Locked up, Day 1

As Jess wrote here,I am now locked up in a medical research facility until April 1. After doing our taxes, both Larry and I suddenly realized we needed to do another Medical Research study to get some more cash influx and allow us to continue our lives as artists concentrating on our craft. We went to a screening, which consists of listening to someone meticulously read through the mound of paperwork for about an hour or more and then having a battery of tests performed such as urine collection, ECG, vital signs, having blood drawn, etc.

A few days later we both received a call that the study had been canceled, but that there was another study we could screen for, so once again we both went in for another fun screening session where we got to repeat all the steps again. After this screening, I was informed that the study was full. Larry however was in. We were bummed that we wouldn’t be in it together, but he couldn’t afford to pass it up. Unfortunately once he had packed and checked in, he found out he was the very last “alternate”, meaning he would only get to stay in if enough other people dropped out or failed some medical tests that all the alternates got in. Needless to say, he didn’t get in. This proved fortuitous for us both, however, since me not getting in meant I got to go to a callback audition that I would have had to miss if I had got in, and Larry ended up meeting someone at our SXSW coverage of the Austin Movie Show who owns a club downtown and basically offered to book out new Improv show!
We were then called on Friday about a third study that started on Monday, so once again we jumped through all the screening hoops later that afternoon. At the end of the screening, I had an appointment to get an EEG on Saturday, but Larry had been 1 point out of range on his ECG and therefore excluded from the study. We were both extremely bummed about this but since I definitely could use the money, I started mentally preparing for my first study alone. The last one I did with Larry was 5 separate weekends but this one would be for 13 days straight.
I spent the weekend mentally preparing and indulging in some comfort foods. All in all, it was a pretty cushy study and I could use this time to finish a whole lot of reading and writing I’ve been needing to do. I also packed up my Nintendo DS Lite and bunch of DVDs too, so I shouldn’t be lacking in things to do.
Once I checked in, things started looking even better. I found that out of 10 doses, I would be receiving 9 placebos! Score! I’m also in the extra cushy “hospital” wing with the really nice adjustable beds and the techs come to your bed for any procedures, as opposed to most studies which take place in the “dorms” where there are 8 people to a room with crappy squeaky beds, you have to go to a procedures area to get things done and you mostly hang out in “common areas”. My bed is also right in front of a window and windows are practically extinct in this facility.
About the only downside I’ve seen so far is that I’m right next to a guy that Larry said kept him awake all night with unnaturally obnoxious snoring during Larry’s one night stay as an alternate.
So $3500 to be locked up for 13 days, take a bunch of sugar pills, one dose of an anti-HIV drug, and do a whole lot of sleeping, reading, writing, playing, watching and missing my Grr and my friends. Sounds like I lucked out with this particular study. Hopefully nothing comes up between now and dosing that will exclude me from the study. I’m thinking I may not shave while I’m in here so I can emerge looking a little like Jack Bauer after his stint in a Chinese prison.