RIA

Yesterday was my Body scan and RIA treatment. We had to be there bright and early at 8am which means getting up a little after 5 to get myself, my husband, and my kids ready in time. Now I had packed my bags the night before since I would not be returning home as I would immediately go into isolation as soon as I left the hospital. First thing is first drop my kids off at daycare and tell them goodbye for the last time for a week :*( then its the drive to Pittsburgh to hopefully not get stuck it traffic. I really want to get this day over with.
Driving to Pittsburgh traffic wasn't too bad just going into the tunnel once again, but we were at least on time. I checked into the radiology department and was called back almost immediately. Once again I took the mile walk back to the nuclear med department. I was asked to empty my bladder before the scan and then hop up on the table I was able to leave all of my clothes, shoes, and jewelry on, I just had to take my glasses off. I had a pillow under my shoulders to keep my neck in a certain position, which actually wasn't so bad, then there was this foam cup that my knees went into and a strap that went around my feet, and to top it all off, a body wrap to make sure I stayed nice and still. So the tech told me this scan would take approximately 45 minutes. The first 10 to 15 minutes focused solely on the area where my thyroid used to be the "thyroid bed" as the medical professionals refer to it, then the rest of the scan was on my whole body starting with my head, and it went slowly down towards my feet, and when I say slowly, I mean s-l-o-w-l-y. Now at one point in time when it got to about my pelvis the machine had to stop and adjust and I started to have an anxiety attack on the table because in my mind the reason it was doing this because it was focusing in on a cancerous spot. God I couldn't wait to get off that table, I couldn't breathe, it was awful. As soon as the test was over I was unstrapped and tried to sit up but I was so disoriented it took me a couple of minutes before I could get up. Then when I was ready we were escorted to a patient consult room while the radiologist talked with my endocrinologist about my results then they would decide how big of a dose of RIA to give me. While I was waiting I was to read and sign my consent for treatment for my RIA and sign the understanding of contamination. They have done a very good job of educating me up there so I had no problem signing them.
We waited at least 15 minutes before someone came in, which of course gets me all worked up thinking did they find anything on my scan. The radiologist and a resident came in and he tells me that I had 3 areas of uptake on the scan in the thyroid bed, but no where else. Well thats good news. I expected to hear they would find something in my neck, but I'm glad there is nothing anywhere else. So because I had uptake and because of my age, and because we don't want my cancer coming back my doctors have decided to give me the highest dose of RIA. The radiologist said the doses run from 50-150 and I'm going to get the 150 dose. I'm ready for this. Lets be aggressive, this cancer has been aggressive and we are going to kick its ass! Before I get my treatment I have to go back over to my doctors office to get bloodwork. They want to do another pregnancy test, even though I just had one 2 days before and a thyroglobulin and who knows what else. I'm still waiting to see the results of those labs. All I know is I'm not pregnant. So now it's a super long walk from one hospital to another, Presbyterian to Falk then back to Presbyterian. Now my RIA is coming from an outside pharmacy so we have some time to kill, so now what?
We went outside and walked around I watched my husband eat normal food since I'm still on the low iodine diet. I could really go for some Popeyes Chicken! So after watching him feast we walked back to the Presbyterian hospital, now for anyone who has never been there let me paint the picture for you. The entrance is tucked away in a little side street, even though its the main hospital in this network of hospitals. You walk in a revolving door and will go up and escalator. Once you get to the top it's like you've enter a plush hotel, not a hospital. There's a full service bank, a Starbucks, the biggest gift shop I've ever seen. So we sat in the "lounge " in these cozy chairs waiting on my next appointment time for my treatment. Down below are pictures of the Starbucks, and lounge I took.
Then at 11:30 I check back into radiology, was whisked back down the long hall to nuclear med to another patient consult room to meet with a woman from radiation safety to make sure we had our plan down before going home and she went over cross contamination and all that good stuff. Then it was time. I was called back into the lab where my pill was, asked to sign another form, and then they made me put on latex gloves. Now no one in the lab was dressed up like astronauts or anything. The woman who was handling the pill put on latex gloves also. It was it a glass vile in a lead container over in a window box, something that made me think of where Homer Simpson works. I took the pill, took my gloves off at the wrist and handed them to the tech and that was it. I was on my way home, no stops immediately home though. I had to ride in the passenger side of the back seat which I took zofran before my treatment so I was ok with the carsickness. My husband dropped me off down at my father-in-laws and that's where I have been ever since. Trying to think of it as a little retreat. Counting down the hours until I can have a regular diet again! Ahh food and boredom. You'll hear from me soon.