In addition to the antibiotic eye drops to which I alluded yesterday, I have also been placed on a regular oral antibiotic. This, as I understand it, is a precautionary step to guard against additional infections while my white blood counts are so low.

This morning I got an EKG, and am now awaiting my daily infusion. Tomorrow: bone marrow extraction and biopsy. We continue to hope for the best as all the results come in. Because I am taking antibiotics again, my doctor has again ordered blood work daily instead of twice per week. So now every infusion visit is a longer one, as we wait for the blood counts and the doctor’s go/no-go decision before even mixing the arsenic. I’m completely on board with that plan, though.

Good news tidbits since yesterday:

• The sore inside my eyelid has already shrunk a bit and become less irritating. Looks like the antibiotics are doing their job!

• All my vital signs continue to hang out right in the normal range.

• I submitted a session proposal to the AgileIndy 2017 conference last night, getting it in just before the deadline. It’s a brand-new talk which is informed and inspired by my experiences since diagnosis: how my involvement in the agile software movement has changed the way I approach many aspects of life, and specifically how I credit those changes with helping me to deal with this new onslaught of uncertainty in my personal life. I don’t know if it will be accepted; if it is, I will look forward to developing and delivering it. I count this as yet another silver lining of the diagnosis.

• Preliminary blood counts just came back, and all three values (hemoglobin, platelets, and white blood count) have increased since yesterday. This is good.

The downside of getting that conference submission in so late last night is that it stole time from my night’s sleep. To make up for that, and to make use of this longer wait for my infusion, I will keep this update short and settle in for a nice hospital nap now.

Thinking of you all, and giving thanks again for the support you have shown and continue to show.

-Markus

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This post originally published on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markus.silpala/posts/10212327268403554