I decided it was time to update since it’s been a few days…I haven’t felt like writing before because I’m just so darn tired from the hypothyroidism and honestly I’ve felt a little bit down about the whole thing. However don’t worry, I think I’m pretty much done feeling sorry for myself :).

Basically on Friday I came in at 9am and was whisked right off to the scan room to do a whole body scan. Below is a CT scan picture of a thyroid…you can see the trachea and the “butterfly” shaped thyroid:

Here’s a picture below of what a radioiodine uptake scan looks like. It takes about 30-40 minutes and you lay flat and very still. It’s not as claustrophobic as getting an MRI done, but they do still bring the scanner very close to your face.

Based on my scan they decided to give me 150 mCi. Happily my scan showed no signs of distant metastasis, but it did show POSSIBLE local lymph node metastasis right above my trachea. However it was so close that they can’t be entirely sure, and from what I understand that shouldn’t affect my long-term survival rate anyway.

If you are really into some of the science behind it, a fellow thyroid cancer survivor wrote out the calculations for a 150mCi dose of RAI figuring out exactly the weight of radioactive isotope in the little special pills : 1.2microgram

This is not me, but here is a video of a woman getting her dose. This is pretty much exactly how it went for me too. The RAI uptake room

A lot of people have minor side effects such as nausea, but I actually didn’t notice much difference. The only effect I’ve had so far is a sore throat but the nuclear medicine doctor warned me it would be expected as my remnant thyroid tissue dies off. After I was cleared by radiation safety to leave Todd whisked me right off to a hotel where I will be staying for 5 days.  Since we have little boys at home I didn’t want to possibly expose them. Basically I have been hanging out in the room by myself, taking lots of showers, and drinking lots of water to get rid of the excess radioactive iodine. Todd and my mom have been dropping off food as needed. The room is outfitted with a microwave and a tv and I pretty much keep to myself.

Sunday was Daniel’s first birthday and I was sad not to be home for it, but I did get to watch him eat his birthday cake on Skype. We also had a celebration on Tuesday before I started treatment so I didn’t feel as cheated. However as much as I wanted to be home I REALLY don’t want to expose the babies to radiation until my levels come down, and it is only a matter of days now until I should be “safe” enough. It’s still recommended to limit contact and I will sleep downstairs separately and limit contact, but at least I will be home to see them!