Someone posts a link (in one of the Parkinson’s Disease Facebook groups) to a YouTube video of last week’s BBC documentary “The Parkinson’s Drug Trial: A Miracle Cure?“, which I haven’t yet seen (we don’t have a television licence). I intended to wait until this evening to watch it with my wife, whom I know is also keen to see it, but I decide that I need to know what I’m letting myself in for before I watch it with anyone else. I know that my wife will be annoyed with me, but I’m glad that I did – it is difficult watching for a person with PD, seeing the hope and desperation in the faces of the patients who took place in the trial, and it makes me feel very emotional. The same hope and desperation that made me consider Deep Brain Stimulation to give me back some quality of life. I have to say that these patients are far, far braver than I. My brain operation was regarded as “routine” by the team that performed it, but this trial involved experimental brain surgery involving the implantation of an experimental drug delivery system to delivery an experimental drug – and half of the participants would receive a placebo. That required hope and desperation in huge measures – kudos to all of them!
Yes me too Ian. I am waiting dbs
and I saw myself in many of those who took part in the trial.