March 10th was actually my "6-month mark" from the study, but schedules being what they are, it took a bit longer to get everything coordinated for appointments. I spent much of the past week down in Houston and Galveston, where the the blood draw and the 180-day DEXA (bone scan) went fine.
Same drill... assuming origami and cleopatra poses beneath the densitometer so they could measure my spine and various joints. No red flags other than the known back twinges and foot sensitivity, and I haven't lost any bone mineral density that I am not actively regaining.
It's lways great to see the wonderful folks at UTMB, and even better to see the rooms filling up with people again! There are four subjects now in the NASA ward for Flight Simulation studies, and two more anticipated soon.
Sadly, it's still dark throughout many other wings. It could be years before the medical campus fully recovers from Hurricane Ike and returns to full operations. However, I hear the recent Spring Break festivities didn't exactly suffer this season, so partying brought some commerce back to Galveston Island.
I had a great time visiting with Gin, who is keeping a daily blog of her adventures, so for those who were fascinated with the inside workings of the study, we're fortunate to have a new writer on the ward again... check out Gin's test descriptions and interactive contests!
It was such fun to visit with her, and catch up with study staff and news. Imagine our surprise to find that we lived in the very same Williamson County neighborhood! She moved some years ago while I am still there, but our homes were less than half a mile apart in the same Texan tract... in fact, I run and rollerblade down her old street frequently in my exercise rounds... how wild! In a state the size of Texas, that's pretty incredible... and even in a single county, what are the odds??
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