Update 1 (J) Sis is sleeping on the couch right across fro me. I love to watch her sleep ... always have. We’re 11 days into the first cycle of treatments at Vanderbilt. It started with a conventional treatment of chemotherapy. We were supposed to go into the research hospital and have the chemo and be home that night. We were going to come back in the next day to start the experimental pill. We started at around 1:30 in the afternoon. We found out that Sis was going to have to have an infusion of potassium in order to take the pill. The potassium infusion would be administered after the chemo. Before the chemo could be started there were a few drugs that had to be administered to counter the bad effects of the chemo. It took a few hours to even get to the point of doing the chemo. Once the chemo started it was a few more hours. Then it was time for the potassium. The thing about potassium is that it’s hard on the veins. It burns when it goes in. Sis was supposed to have two bags of the stuff and it was supposed to take an hour per bag. We had to slow the rate of infusion down to allow her to tolerate it and each bag ended up taking two hours apiece. It was obvious by the time she started the potassium we were going to be staying overnight. This is the first time either one of us has ever been admitted to a hospital. By the time she was done with everything it was about 1 AM. I had made a run out to the house to pick up some things I thought we would need and a cot had been set up for me in the room. There appears to be a difference in a research hospital versus a regular hospital. Everybody realizes you’re there as a volunteer. They realize that you’re not there just for yourself and they treat you accordingly. They don’t come blaring into the room at all hours of the night. They don’t come in and sweep up around you. If you press the call button they are there within seconds. When they start an IV they sit with you for 15 or 20 minutes to make sure you’re okay. You can tell that they are there for you. The next morning they took another blood draw to determine if Sis’ potassium level was good. Thankfully it was or it would have meant more potassium. Sis took the pill and we were there for another 4 hours as they monitored Sis’ heart. We got home on Tues. afternoon. Everything went well until Sunday afternoon. Sis hadn’t experienced any bad side effects. We were on our way to get something to eat and I could tell something was bothering her. She said she had woke up with a sore throat and had noticed ulcers in the back of her throat. We called the doctor on call and were told to come into the emergency room. We got there at about 4:30. When they tried to get blood from Sis they couldn’t. They said the potassium infusion had caused her veins to harden up or something, anyway they couldn’t get blood. They started her on fluids ... and we waited. After we had seen a couple of different doctors and had an x-ray they decided that she was experiencing a side effect of the chemo. At 10 PM it was decided that we would stay overnight in the hospital. I made another dash out to the house for some overnight stuff. This time there was no cot. They had tried to find one, but none were available. I slept on one of those recliner chairs. It wasn’t bad. They brought some pillows and blankets. The next morning we saw a doctor and they had decided that Sis had encountered what they call “mucousitis”. They said it’s something that has to be tolerated. It’s just a side effect of the chemo. They wrote some prescriptions and we were eventually released. It was about 1 PM. We checked into a hotel for a couple of nights. We had new windows installed at the house. The second night at the hotel Sis started experiencing more dizziness and some tingling and pressure in her head. The next morning we called Norma. Norma is the RN who is in charge of the test protocol that we’re doing. She said we should come in so back to the clinic we went. One of the good things about being involved in a test program like this is that they want to know about everything that happens. When we come in we don’t sit around for hours in the waiting room. They get us right in. One of the things they want to know about these pills Sis is taking is what happens when humans take them. After we had seen a couple of doctors they decided that it’s probably related to the treatments, but we are scheduled for MRI’s next week to see what’ s going on in the old noodle. Last night Sis was taking a shower and slipped in the tub and bumped her head. She’s experiencing more dizziness. In the middle of the night she had to take one of the nausea pills for the first time. This morning she said she had some double vision and dizziness makes it really difficult for her to walk. She’s taking it easy and sleeping today. The treatment makes her tired. I’ll just watch her sleep. <back