Next Week!
First off, I got a good report from my surgeon on Wednesday….I will do a follow-up with him in six weeks. I also saw my Endocrinologist on Wednesday. It was a fairly quick assessment. Some things will probably start moving into place next week. Monday AM, I will go in for a blood test, which should be returned Tuesday. If my thyroid levels are low enough, he will then refer me to a General Nuclear Medicine doctor to get the pill on Wednesday. After that, I will go home and stay away from others for three days. (Since it is radioactive iodine – any thyroid cells/tissues remaining will absorb it and die). The rest is passed through the body. I think the worst of the treatment is just fatigue and swollen salivary glands. (More on that here — http://www.thyca.org/rai.htm) If my thyroid count is not low enough, they continue testing my blood every two days until it is low enough. In order to help make my body starved for iodine, I have been on a low-iodine diet for the past week, which is no easy feat. No dairy or anything from the sea. Salt is okay if it not iodized. Since you can’t be sure if restaurant or processed foods contain iodized salt, I have been making a lot of things from scratch!!!
Well, I will update again next week! Have a great weekend!
Kathleen