T - 1 Day - Let the Countdown to Radioactive Girl Begin!

Today I focused on getting the last of the stuff moved out of the red room and it somewhat organized. Jeff helps where he can but for the most part this is all stuff I have to sort through. My stuff, Rich's stuff, mine and Rich's stuff. And the fact that I can only go a few hours and then have to take a break is what seems like keeps this dragging on forever. But I can actually see an end to it.

I tackled the the closet and then reclaimed the bed. Other than a few little touch ups tomorrow and sheets and stuff back on the bed I'm calling it done! For the purpose of isolation that is!

At least some good will come of this. We've reclaimed this room for actual usableness (is that a word? Is now! LOL) and I put together 3 boxes to go to charity. Two over stuff boxes of clothing and one of "stuff."

This tired girl is going to bed. Tomorrow is a big day.

Day 16-21

So now we wait. Hopefully the lab results will come back to day and everything will be where they want it.

Sure enough the nurse calls later in the afternoon saying that my TSH levels are within range of where Dr. Blevins wants them so he has ordered my radioactive iodine treatment. The orders have been sent over to radiology guys and they will be contacting me to arrange the treatment.

Well, I guess we are doing this! And I need an isolation room. Hmmmmmm....the only other room with a bed is the red room and well, it's been used as a ransacked storage room (as has blue room) for........ 11 years??? Guess I better go check it out and start formulating a plan of attack.

I decide to be brutal. Do I really need it? Rich's items are really the hardest. Were they things he loved or things he'd picked up that someone had left behind in an apartment when he lived in Baytown? A lot of things we had already moved out of the boxes and into every day life so boxes just needed to be consolidated. Oh this is tiring.

A lot goes to trash. Bag after bag after bag goes to the trash bin and box after box gets tossed out the window.

Finally the radiology scheduler calls! She has two appointment options for my treatment, Friday, April 16, or Tuesday, April 20. Since Jeff has a meeting he HAS to attend and a recording session with the band on Friday looks like Tuesday is the better option. So I schedule for Tuesday to receive my radiation pills and setup to have my follow up scans on the following Monday (April 26).

Well, this pushes my return to work back. I feel bad. It's tough on the team when they are a person down. But this will get the treatment done and over with so that it will make life easier down the road. The good thing is at least I'm not having to stop meds, having to wait for my levels to rise then doing the treatment.

Okay, back to the room. I have a bed and a dresser in there that belong to my great-aunt Sallie. It's the same bed I slept in when we lived on Pine Street in Georgetown, my grandparents old house. We lived there after we moved off the dairy before we moved to where Mom and Dad are now. That bedroom set is at least 60-65 years old if not older.

Anyway, a night stand and a chair would be nice. Something more to sit on than just the bed. It would be nice to finish off the window box. Rich built the frame work and never made a lid for it. But I'm not going to push it. Just getting this room cleared out is going to be chore enough.

Whoohooo! Chair found! A beautiful 70's harvest gold floral print wingback chair! It's an awesome chair but clashes hideously with...EVERYTHING! But then, that's what slipcovers are for! LOL!!!!

More bags and boxes gone from the room. Wow...there's a floor in there!

Sweet! Night stand found! OMG it's the same style that my mom had and Jeff's parent's had them too! LOL!!!

Goodwill has def paid off. I paid way more for the chair then I should have but it is in really good condition.

Huh...I have way too many unfinished crafts. And apparently I was big on decorating for Christmas at one time. I have a ton of Christmas stuff I've never used and a ton of stuff I haven't used in...huh? When did Tony spend Christmas with us? '98? '99?

This is tiring. I get tired easily. I'm usually good for a few hours and then I have to rest for a while. I just have to hold out for a little bit longer and then I can start my meds and eat. The room is starting to come together nicely.

Day 15 - Lab Day

Well today I have to have blood work done to see where my TSH is at. TSH stands for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone. If my levels are high enough they will push forward with my radioactive iodine (I-131/RAI) treatment. Since it is believed that the cancer was still well contained within the thyroid and had not spread they want to move forward with the treatment before I start any thyroid replacement meds. If I start the meds before the treatment I'd have to stop them and be off of them until my they cleared out of my body and my TSH levels were able to rise. Plus since they are so certain this was caught early get the treatment done and get one with LIFE! I like that idea. A lot.

So we head into Austin. Jeff needs to spend a little time at the office checking in and seeing how his team is doing. So I drop him off and head over to the doctors office to see the vampiress. Man, I have not driven in SO long. It was kind of weird. I get over to the office and get the blood draw all done. But this time it's late mid-morning and I am starving! I went in fasting because I didn't know if I needed to be or not so I figured better safe than sorry. I knew there was a grocery store near by so I went over there. Turns out it was a Randall's. Smallest store I have been in in a LONG time. And they didn't have crap. Well let's just say at least nothing I could quickly and easily fit into the "low-iodine" plan. So I ended up getting some to-go peanut butter cups and some apple slices and a peach. I spent OVER $8. Insane! But I was really needing something badly so I slide my card. Randall's has always been higher than anywhere else and this just proved it. And let me tell you that peach was HORRID! All bruised and nasty. It looked great but it was far from it....far from it! So I ate about an apples worth of the slices and a whole little thing of the peanut butter. I wanted some milk something bad, and would have normally be what I went for...but couldn't.

So I started winding my way over to Burnet road and back up to Jeff's office. We headed down to the HAM store to pick up a couple of items and then headed home. But being the awesome hubby that he is he could tell I was either hungry, tired or both. Despite how much I said I wasn't. Everything I said was followed by "I don't know." We head over to Opal Divine's. I know I can get a salad there that will fit well within the guidelines I have to follow.

Afterwards we run a couple of errands and head home. I'm one tired girl and ready for a nap.

The Shopping List

So what WAS on that list? Well here it is. This was stuff that focused on just me, not the family as a whole. Those items were on a different list. All items purchased were reviewed for whether or not they would/could fit in the guidelines of the low-iodine diet.

Almond milk

Ezekiel bread

Fresh chicken

Almonds - unsalted

Cashews - unsalted

Walnuts - unsalted

Pistachios - unsalted - good luck finding these easily

Hazelnuts - unsalted

Nut butters - unsalted

fresh veggies - no spinach

fresh fruits

Pasta with no salt or eggs

potatoes

Cereal -

cream of wheat

Oatmeal

Sorbet - natural, not colors or salt added

7-Up

Honey

Apple sauce

Unsalted Matzo crackers

“Butter” - if made with olive oil and no salt

salad vinegar

salad oils

Orzo

garlic

Avacado

DAY 10-14

So I got a shopping list together and we went shopping. We really hadn't done a full grocery shopping trip in a while so it took a little while. By the time we got done, home, and unloaded I was a tired girl. So we put away the things that needed to be refrigerated right away and the rest could wait until tomorrow.

I made the portobello mushrooms and chicken recipe from the low iodine cookbook. I added some extra veggies to it and it was REALLY yummy.

I've kind of spent these days learning to read myself again. Senses are not my norm. My lungs are pretty much cleared and opened back up. I still work on my deep breathing. It really sucks in the beginning but it is a very important necessary thing. Americans and westerners in general tend to be very shallow breathers. With every surgery or hospitalization I've had as an adult I've always tried to put deep breathing first. Not only do you get more oxygen to your cells but you help keep your lungs open and able to clear themselves better after being on machines, whether you were tubed and breathing on your own for airway management or were tube and the machines were breathing for you. The sooner you can get your lung happy, the sooner you'll be back to happy. Anyway...

I'm having to relearn myself. What am I feeling? Am I tired? Am I hungry? If I don't feel hungry, when was the last time I ate? What did I eat? What was I doing? Hey look, a bunny....

Every thing is a new feeling. And Jeff tends to get it right about half an hour before I do. By the time I figure it out I seem to be standing in the doorway of the study saying "I don't know, I don't know...I danna no." I either need to eat, rest, or take a nap or a combo of all three.

I have found that it takes me a few hours to get going in the morning. But once I do I feel pretty great for about 2-3 hours. And even if I don't do anything more than shuffle through some stuff, go let the chickens out or watch the deer in the yard, after a few hours I need to chill.

I still have to remember that I am just a week out from having surgery. My body is still healing an settling into the fact that I no longer have a thyroid running things. It's looking for hormones that are no longer present. Let's cross our fingers that the blood work next week comes out favorably.

Day 9 - Low Iodine Diet

Okay so, Dr. Blevins said I needed to start the low iodine diet so that when I do get to my radioactive iodine (I-131) treatment if there are any thyroid cells in my body they will be "starved" of iodine and will gobble up the radioactive stuff. That's basically the gist of it anyway. Now, this is a LOW iodine diet, not NO iodine so a little is okay. Iodine is naturally found in foods. Some have more than others but is not something that is labeled so it's not really a easy thing to measure. I have a feeling this will become a major pain in the buttocks!

So just what does this involve? Well, let's take a look shall we...this is taken from ThyCa.org (with commentary from me). This is not to be considered the complete list and is listed to give an idea of what is involved with this diet. For the complete list, with the removed iodine info counts please visit www.thyca.org and review the low iodine diet.

Things to AVOID

• Iodized salt and sea salt and any foods containing iodized salt or sea salt. Non-iodized salt may be used. For example, Kosher salt is okay unless the label says that it is iodized or sea salt.The reason to avoid sea salt is that all products from the ocean tend to be high in iodine. One teaspoon of iodized salt has 400 mcg of iodine.
• Seafood and sea products (fish, shellfish, seaweed, seaweed tablets, kelp). These are all very high in iodine and should be avoided.
• Foods or products that contain these sea-based additives: carrageenan, agar-agar, algin, alginate, nori (these food additives are seaweed by-products). Carregeenan I ran into in my non-dairy coffee creamer...meh
• Dairy products (milk, cheese, cream, yogurt, butter, ice cream, powdered dairy creamers, whey, casein, other dairy products). Note: Nondairy creamers often have iodine-containing ingredients, too. A study published in 2004 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism reported on tests of 18 brands of milk in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It reported that 250 ml of milk (about 8 ounces, or 1 cup, or 16 Tablespoons) contained from 88 to 168 micrograms of iodine and averaged 115 mcg. It noted that sources of iodine in milk include iodine in cattle feed, the products containing iodine used to clean teats and udders, and a small amount from equipment cleaning products. (Some low-iodine diets allow very small amounts of milk or other dairy, if not listed in the first three ingredients on a label. There is no dairy in any of the recipes in they thyca cookbook.) Growing up with a ranching and dairy family yeah I know exactly what's involved so...yeah...I may just kill someone without my Moo juice man!
• Egg yolks or whole eggs or foods containing whole eggs. Egg whites are acceptable, because they contain little or no iodine. (Some low- iodine diets allow foods with very small amounts of eggs, if not listed in the first three ingredients on a label.) Okay this one I draw the line at, I tend to have allergic reactions to JUST egg whites, this is going to be a long enough ordeal without having to deal with the nauseousness of JUST egg whites. Plus my eggs come from my hens so...if I want eggs, I'm eaten me MY eggs! I'll be good else where!
• Commercial bakery products. Avoid bread products that contain iodine/iodate dough conditioners (usually small bakery breads are safe; it’s best to bake it yourself or substitute with Matzos). If you read labels closely, you may also be able to find crackers made only with flour and water. Matzos...so I can have communion crackers? Awesome!
• Red Dye #3. However, Red Dye #40 is OK. We suggest that you avoid red, orange, or brown processed food, pills, and capsules. Many red, red-orange, and brown food dyes contain iodine and should be avoided. The problem with food colors is specific to Red Dye FD&C #3 (erythrosine) ONLY. However, the problem is that some food labels do not specify which red dyes are used. Better safe than sorry. Please always check with your physician.
• Most Chocolate (for its milk content). Cocoa powder and some dark chocolates are permitted. Check the label for other ingredients not allowed on the low-iodine diet. The ThyCa cookbook has recipes with permitted chocolate. NOOOOOO! Not my chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, I'm a really dark chocolate girl, but I will give it up to have an egg if I need/want it.
• Some Molasses. Avoid if sulfured or blackstrap, which is concentrated and has a bitter taste. It's okay to use the milder, fairly sweet unsulfured molasses usually used in cooking and that is the type most often available in grocery stores in the USA. Sulfur is not related to iodine.
• Soybeans and most soy products (soy sauce, soy milk, tofu). However, soy oil and soy lecithin are both okay. All this time "health experts" and the like have been pushing soy and for someone with a thyroid condition it's one food that should be avoided. Buggers
• Some beans besides soybeans.The National Institutes of Health diet says to avoid these beans: red kidney beans, lima beans, navy beans, pinto beans, and cowpeas. So that leaves me black beans and anasazis and lentils...okay I'll survive.
• Some diets diets say to avoid rhubarb and potato skins. The inside of the potato is fine. Wish I had some of Rich's mom's green rhubarb!
• Iodine-Containing Vitamins, and Food Supplements. Also products containing iodate or iodide. Check the label and ingredients and discontinue completely if iodine is included. Most vitamins with minerals contain iodine. I gave up trying to find one that didn't have it
• If you are taking a Medication that contains iodine, check with your physician.

These items should be "LIMITED"

• Fresh meats. Up to 5 ounces per day of fresh meats such as chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and veal are fine. Whole cuts tend to contain less iodine than do ground meats. Also, check the package label on meats, including whole turkeys, turkey breasts, turkey cutlets, chicken, and all pork products. Many food makers inject broths into turkey or chicken or pork. The label may not indicate whether the broth contains iodized salt. If you are not sure, go to your local butcher for fresh turkey, pork, or chicken. Well I have fresh beef from our ranch so I KNOW where that meat came from. The pork is from wild hogs at the ranch so I'm pretty sure I know what they've been eating too, so other than poultry I'm good to go!
• Grains, cereals. Up to 4 servings per day of grains, cereals, pasta, and breads without iodine-containing ingredients are fine on this diet. The iodine content depends on the iodine content of the region where the grain was grown. Homemade baked goods and cereals are best on this diet. If you use processed foods, read the labels carefully to avoid iodine-containing ingredients. Also, remember that labels are not always accurate or up to date. GREAT
• Rices. Like grains, rices vary in the amount of iodine depending on the region where grown, so rice should be eaten only in limited amounts. Some low-iodine diets recommend avoiding rice. Basmati rice has been mentioned as the best for the diet. So...no sushi

Also...Although restaurants generally use non-iodized salt, it is not possible to know whether a particular restaurant is using iodized salt or sea salt. The manager or serving staff may not know what product is being used, or whether butter or other dairy products are present in foods. The ingredients that chain and fast-food restaurants use may change.
Therefore, we suggest that you avoid restaurant foods other than plain juices or soft drinks, or the inside of a plain baked potato. For most restaurant foods, there is no reasonable way to determine which restaurants use iodized salt. Avoid if in doubt. So...I can have an undressed baked potato and tea. What about a salad menu? Oh wait...let's not jump ahead.

So, what can I have?

Mostly fresh, low-fat, low-calorie foods. Because of this, following this diet greatly reduces the tendency to gain weight while hypothyroid. That is a plus.

The following foods and ingredients are fine to eat. You do not need to limit the quantity, except as noted.

• Fresh fruits and fruit juices, except rhubarb, maraschino cherries (if they contain Red Dye #3), and fruit cocktail with maraschino cherries.
• Vegetables, preferably raw and fresh-cooked or frozen without salt. (But not skins of potatoes, soybeans, and, according to the NIH diet, some other beans like pinto, lima, navy, red kidney, cowpeas).
• Unsalted nuts and unsalted nut butters.
• Grain/cereal products in moderate amounts (see above).
• Fresh chicken, beef, and other meats in moderate amounts (see above).
• Sugar, jelly, honey, maple syrup, and unsulfured molasses.
• Black pepper and fresh or dried herbs.
• All vegetable oils. Salad dressings provided they contain only allowed ingredients.
• Homemade foods (see the free Low-Iodine Cookbook from the ThyCa web site.) The Chicken and portabella mushroom dish I fixed was nummmy!
• Cola, diet cola, lemonade, sodas (except those with Red Dye #3), non-instant coffee and tea, beer, wine, other alcohol.

Food prepared from fresh meats, fresh poultry, fresh or frozen vegetables, and fresh fruits should be fine for this diet, provided that you do not add any of the iodine-containing ingredients listed above. The cookbook also has a handy snack list.

A Final Note
The key to coping well with this diet is being prepared ahead of time, especially if you are preparing for RAI by stopping your levothyroxine pills and becoming hypothyroid. Before you start becoming hypothyroid, prepare the basics and freeze. You do not want to be making chicken stock while you are hypothyroid.
Remember also the handy snack list. We suggest that you stock up on snack items from the list for times when you do not feel like cooking.
Let me tell you they ain't kidding. You may think you are doing great and get into something and then..BOOM!...you turn into a sloth and EVERYTHING takes a million times longer to do.

So I guess it's time to make a shopping list and get going!

Day 8 - Doctor Day

So today is one week post surgical follow-ups.

Saw Dr. Blevins first, the endocrinologist. He hadn't gotten a copy of the pathology report yet, but because my nodule on the left side that we know for sure had cancer is right at the deciding size for whether or not radioactive iodine (I-131) is done I'll have to take it. There was a small chance that I might now have to but because it is right at that line, I have to. He said I was looking good and wrote me my first script for Synthroid. Which will now function as my thyroid for the rest of my life. I'm not to take it yet, but I take it the day after I take my radiation pill.

Because of my ER visit the other night we know what my TSH level was on Thursday, but he wants me back in a week to do blood work again to check my TSH and other stuff. Depending on how those come out he may push my I-131 treatment up. Could be a whole month and a half sooner than expected. ooooh I am no where near ready for that! But we will face that when we know more. He also gives me a lab slip for blood work for my next appt in a couple of months.

In preparation for the I-131 treatment he wants me to follow the low iodine diet starting...now and directs me to www.thyca.org. Been there, I glanced over it but didn't really read in depth. Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow.

We check out and since we didn't grab anything for breakfast we are both starving we decide to head over to Mighty Fine for some tasty burgers. I know I'm suppose to start that diet now, but um....yeah no clue on what the guidelines are so it will have to wait until tomorrow till I can research it.

We get to Might Fine and luckily beat the lunch crowd. We get yellow cheese burgers, split a fry ( there is no small, medium or large it's just fries and lots of them!) get a couple of drinks and split a chocolate shake.

Because I'm only one week post surgery it's still a bit difficult to swallow. I have to be careful as to not take to large a bite and have to have plenty of liquids to help make sure things move down. The cold, thick, shake not only feels really good on my throat but helps in making sure things don't get "hung up."

I was so hungry, other than part of the bun I ate the whole thing. AND IT WAS GOOOOOOOOOD!

Time for the next doctor appointment. We gather up and head over to Dr. Kriesel's office. He too agreed I was looking well. The pathology report was in and there was cancer in BOTH lobes. So as much as I didn't want to do it it was good that I didn't fight too hard in taking the whole gland. Had I, I'd be finding myself back in the hospital going back into surgery to take the other side. Both lobes shows Hashimoto's thyroiditis/disease (which we just learned of in December/January...I'll get more into that later) and one side had a parathyroid or let's say a small piece of one. He said that my thyroid was very firm and fibrous which ties back to the Hashimoto's. It was very much a gland that had been under attack for a very long time, probably the majority, if not all, of my life.

But in the end the margins were very clean and they did take 1 lymph node which came back as clean also so they feel very sure that it was caught early and should only have to do one round of the I-131. But the full body scan that is done after the treatment will be the deciding factor on that. So stay tuned!

He removes my steri-strips. Which I am so happy about because they starting to come off on their own and are itching and driving me crazy (which isn't a long drive mind you). He laughed because when they start getting to that the body is ready for them to be gone. He gives care instructions and instructs to keep it slathered (his word) in Neosporin or the like. We're done, he wants to see me back in a month, but if anything changes or happens to call. We set the next appointment and head out.

Jeff is very good at monitoring how I'm doing. He can tell, even better than I can I think, how my energy levels are. But still, he let's me weigh in on it. LOL! He asks if I'm up for a few errands, and I am. If I do run down I can always take a nap in the Jeep.

So we pop over to the Apple so store so that he can check on an issue with is iphone, which turned out not to be a real issue so that was fast. Jeff asks if I'm up for a drive. By that time the sun is starting to come out a bit so a drive would be nice. Getting out of the house is really a nice change and I can always take a nap if I need too. So we head off to boundaries unbeknownst to me.

Along the way a sunbeam catches me and I do nap off and on as we drive south. I awake to find a large mountain covered in animals with a bright yellow piper cub hovering over it...for as long as I'm up to it. Ah Cabela's!

I find me a new 12 gauge shotgun I would LOVE to have but at $1500 is a wee bit out of my price range. But OMG it was the lightest 12 gauge I have ever laid hands on. It's an Italian made Fausti and beautiful. Jeff gets some ammo for the Mosin, which they had like a dozen or more Mosin's on the rack for $149. Ours is priceless but hey if someone wanted an old Russian firearm there's the real deal man...and cheap! We wander around for a bit, then I hit my wall and am done. We check out and head for home.

We stopped for dinner in Round Rock that way we didn't have to worry about anything once we got home and I could just snuggle up on the couch with my Bou and watch TV or snooze.

About 10 minutes of TV time and I was out like a light.