Beginning the Yondelis Clinical Trial

Yondelis is a pretty cool drug. It's based on a derivative of the "Sea Squirt" marine organism found in the reefs along the Caribbean Coast and in the Mediterranean. It's been used in human trials since 1996 and is approved in more than 150 countries worldwide, though only available through clinical trials in the US. Here's a link to a neat video about how the drug works: How Yondelis Works.

It's administered outpatient (at home) through a 24-hour infusion using an electric pump. What this means for me is that I get to carry around a man-bag for the next 24 hours. The picture above is the contents of my man bag. The littler critter was a gift from one of the nurses at the hospital. He looks over my chemo.

Starting my first round of Yondelis turned into an all day affair. We entered the hospital at 10:00 am and after registerting at the outpatient infusion center, meeting my new nurse, pump training, etc it wasn't until 3:00 pm that I was hooked up to the pump and receiving the chemo treatment. Next time should go smoother.

And then I was told to go home and enjoy the rest of the day!

Just like that, I was off on my way, receiving chemo as I went on with my day. In the evening we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner with the family, both Mom and Dad Guyer are in town. I think I can get used to this!