A Stroke of Luck

As I have said before, I am leading a clinical trial on an investigational antibody that they hope will stop or even reverse Alzheimer's Disease. (But of course, at least 90% of drugs in a Phase 1 trial never make it to market, but let's hope this medication actually works) I have met with a lot of fascinating people, and admired how much devotion their caregivers show.  This week, I had an appointment with a couple that was referred to me by their sister.  Their sister has already received this medication and is in the study, and she referred her brother that she was really worried about.  Her brother was not diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but she explained to me some 'weird things' that she was noticing.  She gave me their phone number, and I scheduled them to come in this last Wednesday.

This first appointment is called a screening visit, where I go over the Informed Consent that explains all the details of the study.  During the course of my explanation, this man asked me the same exact question 5 times, within 5 minutes.  He did that numerous times with other questions as well, and he definitely seemed like he was moderate AD.  I did my generic memory screen, which he actually did way better on than I anticipated.  Hmph.  Then I did some frontal reflex release signs.  These reflex signs show whether or not the frontal lobe of the brain is atrophied.  He was negative for all of those signs as well.  Double hmph.  I stole a moment with his wife, and she explained the cognitive problems that he was having, as well as the fact that he had lost 13 pounds in the last 3 weeks.  Triple hmph. I was very curious what his MRI and lab results would show.  As part of the screening visit, I scheduled him for an MRI of the brain that evening.

The MRI results and interpretation came surprisingly quick the following morning.  Then I knew why.  The radiologist called the MD in charge of my study and said that he believes that this man was having a stroke during the MRI and needed to go to the hospital immediately.  The doctor called his wife, and she was frantic because she didn't know where her husband was at the moment, but would try to get him to a hospital ASAP.

The next day, I nervously called the wife.  She was able to get him to the hospital, and he was admitted to the unit.  She didn't say what kind of stroke it was, but I am assuming it was a clot because apparently if it was slightly positioned more to the front or back, he would have had severe impairment in functioning.  They are starting him on treatment, and we believe that this MRI saved his life.

I can't even think of a word that would describe how I feel about all this.  I feel terrible for his family, especially his sister and wife that were such kind people, but of course I also feel so grateful.  It is not often that you get these kind of experiences where you just know that there is a reason that a person came into your life, and a series of events had to happen in order to discover something life changing.  Sometimes, I feel like I am not doing 'enough' because I am not in an ICU or ER saving people on the brink of death, but I definitely feel blessed to have had a hand in this.  I hope he recovers well and can start treatment to prevent this kind of event in the future.