She visits her sister, Joan, every day at Hospice House Woodside. Joan is dying of cancer, and Judy wants to spend as much time with her as possible.

Joan and her husband, Greg, have braved protesters, police officers, orange cones and plastic barricades to get inside the hospice.

But a lockdown Sunday morning was Judy Walker's breaking point.

``This lockdown thing today just scared me to death,'' Walker said. ``They wouldn't let us in. If I was there by myself, I probably would have had a nervous breakdown.''

Walker said she probably will return to the hospice only with her husband.

Walker's nervousness is one example of the agony families of patients at Hospice House Woodside have faced as the Terri Schiavo debate unfolds outside the hospice. With protesters chanting biblical verses, police arresting aggressive demonstrators and signs calling for the Gov. Jeb Bush's resignation, the families and friends of the other 70 patients simply are trying to spend some final moments with loved ones.

Lockdowns also tangle their plans. Whenever police make an arrest, they prohibit people from entering or leaving the hospice until the situation is under control. There were at least three lockdowns Sunday.

``I try just to be an observer, but I have found that when I get home, it's emotionally draining,'' said Madeline Buonocore, a Clearwater resident who visits a friend in the hospice several times a week. ``I feel sorry for everybody involved, and I wish for a miracle.''

Security at the hospice is tight. Visitors drive up to a police checkpoint and tell an officer who they are and who they are there to see. The officer then checks a list and allows the visitors to park.

Another officer is stationed at the front door, checking identification, bags and packages. Inside, visitors are given identification stickers with their names and the room number of the person they are visiting.

After about an hour, the word ``void'' appears on the sticker in red ink, preventing people from giving their identification badge to protesters outside.

``It's been hectic at times, and at times a little frustrating,'' said Dan Turner, a Seminole resident who visits his mother, who is dying of heart disease, every day.

Turner recounted a night when he tried to visit his mother at 10:30 p.m., but the police officer could not find his name on the preapproved list. Rather than argue, Turner decided to go home, reasoning that she probably was sleeping anyway.

``I don't let little things like this bother me,'' Turner said. ``I've got bigger problems inside.''

Some people take the commotion in stride.

Orlando resident John Mesa was visiting his mother in the hospice Sunday, his first trip there.

After seeing his mother, who is dying of cancer, he and his wife, Nyridia, walked up and down 102nd Avenue, taking in the scene.

``It's like seeing snow for the first time,'' Mesa said. ``It was exciting. But if I had to to it every day, I'd move somewhere else.''

Mesa's brother, George Miller, lives in St. Petersburg and is able to see his mother more frequently. He wishes the protesters would demonstrate in a park, rather than outside the hospice.

``You think of it being quiet, where people come to die, that's what the purpose of a hospice is,'' Miller said. ``If you have a day, a week, a month, a year, you want it to be peaceful.''

People interviewed complimented the Pinellas Park police for keeping the scene relatively calm. Many also said their loved ones were so sick, they didn't really know what was going on outside.

``My sister is dying, and everybody in there is sick,'' Walker said. ``These people,'' she said, referring to the demonstrators, ``are crazy.''

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679.