Tonight I find myself wide awake in the middle of the night, once again. Later this morning I go in for my second level dosing of the drug I am receiving in a clinical trial for my Early Onset Parkinsons Disease. Monday I was given 10mgs; today will be 15. Monday's dose only did about 80% of the job of bringing me to an "ON" state within the 15 minutes allotted, so up in dose I go. They call it "titrating."
Unfortunately, each new dose level requires me to be off my meds so they can test the effectiveness. As you know by now, my brain which is controlled by meds has long since lost the ability to cross over from conscious to unconscious without them.....so I sit in the dark, in peaceful serenity while the world around me sleeps. The only sound is a soft rain rhythmically falling outside the window. And I count the hours until daylight knowing its going to be another long day tomorrow.
This night, however, I am pleasantly surprised when a friend, Amanda, joins me. We met through a online hobby site we frequent. She's awake with me and we are chatting at 1:45am Eastern time. We stumbled on the topic of The Giving Keys and I find out that she has one. She gives me hers. Engraved on it is the word "HOPE". I cannot believe it. Her timing is impeccable.
So begins the story of my Giving Key, passed to me from Amanda.
Thank you so much Amanda. I will never forget tonight. It is with love and a continuous HOPE for the Cure that I wish all of you...
-Lisa
