Tuesday, August 5, 2008

FREE AT LAST!

For the first time in my life I was grateful for Monday to come! Particularly, last Monday. I spent the entire weekend (Friday morning to Monday morning), essentially trapped in a hospital room without windows. I am currently part of a clinical research study, investigating a new pain medication. This study requires 3 different 3-night stays in their "lab". Fortunately there were several other study subjects there to keep me company--9 women and 9 men (don't worry, no co-ed sleepovers). All the girls were in one hallway, sharing one custodial-like bathroom and all the boys were in another hallway.

So what did I do to bide the time between meals and routine blood draws from the IV in my arm you ask? This:
  • Slept!!!
  • Read a bit
  • Chatted with my roomie Sally--she's 18 and getting married in Vegas two weeks from now to a boy from Bulgaria. Honestly, she is a really nice girl. I was pleasantly surprised how well we got along.
  • Painted my toenails and fingernails
  • Watched Juno! Love that movie.
  • Watched an obscene amount of television--so much you kind of feel sick afterwards because you haven't done anything to get your blood pumping for awhile. Gross!

**Disclaimer: we were strictly told to not participate in any strenuous exercise during the course of the study (Translation: I better be really good about eating healthy. Thankfully chocolate is also off limits during the study. That will help).**

Bonus: they fed us all our meals and gave us good snacks, i.e. fruit snacks, granola bars, apples, yogurt, etc. It was also a great weekend for 80's dance flicks on T.V.; Flashdance AND Girls Just Want to Have Fun were both shown...multiple times.

1 stay down and 2 more to go. Then the $4500 is MINE! HAHAHAHAHA.

7 comments:

Natalie said...

$4500? Dang, girl. That's way more than that one birth control study or whatever it was. How did you even hear about this? And why wasn't I informed? ;)

It's Me...shell said...

wow that's awesome! I'd totally do that needles and all

me myself and Luna said...

Dang, how do I get into that shiz? We need to get in touch...one of these days when I am in Salt Lake I need to see your new place and pick up a book my co-worker let your roomie(K-dub) borrow. AND I want to hear the latest about...lets call it(or him) the Californian treat!

VTS said...

A coed sleepover would've been much more fun. Then it could've been all..."What happens in the Research Lab stays in the Research Lab."

Jessie said...

Wow, having worked at the IRB, $4500 seems a bit coercive (or so they say). In the meantime, where do I sign up?

Good to hear from you again. Don't you know I anxiously await your posts?

I've been emailing Cookie while she's in Israel, and it's be SO fun getting re-aquainted with her. She's so grown up. I'm sure you know all her info, but I was impressed. She even has a boy? Crazy.

Hilda said...

Shanna, I totally wanna do this. Although I'm very glad you're out.

Shanna said...

Jessie! So good to hear from you too! Thanks for keeping in touch...you've always been so good at that.

That's awesome your emailing Cookie. I actually don't know all her info, however, I have met "the boy". He's a really nice kid, and of course, very smart!