in today since I never got a confirmation email. After I told him my initials he said that it was good that I showed up. This was the highest point of the day, but it almost immediatly spiraled down afterwards. It turns out the reason he said this was because there is a bracelett with my initials and a screening number ready for me. Everythings good until I go to sign in on the admissions list and my name isn't on it. This essentially means that if I hadn't decided to come in today I wouldn't have gotten a call like I thought I would.

Fourtunatly me not being on the list was simply remedied by a doctor writing in my name at the bottom of the list. I don't know if this is standard for people who are checking in that aren't on the list or if it was because the doctor and I had become friends since we spent a lot of time together in all of my previous trials. I wasn't surprised that he recognized me, but I was surprised that he remembered my name since my last trial was in July. Anyway I am sure the real reason I was added was because there was a braclett ready for me and a bunk already asigned to me.

After that I was sent to another doctor I already knew and she seemed to remember me as well. This is when I found out I didn't have a "source" which is what they call the big binder with our initials on it that they have for each volunteer. Her reaction is to go up stairs, which is where the office is. She comes back and says she'll just use a blank source and that they didn't inform her that I was coming. She also says something about it having to go before a panel tomorrow. After which she blows off both of these statements and says its nothing to worry about. I know the office is closed so I am pretty sure she didn't talk to anybody, not that she would need to since she is the head cordinator of this trial. Anyway its possible that she thinks there was a lack of communication between the office and her. It seems everyone might just be assuming I am supposed to be here and I am afraid when the office opens tomorrow they will say, no we didn't send him the email because he isn't supposed to be here. All of this worry might be for nothing since all it takes to be in a trial is to pass the screening and be there for check in. The thing is though, that I might not have gotten the email because I might have failed one of the blood test. Although though if I failed then why is there a braclett and bed ready for me. The only other thing I have going for me is that two of the people who the clinic thought were supposed to show up today didn't.

Lastly, even if I don't get sent home tomorrow there is a good chance I will on Wednesday. This is because they over shoot the amount of people checking in compared to the amount actually taking the drug. They do this because people don't show up and people might do something to alter their health since the screening. The reason I say I have a bad chance of staying is because I heard someone say that the doctor said, "that if everyone passes fine then they will remove four people from the bottom of the list." I am third from last, but I theorize that all I need is for two people to screw up their tests, then they will only remove two people from the bottom of the list. Here's to hoping someone couldn't resist having a couple drinks for new years.