Re: What can I expect?

[Guest guest]

hi,

oh girl i am feeling for you right now. going hypo

isn't very much fun , let alone the no iodine diet.

i take it they have had you on synthroid for the past

month or so ?

well, being off it will make your brain turn to mush.

i like to think of it as the " hypo fog " . sorry to say

but when i go off i have absolutely NO energy. it

makes it hard for me to function at all.

i don't want to scare you, that is just how it makes

me feel. i have heard that some people don't get that

way though. each person is different , so maybe you

won't get like that.

the scan is easy ,with very minor restrictions . the

treatment doses though are a different story.

in my case they always keep me in the hospital after a

treatment because of the high risk of radiation

exposure to others.

i had to eat off of paper plates and drink from paper

cups. flush the toilet 2 after going , stay at least 2

feet away from people.

well i think you get the drift !!!

take care , it won't be that bad .

michelle in wisconsin

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

,

Good Luck on the lovely diet. I had my thyroid removed on August 6, 2001.

I had my RAi on October 1st. The diet was not a lot of fun. I think that I

went to the far extreme. I ate hardly anything because I was afraid that it

would be the wrong thing. I was the opposite of some. I lost 12 lbs. being

on the diet. I have 4 children, ages 15,12,11 & 7. They kept me busy during

the tired and foggy headedness. I was ready to go into the hospital for a

rest. The first day in after I swallowed the six pills (which was hard

because I was still having a hard time swallowing) I just sat back and

waited. Nothing happened I felt fine. I talked on the phone to some

friends and thought this is not going to be to bad. I was happy to get my

lunch, which was still LID. I ate everything on my plate. There were

things on there that I would not have allowed myself while on the diet, but

I figured if they gave it to me I was eating it. Time went slow, but I was

enjoying the down time. Dinner came and I ate all of it also. I talked on

the phone a little more, then started to get a little sick in my stomach. I

was not sure if it was because I ate to much that day of what. I decided to

just go to sleep and maybe I would feel better. Well there was some

whack-of down the hall from me that just yelled and screamed all night. I

didn't get any sleep. When the nurse came in to see me in the morning with

my medicines, I asked for some Tylenol. My head was splitting. Well I got

one Tylenol down and I new it was all over with. I ran to the bathroom to

be sick. All I could think of was I had to get there. I could not throw up

on the floor or they would have to have the bio - hazardous team come in to

clean it up. I didn't want that. I made it and the toilet became my

friend. It was not until they came in for my night readings with the Geiger

counter machine that I told anyone that I had been throwing up. He asked if

I called the nurse to get something for the nausea, I said no. He marched

out to the nurses station and got them to give me a shot. So if you would

get sick call the nurse and ask for something. Don't be the hero or think

that you are bothering someone like I did. We all live and learn from our

mistakes. I finally fell asleep after the shot and when I woke up they

warmed up my dinner. I didn't feel much like eating, so I knew that the

food had to stay in the room if I didn't eat it so I flushed most of it

down the toilet. (I would yell at the kids if they ever did anything like

that) I got to go home the next day. I was still sick in my stomach, but I

didn't tell them that, I just wanted to go home. My sister had been up to

watch the kids for me while I was in the hospital. She stayed until my

husband came home that night then, went home. I had to stay 6 feet away

from everyone. I could not prepare the food for the family for 3 days.

After that I still wore rubber gloves. I sleep in a separate room from my

husband for 10 days. Make sure that if you have any animals, you stay away

from them also. It has taken my some time to get my energy level back. I

still have not gotten it back to where it was and I don't know if it every

will be again. I have other health issues that I am dealing with also. I

have a spinal fusion of L4 & L5 in May of 2000. Then I was diagnosed with a

brain tumor in March of 2001. That is when they also discovered the tumors

on my thyroid that the Dr. forgot to tell us about. The brain surgeon's

nurse was the one that asked us what we were having done about them. We

just looked at her with such surprise. I had a biopsy done on them and it

came back that it was benign. We were told we could wait a year and see if

it would shrink any. We were not comfortable with that so we went to see a

surgeon. She said we could wait and watch or just have it removed. She

said that the only way to make sure that it is not cancer is to remove it.

So we went with that option. When I woke up my husband got to tell me the

wonderful news. It was not until about 3:00 a.m. that it hit me. I

couldn't believe it. When I went back to my family Dr. after the surgery to

tell him that it was cancer, he said that they must have made a mistake. He

read the report and it said that it was benign. Needless to say, I changed

Drs. It has been a long road. Also I forgot that two weeks after finding

out about the cancer, my Mom passed away. She also had cancer. Hers was

bone cancer. I have had my medicine increased once already. I am due to go

back for blood work the beginning of January so we will see then where we

stand.

My suggestions to you is if you can get help with the kids, take it. You

will be very tired for a while. If anyone wants to help you, take the help.

We were luck to have people from our church and neighborhood bring in meals

after I got home. That was a great help. My daughter would get things

ready and then serve the other kids there food. I would eat in a separate

room from them.

Please feel free to e-mail me back with any questions. I have made some

wonderful friends with this group. They are all wonderful at answering

questions for you. After all this is our first experience at this. Someone

need so guide us along. My e-mail address is sypolt@....

Good luck to you and I hope to hear from you.

TT Aug, 2001

RAI 150 MCI Oct. 2001

Whole Body Scan Oct. 8, 2001

What can I expect?

> Hi Thyca pals,

>

> I am preparing for my radioactive iodine treatment on 1/8/02 and am

wondering

> about your experiences on coping with the hypothyroidism and radioactive

> iodine treatment. So far, I have been off Cytomel for a 11 days and I'm

> starting to notice fatigue and absentmindedness. Tomorrow I start the

> restricted iodine diet. Yum-Yum.

>

> To give you some history, I'm a 39 year old Mom with two young children. I

> had my entire thyroid removed on 11/8/01 when a 6.3 cm papillary nodule

was

> discovered during surgery. Fortunately, the doctors said the cancer has

not

> spread so my prognosis is good.

>

> As I face the unknown of " going hypo " and radioactive iodine, I think

hearing

> from others who have " been there done that " will be helpful.

>

> Thanks,

> hallsj@... :-)=)

>

>

> For more information regarding thyroid cancer visit www.thyca.org. If you

do not wish to belong to this group, you may UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank

email to thyca-unsubscribe

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

You are already in hypoland and seem to be doing well. The absentmindedness and

fatigue were made a little better for me by staying active. I walked each day

for a mile or 1 & 1/2 miles. This helped to keep everything in good working

order, physically. When I had my RAI, we were kept in isolation much longer. I

felt fine until " the morning after " ...isn't that a song? I got out of bed and

fell right back into it. No nausea, just really tired. So I just sat and watched

TV, listened to the radio, knitted, talked on the phone to friends who were

afraid to visit their " glowing " friend. When I went home I had to use reverse

isolation to protect my 17 year old exchange student & my 10 year old daugter.

In a couple of weeks, I began to regain my strength. I was much younger then.

This year, when going for a scan, it took longer to get my strength back, but it

did come in time. My doctor gave me Cytomel in addition to my Synthroid and it

was loads better coming back from hypoland this time. I've learned so much from

these folks here. It's like a dictionary at my fingertips. Everyone is so

helpful.

Best to you on the 8th.

in OH

1965 TT for P/F thyca w/ lymph node mets,

hypoparathyroidism

1982 RAI 176 mCi for recurrence in neck & R chest

hx kidney stones

9/10/01 clean scan PTL!

> Hi Thyca pals,

>

> I am preparing for my radioactive iodine treatment on 1/8/02 and am wondering

about your experiences on coping with the hypothyroidism and radioactive iodine

treatment. So far, I have been off Cytomel for a 11 days and I'm starting to

notice fatigue and absentmindedness. Tomorrow I start the restricted iodine

diet. Yum-Yum.

> To give you some history, I'm a 39 year old Mom with two young children. I had

my entire thyroid removed on 11/8/01 when a 6.3 cm papillary nodule was

discovered during surgery. Fortunately, the doctors said the cancer has not

spread so my prognosis is good.

> As I face the unknown of " going hypo " and radioactive iodine, I think hearing

from others who have " been there done that " will be helpful.

Thanks,

hallsj@a... :-)=)