Today is the day I have been looking forward to for weeks. First of all I am going back on my thyroid medicine today. This is a biggie. I have been off of it since the 17th of May and it has culminated by me feeling pretty lousy the longer I have been off of it. Second, I get to enjoy real food again. I can have salad dressing, iodized salt, eggs and too many other things to list. I have to admit though that there has been an up side to being on this no iodine/low sodium diet. My best guess is that I have lost around 7 pounds in two weeks. That is a good thing. BUT, spaghetti is on the menu today. I made some sauce at the very beginning of this week to enjoy in celebration.
I received the radioactive iodine on Thursday somewhere around 2:30pm. The dose was 30 millicuries, about 70 millicuries less than what they would have given me if there had been less thyroid tissue present. Dr. Kletzing did not want to go back in for a third surgery which I was very glad to hear. I was not looking forward to the possibility of that again. I feel I am well on the road to healing very nicely from the other two surgeries.
So, my days have been spent pushing a lot of water. They say at least 2+ liters per day for a few days. I am also to have a piece of hard candy, preferably sour, in my mouth during my waking moments for the first seven days. I am not enjoying this. I started out with purely sour candy and my mouth was getting sore from it. So, Curt purchased some regular hard candy so I can alternate between the two. The purpose is to stimulate my salivary glands since the treatment had a tendency to affect them in a negative way.
Because I have more thyroid cells left than what they would like I will be radioactive longer than what I originally expected. Curt and I have to sleep apart for 11 days instead of 5-7. All the way around I am just being extra careful. Other things I could probably ease up on a bit like even sitting in the same room with him 7 feet apart but I don’t feel comfortable even doing that for a while. Better safe than sorry. Who knows what they will say down the road about the safety rules for all of this.
My follow up full body scan will be July 2nd at 8:30am. To be honest with you I cannot remember exactly what this is for. I think it is to determine how successful the treatment was BUT as Dr. Boll said this the treatment is something that is long lasting…in other words it will keep working in my body for quite some time to come so even this next scan will not be a true indicator of success.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas I will be going through this exact same process again. I am praying the full body scan at that time will show no thyroid activity at all. If that is the case then I do not believe they will administer another dose. We asked him to please get it done prior to the end of the year for insurance purposes.
This begins a new chapter for me not only with the thyroid but the breast cancer as well. I have wondered how people live with the years of follow up check ups and the anxiety of desperately hoping you are going to have a good report. A good report meaning no cancer.
God has given me time to learn how to trust him better. Not perfectly, but better. I know only he is trustworthy. I have found him faithful and know that he will continue to be. By the way, his faithfulness is no surprise. I have had to walk through these many months to experience it in a whole new way and that in turn has strengthened my faith.
I have looked the possibility of dying from this disease in the face. God has reminded me that we are all dying. It is just a matter of when. He knows. He has assured me that he will be just as faithful in death as he has been in life, whenever that may be. The important thing is that after I die I will be with him forever because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for me. How very glad I am that I accepted that priceless gift from him 35 years ago!! Because of that I have HOPE beyond this painful life. The bottom line is that he has done it ALL for me. He has saved my soul and is helping me walk through this life. He has given me EVERYTHING I need and then some. What a great God he is!
Curt and I cannot begin to express the gratitude of our hearts for all the support we have received. God’s people are amazing and such a gift from Him. Thank you.
I Corinthians 4:17
For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever.
Love,
Carmel
