Thursday, August 11, 2011

one down, one to go.....

my doctor's nurse called me today( of course i was at work) and told me the good news. MY SCAN WAS NEGATIVE!! she is sending me a copy of the report- for my records. i am not sure if it will contain any information that will be useful later on, but i am still  going to put it with my other test results. i am not sure if i will have to have another scan done in a year? or later? the nurse was not sure. but at the end of next month, i have to have an ultrasound of my neck. my doctor says that she likes ultrasounds of the neck and blood work( checking for thyroglobulin/thy ab ) because  the few cases that required additional treatment( at least in her practice) were diagnosed that way. i am going to ask her about scans when i see her in september.

the blood work will take a few more days to come back. i am so thankful that she called me with the scan results, instead of waiting on the blood work. i had  the same blood test done just a few weeks ago, so i am not expecting it to be very different. i should not have to go home from work when she calls me, in other words.

i can honestly say, that dealing with the anxiety of testing was the worst part of this process for me. being on the LID was actually good for me- i found out that i am lactose intolerant, and have changed my diet. my stomach is so happy with me now! my voice is a little bit better,too. perhaps the reaction to the lactose in my diet was causing a little reflux and affecting my voice? just a theory i have, but it is possible. with the exception of a little nausea after the tracer dose( again, not sure if it was the medicine or lack of food), and a few needles sticks( one not so good) here and there, the physical part of the scan was not too  bad.

someone asked me if i feel like i have a dark cloud hanging over my head. wow. i am not sure if i would ask a cancer patient that or not, but a good question i guess. actually, i do not- most of the time. i feel a little bit of a cloud when testing time comes around. mostly, i just try to get on with my "new normal" life and try to be happy. that is all any of us can do, really. i have tried to make this into a positive experience- by blogging, changing my lifestyle/diet and just enjoying all of the good things that come my way. it has been a little over a year since my surgery/chemo and i still feel that way. i think that this has changed me forever, and this  is not a bad thing.

so, one down and one to go. i think that i am going to be o.k. now. i will let everyone know when my blood work results come back. until then, you can find me in my zumba class.  you will recognize me because i will be the one wearing a pink belly scarf , dancing my heart out.

3 comments:

  1. Good to hear Bea!!!! Stay positive :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. So happy to hear of your good results so far! Thanks for your reminder to use our cancer history to rewrite our better lives.
    I just finished a book about the body's need for iodine & the dr says that women who've had radioactive iodine treatment have a greater chance of breast cancer! So that's another reason to stay on top of the mammogram schedule. He suggests taking the proper amount of iodine to help cleanse the toxins from our systems that inhibit the absorption of iodine. Interesting!
    We're all rejoicing with you Bea!
    love & blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  3. thank you both for your kind comments! about the breast cancer/thyroid cancer " link". sara rosenthal mentions that issue in her book, the thyroid cancer book. she has researched this issue and there is a link to an article that she has written: http://www.thyroidfoundation.org/breastcancerfears.htm. the whole issue came up from a study done in 2000 finding an association between women under 40 who had RAI treatment for thyroid cancer and an increased incidence of breast cancer. ms. rosenthal says that( she is a thyroid cancer survivor herself) that she would still choose to have the RAI and save her life than not have the treatment. we just all need to be diligent about our yearly mammograms and breast checks. good point, bobette! thanks for bringing it up.

    ReplyDelete