On Thursday they decided that I did indeed have Grave's Disease, and decided to give me a huge drink of radioactive iodine (again mixed with disgusting luke warm Ann Arbor tap water) to destroy my thyroid. Again, it made my stomach upset, but I managed not to throw up.
The dose was large enough that I have had to stay in seclusion for a few days. Monday was the first day I had been cleared to go to work, but poor Dan had to continue to sleep on the couch until Wednesday night so as to be protected from radiation exposure. I had to use my own bathroom (thank God we have two in the house) until then as well, flushing at least twice each time I used the toilet (the two main pathways my body will get rid of the extra radiation are spit and pee) until Wednesday as well. We replaced the shower curtain and toilet seat in the one I had been using just to be on the safe side. I had been using all paper and plasticware for eating purposes, and they went into a separate trash bag from the rest of the garbage.
They say I will actually feel a lot worse for the next 2-3 weeks, as my thyroid will release all of its stored hormones as it dies and all of my symptoms will probably get worse until I go into hypothyroidism, and then will be put on artificial thyroid hormones for the rest and my life and stabilize.
I will be taking a drug called propranolol for the next 2-3 months to protect my heart from palpitations. Every time they have taken my heart rate over the past year it has been racing along at around 100 beats a minute, and they do not want that to get worse from the thyroid surge as my thyroid dies. So far the drug seems to be keeping my heart rate down in the eighties, so that is big improvement.
To make things even worse for me, this month I have too go into work on day shift for the first time in more than twenty years. Needless to say, getting up at 5:30AM is not fun, and I hate never seeing any sunlight (as the sun is not up yet when I go into work, I have no window access, and the sun goes down only about an hour after I leave work). This is probably the very worst time for the extreme shift change to happen, and i am exhausted and unhappy with life right now.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
I'm so hot I'm radioactive...oh, wait...
Well today was the day I went in for the first round of serious tests for my thyroid, with round two tomorrow.
It was sort of a weird day.
Had to go in "bright" and early, at 0830, when it was still freaking dark out. I hate that crap. People should not have to get up before the sun. Of course, in the depths of the Michigan winter, that would not happen until what many would call mid morning. It was ten degrees Fahrenheit, too, and I also hate that crap.
First I waited in a waiting room with my husband. Then they called me away, and I got to sit in another waiting room for a while.
Then I got called in to an exam room, where they used a special camera with a lens that looked like a telescope to take the before pictures of the outside of my throat, and also measured the baseline radiation readings. (The after pictures will be taken tomorrow, after my thyroid has had 24 hours to suck up all of that tasty radioactive iodine).
And then I got the joy of drinking some low dose radioactive fluid, mixed with disgusting lukewarm Ann Arbor tap water (Ann Arbor has the worst tasting city water of any place I have ever been - depending on the day it can taste like anything from sewer to swamp. Oddly enough, Detroit has some of the best tasting city water anywhere - but I digress). So I drank it down. The radioactive stuff was in a plastic container put inside a lead lined thermos thingee.
Then I got called to another exam room where they pulled blood and then shot me up with a low dose of radiation. The shot came in a lead lined box.
I then got to wait in a third waiting area, while they gave my thyroid 15 minutes or so to suck up and trap the crap they injected me with.
Then they had me lie down on a table and they took films of my thyroid. Some of the films involved them putting a huge machine right over my head, with the cone pressed into my throat. Unfortunately, this made me have a panic attack, with made me hyperventilate and nearly faint and nearly vomit. But by closing my eyes and counting to one hundred over and over again (each image took about five minutes and I had to stay completely still for that time even though I wanted to slap aside the machine and run away screaming and throwing up and peeing in terror and panic and horror) I managed to remain sane and still.
I was told I could go home after the doctor looked at the films to make sure that they were usable. But I think he saw something in the films, as he decided to feel up my throat. So he put his hands around my neck and felt it by pressing his hands up against it, and had me drink small sips of more disgusting lukewarm Ann Arbor tap water (not good when your stomach is already trying to puke) to see what it felt like from the outside when I swallowed.
So after that, then they said the films were fine, and that I could leave.
We got the hell out of there and started driving home, and was still feeling really queasy. But I was trying really hard not to throw up, as who wants radioactive vomit all over themselves and their car? Even though it was still very cold, I had to crack the car window open for the cold air as it helped calm my stomach, and my husband had to pull over in city parks a couple of times when I started gagging. I did manage not to throw up, which was good. That way my tests tomorrow will not be messed up, plus the city did not have to call out a hazmat team to clean up radioactive puke in a city park.
This took all morning, and they had originally told me I would not have to miss work (I talked to my supervisor as soon as nuclear medicine called me to tell me about my appointment and arranged to have the day off anyway, thank God, as there was no way I could have gone into work after that panic attack or with a stomach that upset) or a driver (my husband volunteered anyway, thank God).
Round two will be tomorrow morning, again bad and early and dark. They will use the telescope thingee to take more pictures of the outside of my throat and read the radiation levels. And then I will get to see the endocrinologist on staff with the nuclear medicine department.
I am really hoping there will be no more panic attack inducing stuff.
It was sort of a weird day.
Had to go in "bright" and early, at 0830, when it was still freaking dark out. I hate that crap. People should not have to get up before the sun. Of course, in the depths of the Michigan winter, that would not happen until what many would call mid morning. It was ten degrees Fahrenheit, too, and I also hate that crap.
First I waited in a waiting room with my husband. Then they called me away, and I got to sit in another waiting room for a while.
Then I got called in to an exam room, where they used a special camera with a lens that looked like a telescope to take the before pictures of the outside of my throat, and also measured the baseline radiation readings. (The after pictures will be taken tomorrow, after my thyroid has had 24 hours to suck up all of that tasty radioactive iodine).
And then I got the joy of drinking some low dose radioactive fluid, mixed with disgusting lukewarm Ann Arbor tap water (Ann Arbor has the worst tasting city water of any place I have ever been - depending on the day it can taste like anything from sewer to swamp. Oddly enough, Detroit has some of the best tasting city water anywhere - but I digress). So I drank it down. The radioactive stuff was in a plastic container put inside a lead lined thermos thingee.
Then I got called to another exam room where they pulled blood and then shot me up with a low dose of radiation. The shot came in a lead lined box.
I then got to wait in a third waiting area, while they gave my thyroid 15 minutes or so to suck up and trap the crap they injected me with.
Then they had me lie down on a table and they took films of my thyroid. Some of the films involved them putting a huge machine right over my head, with the cone pressed into my throat. Unfortunately, this made me have a panic attack, with made me hyperventilate and nearly faint and nearly vomit. But by closing my eyes and counting to one hundred over and over again (each image took about five minutes and I had to stay completely still for that time even though I wanted to slap aside the machine and run away screaming and throwing up and peeing in terror and panic and horror) I managed to remain sane and still.
I was told I could go home after the doctor looked at the films to make sure that they were usable. But I think he saw something in the films, as he decided to feel up my throat. So he put his hands around my neck and felt it by pressing his hands up against it, and had me drink small sips of more disgusting lukewarm Ann Arbor tap water (not good when your stomach is already trying to puke) to see what it felt like from the outside when I swallowed.
So after that, then they said the films were fine, and that I could leave.
We got the hell out of there and started driving home, and was still feeling really queasy. But I was trying really hard not to throw up, as who wants radioactive vomit all over themselves and their car? Even though it was still very cold, I had to crack the car window open for the cold air as it helped calm my stomach, and my husband had to pull over in city parks a couple of times when I started gagging. I did manage not to throw up, which was good. That way my tests tomorrow will not be messed up, plus the city did not have to call out a hazmat team to clean up radioactive puke in a city park.
This took all morning, and they had originally told me I would not have to miss work (I talked to my supervisor as soon as nuclear medicine called me to tell me about my appointment and arranged to have the day off anyway, thank God, as there was no way I could have gone into work after that panic attack or with a stomach that upset) or a driver (my husband volunteered anyway, thank God).
Round two will be tomorrow morning, again bad and early and dark. They will use the telescope thingee to take more pictures of the outside of my throat and read the radiation levels. And then I will get to see the endocrinologist on staff with the nuclear medicine department.
I am really hoping there will be no more panic attack inducing stuff.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year!!!
And the Wings came through for us all, winning the Winter Classic in Chicago! We Michiganders can always count on our beloved Red Wings!
Spent a relaxing day at home, with family. We watched the Wings, watched The Dark Knight, and had make your own submarine sandwich night, and all ate too much.
But the old superstition says that if you start out the new year with a feast with the people that you love, you will have a prosperous year.
May it be so!
And may we all (especially Steven with his post concussion syndrome) and I (with the thyroid issues) have a much healthier year as well!
Spent a relaxing day at home, with family. We watched the Wings, watched The Dark Knight, and had make your own submarine sandwich night, and all ate too much.
But the old superstition says that if you start out the new year with a feast with the people that you love, you will have a prosperous year.
May it be so!
And may we all (especially Steven with his post concussion syndrome) and I (with the thyroid issues) have a much healthier year as well!
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