Many military vets are familiar with the term KP or Kitchen Patrol. It’s not much fun but basic work that has to be done to feed the masses. Clinical trials on the other hand offer days filled with PK or Pharmacokinetics. Yesterday, I had a PK day. According to Webster’s, it means:
the study of the bodily absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs.
What’s all that mean in English or practical terms? This drug I am taking (ipi-145) is being investigated for safety and effectiveness in treating leukemias and lymphomas so the drug company has to compile a LOT of data to make decisions about it for future phase 2 & 3 trials and ultimately to request approval from the FDA to market and sell the drug for general use. The first day of every 28 day cycle in the clinical trial, I have to go to the clinic for what amounts to a 10-11 hour day. First I arrive for 7am where my vitals are checked and basic blood panels are run (CBC, Chemistry and a baseline (before dosing) trial drug level sample is collected). Assuming there are no negative indicators in those panels, the trial drug will be administered about 1-2 hours later which is followed by successive blood draws and 3 consecutive EKG tests at 30, 60,120,180,240,360 and 480 minutes following. All those blood samples are sent off to the drug company primarily for them to measure the blood (serum) level of the drug at those intervals.
Wasn’t that exciting? No, not really but my goal in participating in this is 1. That I can regain my own health from CLL and 2. That I can help this new drug come to market so that others in the future may benefit from this research and not have suffer through toxic and often ineffective chemotherapies.
The moment that really made our day was seeing Barbara, the bread lady. Nothing helps break up a long day like being offered some yummy home made treats! 🙂
Lymphocytic Ninja Warrior 
Was the bread good? Did you get the kind you wanted and the recipe?
The bread(s) was awesome and she said the recipes are available there.