i really felt like a zombie a few days after my surgery, and before my endo doubled my thyroid medication dose. i can not imagine having to go off my thyroid medication six weeks before having a scan. all you people who have done this have my sympathy and admiration! even the cytomel ( T-3) that they let you take for 4 out of the 6 weeks would not be enough for me, i do not think. of course, this will give the most accurate scan. but the quality of life is pretty bad, to say the least.
Thyrogen is an artificial TSH. it will raise your tsh without you having to be off of your medication. of course, some insurance companies do not cover it. i am praying that mine will. in other words, you need a pretty high tsh for the scan- you can either do it by stopping your medication, and feeling like a zombie for 6 weeks, or you can do it by taking two injections of thyrogen. my endo recommends the thyrogen, so i am going with her recommendation. she said that it was being done more often, in first scans, as well as follow up scans, with a pretty good success rate. you still have to do the low iodine diet for about 2 weeks prior to the scan.
i hope that i can get the I-131 at the hospital near my home. there are no small children at my house, and i have an upstairs( where i will be living) my husband can stay downstairs. we'll just " holler" back and forth. i have already thought about how i can keep from exposing him- food upstairs, books,etc. i have not read anything about this, and if anyone knows, please tell me, but how long are things that you touch "hot"? like if i sleep in my sons old bedroom, how long will his bed be hot? can i use the computer,etc. i guess they will explain all of that to me. i sure do not want to make anyone in my family sick, either. or any of my patients at work sick. i talk to a lot of people, and i am a "hugger", so i will wait to come back to work when i am sure that i can not expose anyone else to the I-131.
thanks again to all who wrote comments, and are reading my blog. i feel like i have made so many wonderful friends!
Just found your blog. I was diagnosed with Hurthle Cell Thyroid Cancer and was treated with radioactive iodine late April into May. You can have your computer with you. I kept myself in my bedroom with an attached bath. I was isolated for 2 days with my scan dose, and let out for 1 day and then got 125 mcI's of Radioactive iodine and was in isolation for 7 days after that. I wore gloves when I went downstairs, did my own cooking, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I went hypo for 3 weeks (3 weeks with Cytomel, and 3 weeks without), and my endo had me doing a low iodine diet for 3 weeks before as well. My scan showed just neck activity and no metastasis, so a 1 year scan is the plan right now.
ReplyDeletethank you sue for your information. i am glad that you had good news with your scan, and i hope that you continue to get good news!!
ReplyDeleteNatural thyroid supplements are comprised of natural ingredients which are not likely to cause harmful side effects.It can support other aspects of the body's functions aside from what is specifically being treated.
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