Re: Second dose of RAI, good or bad?

[Guest guest]

Hi JJ,

It's not unheard of to have a second dose of RAI.

There are two school's of thought.

A lower dose first to see if that will do the job and then follow up with

a second if it doesn't. Good side on this is that you will probably get

less in total which is better. Bad side is that you have to go through it

twice.

The other side of the fence is to nuke you good the first time and let it

go with that. That is what they did with me. Good side is that you only

go through it once with no follow up. Bad side are potential side affects

the high dose plan... one of which I get to deal with now, I have some

damaged lymph nodes (other side effects include increased risks for

cancers, like breast cancer...

As frustrating as the change in diet and supplements is before hand,

understanding the reason behind it might make it easier for you to deal

with.

The thyroid gland is an iodine filter. By starving the body of iodine the

remaining living thyroid tissue/cells/gland become ravenous for iodine

and when the radioactive iodine is introduced to your system that stuff

is gonna get sucked up like there is no tomorrow. That translates into

two VERY good things (all things considered) 1- they will be able to give

you a lesser dose cuz it will get sucked up VERY quickly and 2- it will

be stronger, more potent, cuz it's going into the gland much quicker and

not just cruising around the body.

Something that I've learned since I got nuked (that was about 16 years

ago) was that the better you set up for the quarantine after the better

the whole thing works out...

You want to be able to decontaminate the bathroom, kitchen and other

areas quickly to reduce your recontamination... once the radiation has

done it's job you want to get it away from you and out of your living

space. For those that aren't familiar, the radiation leaves your body via

body fluids. That is sweat, saliva, tears, urine, body oils, feces and

such. The faster you can flush out your system after the RAI dose the

better for the rest of your body. So plenty of food and water, go to the

bathroom as soon as you need to and keep everything clean, fresh clothing

frequently during that three days, plenty of showers, fresh bedding each

night. No reuse of a water glass or eating utensils... that kind of

stuff.

No one told me any of this when I got nuked... I got one printed page on

how to decontaminate the shower and toilet and was told to use disposable

silver and paper plates.

When are you scheduled for your dose? Have you set up for the quarantine

after? The more you can prepare ahead of time the better the experience

is going to be. Since it's your second time, you probably know all

this...I'm not trying to be a smart alec, honest... but others don't know

some of this stuff and may benefit by hearing some of the stuff to

consider.

For some of us RAI is the only option. For most of the rest it should

only be a last option. Knowing pros and cons before hand makes the

decision a bit easier... I think.....

Topper ()

*one of the ones that missed out on options due to a stupid doc*

On Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:44:58 -0000 " joanjensen58 "

joanjensen58@...> writes:

> Hi ,

> I posted a question last week about having to go through the whole

> radiation treatment again. I recently did the thyrogen injections,

> body scan and the endo found thyroid cells(removed due to papillary

> cancer). She said I have to go off meds, low iodine diet and have

> the

> RA 123 again. My question is.....is this unusual, do any of you

> know

> anyone who had to do this? I was hoping for a response and since no

> one responded, I'm wondering how normal this is. How much radiation

> can the body take? I would be reassured if I know of others who have

> done this. Thanks for reading this.

> JJ