I'll be spending the day at Presbyterian Hospital as part of an inpatient study for Penn. It's probably the easiest one I'll do as it just requires me to lay there with some monitors hooked up to me and an IV for hourly blood draws. I get to watch TV, nap, and chat people all day long while I contribute the medical research (and get paid handsomely for it and use the dough to pay down those stupid student loans).
So what is this study about? I have to fast during the entire visit (done at 8pm) except for when I drink heavy cream and a blended scramble egg at the very beginning of the day. An hour later I'm either given niacin or a placebo. The researchers are interested in seeing how niacin reacts/bonds with fat in the blood and they think it can be used to help lower cholesterol in people. I fill out some surveys about how I feel and chi-chat with the nursing staff. Not a bad gig if you can handle being slightly uncomfortable and don't get all freaky with needles.
Update #1 - They will be shutting down the research center early due to the impending snow storm so I get to eat and get out of here 4 hours early, woo-hoo!
Update #2 - I get an extra $60 today because I needed 4 IV lines inserted, ouch! According to the nurses I have tough skin and veins, but for some reason the blood flow doesn't want to go.
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