Back to a normal diet, though still in quarantine

Today I'm back to my regular eating, which anymore means chili for breakfast.  As one sister observed, "That's a choice," but chili doesn't interfere w/ my synthroid, is easy to make in batches, and freezes well, so that seems to be my new default.  I had my usual yogurt smoothie, for the first time in nearly 2 weeks; nice to have dairy again.  The Chief and I also had pizza for dinner.  That was on the No list for the low-iodine diet because it has cheese and salt that's probably iodized.

Only 2 more days in quarantine - counting down...

Last day!

Today is my last day on this low-iodine diet; tomorrow I can have dairy again, and seafood, and no longer have to scrutinize labels to see how much and what kind of salt is included.  The Chief bought me not one, not two, but three pints of ice cream, in 3 different flavors for me to celebrate with.  I may rush the celebration a bit and have one of those pints tonight.

The dairy piece is particularly important to me because apparently, when your calcium level gets too low, you get constant pins & needles in your fingers, sometimes bad enough that it can be hard to do things requiring fine motor skills, such as writing or typing. Yes, I've been taking the calcium carbonate the surgeon and my endocrinologist instructed me to, but it seems that's not keeping my calcium level high enough.

Getting bored and it's only day 3

Today is day3 of my 7-day quarantine.  It's been raining off and on all day - not heavily, but enough that I don't want to sit out on the deck today.  Spending the day in my bedroom with occasional brief forays into the kitchen is already starting to get old.  Yes, I have my all my personal electronica (kindle, phone, ipad, laptop), but that's not the same as contact with actual people.  The Chief talks to me from the hall outside the bedroom, or from the other side of the kitchen, which just seems weird.  Necessary, but weird.

Oh well, could be worse.  I don't really feel bad.  The "no dairy" is dropping my calcium levels so I've got major tingling in my fingers, which sometimes makes it hard to type or do other fine-motor things, but no fever or headache or anything, and only fleeting nausea.  If that's as bad as the side effects get, I'll take it! 

Nuke 'er til she glows!

For my Nuclear Medicine appointment today I wore this shirt:

The nerves didn't hit me until it was time to head for Kaiser.  The labwork went in a jiffy - they took me right away and only needed 2 vials.  Similarly, when I went up to NucMed, I'd barely read a paragraph or two when they called me back.  The scan (don't know what kind but not an MRI) was long but not bad.  In fact, I actually fell asleep and even hit REM sleep at points!  Then they did some sort of calibration with an instrument that looked like it was made from 4" PVC pipe, gave me my capsule, and sent me home.

It's a gorgeous day today so I sat out on the back deck while I ate lunch and read a bit.

Ah, the jokes! Wishing me a glowing report, "Shine, little glow worm," "You light up my life", etc. 😊

Some *good* medical news, for a change

Yesterday’s mammogram wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as usual, but more importantly, I got some good news.  The rad tech told me that the calcium deposits we’ve been monitoring for the past 3 years haven’t changed so I can go back to annual screening mammograms.  No more semi-annual diagnostic mammos! 

The tech did give me a bit of a scare, though.  She called me back into the room and closed the door, “for privacy.”  I immediately thought it was going to be bad news.  What a relief when it turned out to be good news!

Big week ahead!

SO many appointments tomorrow!  First stop will be the lab, to give them some blood to play with.  Then it’s Endocrinology for my first of 2 injections of thyrogen in preparation for my RAI (radioactive iodine).  That’s my morning.  In the afternoon I have my mammogram 😖, followed by a Podiatry appointment.  With luck, he’ll be able to figure out why my ankles, and now my feet, keep swelling.

Tuesday I go back for my 2nd thyrogen shot, then to Nuclear Medicine for a radioactive contrast dye, both in preparation for Wednesday.

Wednesday is the day I get nuked! First they do a full-body scan to see where any stray thyroid or cancel cells may be lurking.  The NucMed doc then sends my RAI order to the pharmacy.  When that comes back, they give me the pill, keep me for 20-30 minutes for observation, then send me home to quarantine.   Video visits will be welcome, and definitely more interesting than whatever I’ll be streaming. ☺️

Fabulous fall day!

The weather was gorgeous - sunny and mild - so the Chief and I drove out to a favorite farm stand some 35 or so miles away.  The excuse was so I could buy myself a pumpkin or two for baking.  We also ended up coming home with a butternut squash, a couple of jars of preserves, a scarecrow doll, 2 of the biggest carrots I’ve ever seen (the Chief joked they were baseball bats), and a couple of pies.

The trees were turning, the farmland was beautiful - all in all, it was a perfect day for a drive in the countryside, the kind you wish you could box up and store away for when you need a lift.