I love this graphic (a combo of a couple clip art designs mashed together by moi) because to me the image portrays strength, confidence, and a certain sass but also the intimidation, fear, and uncertainty that comes with having a radioactive chemical coursing through your body.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I will get my scan dose of RAI (about 3-5 mCi) at the hospital in the morning and then I will come home.
Thursday morning I will return to the hospital to get my scan at 7am. Then I will review my scan with the Nuc Med Dr at 8am. The scan should tell us how much thyroid tissue I still have left in my body. Based on the amount of thyroid tissue left, he will determine the treatment dose of RAI (usually 100-200 mCi) which he will then prepare and at 1pm I'm scheduled to swallow the dose. From what I've heard, I will have to stay there for a couple hours to make sure there are no immediate side effects that would require a hazmat team, then I will be released to go home. Well I'm not going home exactly… but I will be free to go and will be in isolation from everyone for 7 days and then I will be isolating from pregnant people and kids for another week.
Sometime during my isolation period, I will be scheduled for my post-treatment scan which should give us a very clear (more sensitive because of the high amount of RAI) picture where any remaining thyroid tissue is – goal is to see uptake only in the thyroid bed area. If we see anything in the jaw, chest, spine, or lung area we could be looking at metastasis to the lymph nodes, bones, or lungs.
So it all begins tomorrow and then we wait once again!
Bon chance!
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