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. 😊

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. ☺️

Found an LID recipe that's a keeper

Tonight I tried a third recipe from the LID cookbook.  The first 2 were just kinda meh, but tonight's dinner - chicken w/ apricot sauce - is a keeper.  It's not as sweet as it sounds, because the recipe calls for ginger with the apricot, and I also added a dash of cumin.  It was easy, too - I cooked some chicken thighs in olive oil, then cooked a shredded onion in the drippings, added the apricot preserves (Bonne Maman in this case, because the commissary didn't have Polaner), ginger and cumin, poured the sauce over the chicken, and there ya go.  Was really good over couscous and with roasted fresh asparagus.

That's Day 1 of 12.

Yesterday wasn't too bad - oatmeal for breakfast, ratatouille ragu for lunch, and a slightly disappointing pork chop recipe for dinner.  (The apricot sauce was good but runny and the pork chops on the dry side.)  I missed my yogurt smoothie; the "no dairy" restriction may be the hardest part of this diet.

My veggie-beef soup recipe can be LID-friendly as long as I use no-salt-added tomatoes. I'll have to omit my mushroom stock and the tomato paste because of the probably iodized salt, but that's not a big deal.  I'll just use kosher salt and maybe some other seasonings from my collection.

And so it begins…

Today I start the low-iodine diet (LID) to prep for the radioactive iodine I’ll get next week.   It's not exactly off to a great start, as I managed to ruin some perfectly good homemade turkey soup by putting too much kosher salt in it.😥  Lesson learned - a little of that goes a long way.

Lunch will be some of the ratatouille ragu I made and froze in individual portions, and dinner will be pork chops in an apricot sauce.  That latter recipe I got from a cookbook put together by a thyroid cancer survivors organization.  It’s going to be helpful as I try to figure out what I can eat for the next couple of weeks.

Getting ready, mentally, for quarantine

Now that Macbeth is on its feet and I don't need to do anything more for them, my focus turns to this LID, which starts Monday and runs nearly two weeks (Oct. 26 thru Nov. 7).  That's this week.  Next week is chockablock - Monday: mammo, podiatry, and first pre-nuc injection.  Tuesday: 2nd pre-nuc injection and an imagery dose.  Wednesday:  pre-dose body scan, radioactive iodine (RAI) dose, then home and into isolation for a week.

I'll be spending my quarantine in our bedroom and using the back bathroom.  The Chief will be moving into the spare BR for the duration and using the front BA.  The "quarantine zone" will include a trash bag, a laundry basket, a TV table (for eating and for my laptop), my electronica and their chargers, and a big bag of lemon drops for the dry mouth I've been warned can come with the treatment.

At least having my electronics means I can videochat with people, even if in-person visits won't be safe.

Going nuclear Nov. 4th

Had a 1-hour video visit w/ my Nuclear Medicine doc this morning.  We covered a lot - hence the lengthy session.  I "get nuked" Nov. 4th, starting a low-iodine diet Oct. 28th.  I get an injection 2 days before I get the treatment, then again the day before, along with a contrast dye for a pre-treatment scan the morning of the 4th.  (I'm gonna need to write all this on my calendar to help keep it all straight.)

I'll be in isolation for 6 or 7 days, though I'll still be ever so slightly radioactive after that.  They'll give me a card documenting my medical radiation so that, if I set off TSA's sensors when the Chief & I fly out for my sister's wedding a few weeks later, they'll let me on the plane.

The Chief sat in on my visit and we were both relieved to learn that the "radiation safety" precautions won't be quite as strict as some of what I'd read online.  I still have to stay away from people that first week, and can only prepare food for myself, not anyone else, but I don't have to worry that simply being in the kitchen will contaminate the house or even that room.  Not only that, but the iodine breaks down in water, so that's all that's required to clean up after myself - no Clorox or other heavy-duty cleaners.

Tomorrow's the big day

My video consult w/ Nuclear Medicine is tomorrow - finally!  The Chief and I have a SLEW of questions about the whole business.  I'm hoping & praying that we'll get answers to all those questions so that we can start planning again.  It'll be at least a couple of weeks before I "get nuked" because of the required prep (like the low-iodine diet), but I plan to tell the NucMed doc that under no circumstances will I let this interfere with attending my sister's wedding in December!

2 months post-op

Two months after getting my throat slit, you can hardly see the incision.  My traumatized vocal fold has recovered, the rash is on the wane, and in general I feel just fine.  Next week I hope to learn when I'll get my radioactive iodine treatment, and to get details on the prep, including the low-iodine diet.

And it’s back!

Had my final follow-up with the surgeon today.  He noticed immediately that my voice sounds much better.  He scoped me and was happy to be able to report that my paralyzed vocal fold is back up and running again!  

I’ve still got a fair bit of swelling in the area, which is why my singing voice isn’t really back yet, but the worst is over.  The doc warned me that the radioactive iodine will cause swelling too.   Not what I wanted to hear, but at least it won’t be a nasty surprise when it happens.

The Chief asked how long it will take me to recover from the iodine.  We were surprised to be told 6-9 months!  However, he also assured me I’ll be able to travel once I’m out of quarantine.  Nuclear Medicine will give me a letter to show TSA in case I set off one of their sensors, to reassure them that any radiation I’m emitting is strictly medical. 

Entering the next phase

Today was my first prednisone-free day in over a month, since the onset of that awful rash.  Hurray!

Today I also started my new, adjusted levothyroxine dose.  Not sure if it's the new med dosage or what, but I'm feeling a bit lightheaded again today.  The Chief and I are both hoping that fades, so that he doesn't have to drive me to the theater.  (Blithe Spirit has 4 performances this weekend.)

And I scheduled my Nuclear Medicine consult.  Don't know whether we'll schedule my radioactive iodine then, but at least things are moving along.

4 weeks post-op

The pace is slowing now that the rash is finally gone.  I still have a bit of itching, but it's nothing like as bad as when the rash was at its worst.  The incision is healing slowly but surely, though my surgeon recommends I get some silicone scar strips in 2 or 3 weeks and apply them over it.  Not that I care about a scar, but healing?  Yes, please.

Talked to my endocrinologist this morning.  We discussed adjusting my levothyroxine and calcium supplements as my body adjusts to its new normal.  I thought we'd schedule my radioactive iodine, but she's referring me to Nuclear Medicine for that.  She also told me they like to wait 3-6 months for that step, not the 6-8 weeks I'd seen somewhere.  There's a bit of prep for the iodine - 2 weeks of a low-iodine diet, a couple of injections, and a thyroid and whole-body scan.  Depending on what the NucMed folks tell me, I may opt for a November date to get it over with (as long as it doesn't run up against Thanksgiving), or wait until January, well after the holidays.  We're flying for both my sister's wedding and Christmas this year.  I wouldn't want TSA to turn me away at the gate because I'm still radioactive!

Pathology report

This just in - both masses were cancerous, as I'd expected.  It's "papillary carcinoma, infiltrative follicular subtype".  The tracheal scrapings and lymph nodes removed were not affected - yay - but unfortunately, the surgeon was unable to get clean margins.  As a result, I'll be radioactive for a bit in a coupla months.  My endocrinologist will be the one who schedules that for me.