I actually really like that song, and Imagine Dragons in general. The video itself though...very interesting.
So that's where you've been hiding, Lou Diamond Philipps.
Today is the day of my radioactive iodine treatment, almost exactly 6 weeks after my total thyroidectomy. I've already taken the RAI and am coming to you live from my isolation room (aka my bedroom at my parents' house). But first, I'll bring you back to a few days ago.
On Wednesday morning, my first day off of work, I woke up and headed to my endocrinologists office to receive my first of two Thyrogen injections. In a small minority of patients, side effects can include headache and nausea. While I was super worried that I might experience that, all I got was some arm muscle soreness, akin to a flu shot.
That's right, I said arm muscle soreness. For some reason, despite online documentation saying that the injections were to occur in the buttocks, UCLA Endocrinology just injects into the arms. Woohoo! So I got my Wednesday shot in my right arm, and went home, packing and prepping for my isolation at home. Emily came over and cooked me a ton of low iodine pasta, since I have to stay on the LID through Sunday night.
On Thursday morning, I set out to get my second shot. I arrived at the office to see a fire drill taking place; I ended up getting the shot 30 minutes later than my appointment time. Oh well.
On Wednesday morning, my first day off of work, I woke up and headed to my endocrinologists office to receive my first of two Thyrogen injections. In a small minority of patients, side effects can include headache and nausea. While I was super worried that I might experience that, all I got was some arm muscle soreness, akin to a flu shot.
That's right, I said arm muscle soreness. For some reason, despite online documentation saying that the injections were to occur in the buttocks, UCLA Endocrinology just injects into the arms. Woohoo! So I got my Wednesday shot in my right arm, and went home, packing and prepping for my isolation at home. Emily came over and cooked me a ton of low iodine pasta, since I have to stay on the LID through Sunday night.
On Thursday morning, I set out to get my second shot. I arrived at the office to see a fire drill taking place; I ended up getting the shot 30 minutes later than my appointment time. Oh well.
An alarming site at the UCLA medical building, especially for a drill.
After that, I got a dental cleaning done (some online literature suggested getting a dental cleaning done before RAI, for reasons that will be evident later), and went to my parents house, had dinner, and rested up for my big date with destiny.
My appointment had somehow been moved to 10am (formerly 11am), and the only reason I even realized this was because UCLA left me a voicemail appointment reminder. Yikes, good thing they called. And prior to the appointment with nuclear medicine, I had to get my blood drawn at the walk-in UCLA lab. So, I woke up around 5am and had breakfast around 5:30am. Why so early? The doctor had told me not to eat anything for about 4 hours before the appointment.
Finishing breakfast at 6am, I got ready and left. I couldn't eat anything for about 4 hours before taking the RAI, hence the early start to my day. After a quick detour to my apartment to pick up a few things I had forgotten, I got to the UCLA lab at around 8:30am. I ended up waiting almost 45 minutes, but finally got my blood drawn and walked across the street to the main UCLA Santa Monica hospital, where the nuclear medicine department was located.
The initial blood draw was ordered by the nuclear medicine doctor to get a baseline measurement on two things: TSH and Thyroglobulin. TSH, which I explained in my previous post, was at this point undoubtedly elevated due to the Thyrogen shots, so this test just acted as a double-check of that. Thyroglobulin is something I haven't explained before, but it's pretty simple.
Thyroglobulin is an easily detectable protein that any active thyroid cells produce and release into the blood. My reading a few weeks ago was 1.3, which is quite low, but after RAI, that number is expected to decrease even more, perhaps to an undetectable level. Thyroglobulin serves as a very easy cancer marker to test for; if any thyroid cancer cells return, then they too (like healthy thyroid cells) will release thyroglobulin, so any significant spike in that number will indicate a recurrence.
I walked into the reception area for nuclear medicine about 40 minutes early, got checked in, and started to wait. I guess they were ready for me, because by about 9:30am, they called me in.
My appointment had somehow been moved to 10am (formerly 11am), and the only reason I even realized this was because UCLA left me a voicemail appointment reminder. Yikes, good thing they called. And prior to the appointment with nuclear medicine, I had to get my blood drawn at the walk-in UCLA lab. So, I woke up around 5am and had breakfast around 5:30am. Why so early? The doctor had told me not to eat anything for about 4 hours before the appointment.
Finishing breakfast at 6am, I got ready and left. I couldn't eat anything for about 4 hours before taking the RAI, hence the early start to my day. After a quick detour to my apartment to pick up a few things I had forgotten, I got to the UCLA lab at around 8:30am. I ended up waiting almost 45 minutes, but finally got my blood drawn and walked across the street to the main UCLA Santa Monica hospital, where the nuclear medicine department was located.
The initial blood draw was ordered by the nuclear medicine doctor to get a baseline measurement on two things: TSH and Thyroglobulin. TSH, which I explained in my previous post, was at this point undoubtedly elevated due to the Thyrogen shots, so this test just acted as a double-check of that. Thyroglobulin is something I haven't explained before, but it's pretty simple.
Thyroglobulin is an easily detectable protein that any active thyroid cells produce and release into the blood. My reading a few weeks ago was 1.3, which is quite low, but after RAI, that number is expected to decrease even more, perhaps to an undetectable level. Thyroglobulin serves as a very easy cancer marker to test for; if any thyroid cancer cells return, then they too (like healthy thyroid cells) will release thyroglobulin, so any significant spike in that number will indicate a recurrence.
I walked into the reception area for nuclear medicine about 40 minutes early, got checked in, and started to wait. I guess they were ready for me, because by about 9:30am, they called me in.
From stories I've heard, the next steps would involve people in hazmat suits handing me a pill and running away from me while I swallow the pill. I guess safety standards have relaxed in recent years, because two nurses met with me in the hallway of the nuclear medicine area, with the lead container already sitting on tray. I had a seat, talked to Dr. Gupta about some last-minute safety questions that I had, signed a form, and then it was go time.
This is where I keep my medicine. Excessive?
I swallowed the pill with a whole glass of water and left. Seriously. It was that anti-climactic.
I jumped into my car while chugging water and headed home. Luckily, my sister had given me this nifty gift to store maximum water:
Say hello to my Bubba.
Seriously, the brand name is Bubba. Why did I drink so much water? I'll post more later this weekend about the joys of nuclear isolation, and the safety precautions I have to take to get all the unneeded radioactivity out of me ASAP.
Why couldn't the pill have come in this form???
Until then...
-W
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