Elaine

Elaine, age 62, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 27 after many years of misdiagnosis.  Neck problems, numbness, and eyesight loss eventually led to her diagnosis. Elaine participated in a clinical trial for eleven and a half years so that she could take a pill rather than injections. Not only did participating on the trial mean she would have “access to medication” but also provided Elain the opportunity “be in the know of it...the cutting edge.” She found out about the trial online and was almost not eligible because of her low white blood cell count. Elaine doesn’t know if she received the placebo or the actual pill because after six months, everyone on the trial was switched to the medication group. Elaine appreciated how as part of the trial, she had MRIs, EKGs, and checks of her heart and eyes so that any issue she had would be “immediately taken care of.” Now off of the trial, Elaine misses the good treatment she was getting. She has a two-year prescription for the medication that she took during the trial and recently switched to seeing the neurologist she saw as part of the study. Being part of a clinical trial was important to Elaine because, even though “it’s not a cure,” she appreciated the opportunity to “help with trying to find a band-aid.”