Randomization and the Cray Supercomputer.

     When one participates in a clinical trial one is placed in one of several groups.  In my case there are three of these groups.  One group receives the standard chemotherapy (gemcidabine) with none of the trial drug (TH302), another group receives the chemo along with a dosage of the trial drug, and the third receives the standard chemo followed by an even larger dosage of the trial drug.  This process of assigning one to a group is supposed to be completely at random.  It's kind of like throwing all the names of the lab rats, I mean patients, in a hat, and drawing them out at random without looking, then placing them in one of the three groups, in equal numbers.  This process should be fairly straightforward except that it appears to me that Mayo chose to rent time on the Cray Supercomputer to make this randomization process completely random.
     I was placed in group two--the group that got chemo and the lower dose of the TH302.  This was good as the reason for my going to Mayo was to be able to participate in the clinical trail of this new therapy.  Things were going along good for the first two cycles.  The side effects mere minimal and I felt so good most of the time that I would joke with those in charge of following the participants, asking them if they were really giving me anything.
     This sense of chemo invulnerability was to end very shortly.  At the start of cycle three I was informed that the interpretation of the results of the Cray Supercomputer randomization was in error, that I was actually randomized into the group with the highest dose of the trial drug, and starting on that day I was going to receive this new dosage.  My first thought was, "How can this be...this is Mayo, they can't make mistakes with a process that is at the level of drawing names out of a hat."  Followed shortly by the thought, "This is great, if the lower dosage was good, then the mega dose will do mega better."
     Whether or not this regimen will do better is uncertain at the time of this writing.  One thing is for sure--it is kicking my arse (as they say in Scotland).  The side effects that were relatively unknown by me before, have now made their presence known, and how!  Fatigue, especially on the second through the fourth days following treatment, is the most prominent of these side effects.  Nausea, fevers, headaches and dry skin/sores are other symptoms resulting from the strong chemicals that course through my body.  The blood cell, hemoglobin, platelet counts are showing the effects of the "re-randomization."  
     So, this then is where I am now.  This all makes me more "irritable," but Vanessa doesn't let me get away with too much.  How did I get so lucky to have God put her in my life?  You know the saying--"I married much better than my wife."
     I write this from Mayo as I wait between treatments.  I am so looking forward to finishing up (about an hour) and going home. May the peace of God guard your hearts as well as mine.


Grace and Peace,
EL




Philippians 4:8    
     "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."