My day of appointments Wednesday was B"H fine though exhausting and left me in a lot of pain. It seems that everyone (except me) is in agreement that we need to go ahead with the radio active iodine treatment and isolation from my family again. I mean, I agree to do it since they say I must but I don't want to and knowing what I am going into makes me even more anxious about it.
The room was airless, smelled bad and had no curtain. The huge (sealed) window faced right into a busy glass hallway to the ER. They kept on bringing my pajamas that didn't fit (which with no curtain was just not fun). My face swelled up like a chipmunk because my salivary glands were upset and continued to do so off and on for over a year after the treatment. It was painful, and considering the fact that my brother had salivary gland cancer last year, more than a bit scary as well. The RAI increases my risk of salivary gland cancer. It increases my risk of breast cancer, colon cancer (which took my father's life) and other cancers as well.
It took months for my blood counts to come back to normal and for my to stop being nauseated and even more exhausted that I normal am after the last RAI treatment. I had to be off of my thyroid medication for weeks before and was hypothyroid for quite a while after. It took almost two months for my thyroid medication to kick back in.
All of that is on top of being away from my family for 8-10days because I am dangerous to them. I need to find a place to stay after the four days inpatient when I am most radioactive before I can go home. Somewhere where I have my own bathroom and will not be in contact with children or pregnant women.
And it doesn't generally do much for nodes in the neck, so if there are any more cancerous nodes, which no one can say there aren't, it won't even get rid of the cancer.
I need to call my oncologist and get an isolation date but I am having trouble making the call. I keep on thinking I will do it at a different time of day when it might be more convenient for her, but really, how can I know? Either she will answer or not. Either she will take care of it when I call, tell me to call back later or ask me to come in. Waiting to call doesn't make a lot of sense.
Sunday. IY"H Sunday I will press the call button and stop over thinking and avoiding this, whether I want to or not.
I have found that every hospital has their different rules for isolation after RAI. I had 100mcg of RAI and was isolated for three days until the Geiger counter read 4, then I went home. I was told to stay away from my family and had regulations for washing, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnother hospital here doesn't isolate you at all, gives you the dose and tells you to check into a hotel by yourself. I could NOT do that. I hated the thought of a pregnant woman renting the room the day after I left.
The precautions and the isolation are hard to endure, but worth it for the rest of the family. Hoping it goes well for you!
just tell me what i can do to help-and if i can-i am there for you.
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