So Far, So Good

It's been over 24 hours of being radioactive, and things have been going pretty well.

The biggest issue ended up revolving around a pregnancy test.  They won't do the treatment if you're pregnant, so you have to have a pregnancy test, but it has to be done within a certain number of hours of when you would get the radiation.  Since I was getting my dose on Wednesday, this meant that my test needed to be Sunday or later.  I also had to have a pregnancy test done before they would administer my Thyrogen injections, which started on Monday.  So I really needed to have the test done on Sunday, but the lab where I needed to go is closed on Sundays.  So I went on Saturday so I could get my injections, fully aware that this meant that when I went for my pre-scan on Tuesday, they would need to do another test.

I got my injections Monday and Tuesday mornings without any trouble, and when I arrived at the nuclear medicine department Tuesday afternoon, I told them that I needed to have another pregnancy test done since I wasn't able to get it within the window they wanted.  The nurses/technicians didn't want to have to wait for the results of blood work, so they went to talk to a couple people higher up.  One guy (who I had spoken to on the phone about the scheduling and timing) got very snippy about it, complaining that I hadn't followed his directions even though he "explained it all very clearly on the phone".  I got annoyed because he had told me that if I got the test before Sunday, I'd have to get another one on Tuesday and that's what I was ready to do!  After much discussion with people at various levels up to the radiation safety officer, they decided that it would be acceptable to document that in addition to my negative test from Saturday, I was providing verbal confirmation that I could not have become pregnant since then.

After taking the tracer dose and getting a full body scan, I went home.  On Wednesday morning, I got another full body scan done and they measured my uptake level (4%).  Based on their measurements, they calculated out a dose of 100 mCi.  The pills are made at a radiopharmacy in a neighboring town, so they had to call it in and wait for it to be driven over.  During the wait, I had a talk with a doctor and regarding the medical aspects and implications of the treatment and a talk with a physicist regarding all the safety precautions that I'd need to follow because for a short time, I'd be spraying radiation around "like an open x-ray tube".  After the pill showed up, 3 people had to watch and sign off that I had taken it, and then I was sent home.

So for a few days, I'm camped out at the other end of the house from my husband, with my own bedroom and bathroom.  Since the first couple days is when the most excretion occurs, I've been mainly keeping to my room so as to not contaminate the rest of the house, making quick trips to the kitchen whenever I need food.  I've mostly been sleeping and reading, with some sudoku thrown in for variety. I've felt mostly normal too, which is good.  I felt like I had a bad cold when I woke up (sore throat, stuffy, achy, etc.) but that's mostly gone now.  My stomach has also felt a little on edge on and off throughout the day - not nauseous, but more like ... tentative.  Either could be treatment related or not.  I think the stomach might have more to do with the fact that I was allowed to go off the diet today and so I had dairy products for the first time in almost 4 weeks.  My stomach might not approve of that, but my taste buds sure did!

I go back for a follow-up scan on the 30th, and I have to get my thyroglobulin and TSH levels checked next week as well.  And then we'll see how things go from there!