Well, I saw the endocrinologist yesterday, and yes, we’re going to do the radioactive iodine treatment in four weeks.
Starting today, I stop taking the thyroid hormone which means eventually I’m going to feel terrible, but we need to make sure the thyroid cells that are left are as receptive to the iodine as they can be. In two weeks I have to go on a no iodine diet – no processed foods, no cured meat, no dairy (we don’t know what the cows were treated with), and nothing baked that I didn’t bake myself. She suggested that this next week or so while I’ve still got energy I bake a lot of bread and put it in the freezer (just no prepackaged mixes).
Then after these four weeks of miserable-ness are over, I’ll be checked to make sure my TSH levels are as high as they need to be and then I’ll be given the radioactive iodine. After that, for 3-5 days I’ll have to kinda be isolated because any radioactivity not absorbed by remaining thyroid cells will be excreted from my body in various ways and I can’t risk contaminating my family or friends. So, separate beds, eating utensils and laundry, and no one within about five or six feet. So, no visitors! 🙁
I think it’ll be pretty easy here to do this as the master bedroom “suite” has its own bathroom and all. I have to figure out if we can get the computer in there, but I can probably get some writing, reading and maybe stitching done during this “retreat” period.
The doc said this kind of cancer can reappear after a number of years so I will be monitored. Oh, a full body scan will be done after the treatment to see if any unexpected cells light up from the radiation, which would be bad.
All in all, I’m not overly happy about all this (the low thyroid level sounds terrible) but at least it seems simple enough and it doesn’t require horrible chemo or anything like that.
I plan to blog about how I’m feeling and such. Today, of course, there’s nothing really to report and I have been taking the Synthroid in the mornings and today was the first morning I didn’t take it. Also, last night I didn’t take anything to help me sleep. I did seem to sleep okay, but woke up feeling like I want to go back to bed.
I went to the Y and did 36 minutes on the bike (31 plus a 5 minute cool down). Since on Sunday I did 30 minutes (plus 5 minute cool down) I decided to try and see if I could push it a bit. The 31 minutes wasn’t as hard as Sunday’s was, but still not the way I was before, knocking out an hour without a problem. Gotta work my way back up there I guess.
I’m having a shake this morning and then I think I’ll head to Hobby Lobby for a little while. All their scrapbook stuff in on sale and I need some white card stock to print up some scrapbook pages I’ve done. Also I want to get Halloween cards made this year and I bought cute rubber stamps for this last year and didn’t get the cards sent.
In other news, I’m reading Beloved’s manuscript for him and hope to get that done by the end of the week. He’s taking the Boy to Chuck E. Cheese tonight because he can now tie his shoes (the Boy not Beloved who has been tying his shoes for at least as long as I’ve known him.). I may stay home; I’m not sure yet.
Tomorrow we go to see the psychologist to get the results of the Boy’s ADHD assessment.
Busy week.
How’s everything in your neck of the woods?
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