Sprung.

So. I've been sprung.

Most of the past 24 hours was spent on the portable EKG unit and waiting for my heart ultrasound (ECO). It's always nice to be back in 7South, it's a peaceful place where the nurses are very much like family. It's funny, Nancy wasn't even my nurse for my abbreviated stay, but she still kept checking in to chat and give me updates on my blood work. It sounds like she may have even recommended getting the ECO ultrasound.

It's hard to not feel guilty for occupying a bed that somebody else may need just for my monitoring - but if I have a choice, its the only floor I'm staying on.

Back to me. After the Nuclear Medicine studies, the ECO and the 24 hour cardiac surveillance - my heart is strong. I still have to check back with them in a couple weeks but all parties involved seem to think its a mixture of anxiety, dramatic changes in my blood chemistry and possibly a touch of my medication. They're probably right - but I tend to think its a little more Gleevec than they do. I've been doing my own informal study and feel like most of my cardiac events (palpitations, irregular beats, PVCs, etc) are almost exactly 8 hours after I take my meds. My study doesn't tell me why - but I can only assume that it may be the time when the Gleevec is at its highest concentration in my body. Most mornings I feel better which would fit my hypothesis since the half-life of the drug is about 18 hours.

In short, I'm home...and apparently heart healthy.

Blood work is stabilizing (in a good way), though there are still some numbers that need some work (specifically some of my clotting and platelet numbers). This can take months so I'm in it for the long haul. They started printing out my chemistry sheets for me and it has historical data on it. It is really interesting, but required me to spend about two hours on the Internet trying to find out what the hell all the acronyms are. I'm told it gets even more complicated once we start seeing cellular changes. Then its about percentages, chromosomes, log reductions, and more.

I feel OK now - but its much easier to relax at the hospital when you know you have an emergency button 2 feet away. For now - I'm going to try and keep my mind clear and get good rest. It's an amazing time to live with Leukemia (CML) which just 10 years ago yielded a 3 year life expectancy.

It's time to live the only way I know how - Large.