My Radio-Active Iodine Pill Treatment

I will be getting my RAI pill on Thursday, at 3:30 pm.  The hospital (EIRMC) could not get it tomorrow (as we had first planned), so 1 more day before I can start my "glow"

Ironically--I will be getting my pill exactly 1 year from my hysterectomy surgery.  Last year, I was in surgery on Wednesday, July 13, 2016.

This year--on Thursday, July 13, 2017, I will be in the hospital getting my RAI pill to kill off the rest of the cancer!!

On day 3 after treatment starts, I will begin taking my Thyroid Hormone Replacement medicines and hopefully get my body back to hyper-thyroid-ism (tricking my body into thinking my thyroid doesn't need to work at all--since I have no thyroid!!) 

AND...I can stop my LID & eat "normal"!!!

It will be 6 weeks & 3 days when I can stop my Low-Iodine Diet=45 days!!  I cannot wait!!!

About 2 weeks after treatment, I will go in for a whole body scan (WBS) & see where the RAI attached & where it will be "fighting/killing off" the rest of the cancer.  (This is called uptake)

Every 3 months I will be checked & at 6 & 12 months more scans. 

I will be "buddies" with my cancer doctors for the next 20 years.

Some Quick 4-1-1 (info.) about Thyroid, ThyCa & RAI

Thyroid

The job of the thyroid gland is to make hormones that help control heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and weight.

Radioactive iodine treatment

Your thyroid gland absorbs nearly all the iodine in your body. When a high dose of radioactive iodine (RAI), also called I-131, is taken into the body it collects in thyroid cells. The radiation then destroys all the thyroid cells, even the ones that are cancer, with little effect on the rest of your body.

For RAI therapy to be most effective, patients must have high levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH or thyrotropin) in the blood. This substance stimulates thyroid tissue (and cancer cells) to take up radioactive iodine. If the thyroid has been removed, one way to raise TSH levels is to not take thyroid hormone pills for several weeks. This causes very low thyroid hormone levels (a condition known as hypothyroidism), which in turn causes the pituitary gland to release more TSH. This intentional hypothyroidism is temporary, but it often causes symptoms like tiredness, depression, fatigue, weight gain, constipation, muscle aches, vision problems, and reduced concentration. 

Most doctors also recommend that the patient follow a low iodine diet (LID) for 1 or 2 weeks before treatment. (Except my doctor wants 4 weeks of the LID before he tests your iodine level!!)  This means avoiding foods that contain iodized salt and red dye #3, as well as dairy products, egg yolks, anything from the sea, and soy.

Risks and side effects

Your body will give off radiation for some time after you get RAI therapy. Depending on the dose of radio active iodine used, you need to stay isolated to prevent others from being exposed to radiation.  (I will be 8-14 days).  6 foot bubble around me.

Thyroid hormone replacement

If all or part of the thyroid gland is taken out with surgery or destroyed with radiation, you will need to take pills of thyroid hormone to replace the missing thyroid hormones your body needs.

Life After Surgery & Treatment

Most people do very well after treatment, but you may need follow-up care for the rest of your life. This is because most thyroid cancers (ThyCa) grow slowly and can come back even 10 to 20 years after treatment.

I'm Going to Laugh so I don't Cry!!

 I don't get very good cell phone reception inside the house, so when my cell phone rang, I was in the middle of getting dressed (had my top on, but no pants yet).  I thought of just stepping outside on the back porch because no one would be able to see me, but I last second just decided to pull my pants on quickly.

So by the time I tried to answer the phone, I had missed the call.  I quickly called Amy back (she was my ride to town to get my tooth fixed) & then turned around to go back inside.

And the darn door was LOCKED!!!  It opens from the inside, but it's locked from the outside!!  So I was locked out!

 And I was barefoot!

Callum's window was opened, but there was nooooo way I could squeeze in there (if I could have even climbed in that high off the ground!)

My shoe options

Where I can find a hidden house key (I know--it's not hidden anymore if I announce it to the world)--but at least I know the combination to the lock on the door (and don't need a KEY).

But ewwww!!!  Gross pigeon coup poop!!

Yucky!  So that should be the end of my story--right??  Nope!

There was NO hidden key!!  Arrrggg!

And this is when I was sooooo happy that I had decided to put my pants on.  Because I had to go over to Grandpa's to get the house key he has.  So thankfully he was able to find it (after about 10 minutes of looking through his tin box full of 100's of keys).

So the moral of the story:  put the hidden key back kids!!  or maybe always wear pants if you're going outside.

Or make sure the door is unlocked when you go outside.

Anyways--that was my adventure yesterday.

If you want to see the video I put together about this adventure, click here.