Day +5: Out in public: no longer a menace

I am back among the general populace. The radioactive iodine was not too bad...I stayed in my basement craft room for 3 nights. I watched a lot of really (I mean really) bad movies, slept, drank copious amounts of water/diet soda/lemonade to flush my system from any leftover radiation, and of course, peed--a lot! My stomach was upset on Friday and Saturday...not sure if from the iodine or from the steady diet of fast food and take out that my family provided me with.


Friday till Monday I had a metallic taste in my mouth and food tasted funny, but it seems to have resolved today (Tuesday). I am still drinking lots of lemonade (with extra lemon juice to make it more sour. The sour candy and lemonade are thought to help the salivary glands keep from getting plugged up...from the iodine more so than the radioactive part).


I am feeling pretty good today. I went back to work and cooked a REAL, NON low iodine meal. Now the fun of tweaking the Synthroid dose begins (I was told to take 5 days of Cytomel along with the Synthroid to jump start things...it takes about 3 weeks to establish a decent blood level of Synthroid, so there still may be ups and downs).


So thus I begin the rest of my life as a "cancer survivor"...please keep praying that I am among the 80% of patients who do NOT have a recurrence after radioactive ablation therapy!!!

Officially Radioactive!!!

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...I am officially radioactive for the next 3 days, since precisely 11:45 am this morning. The good news is that there was no indication of any thyroid tissue except the leftover from the surgery (which is normal since you don't want to cut things like nerves, other glands, etc.)

The I-131 (radioactive iodine) will now go to work to ablate (destroy) all that remaining tissue.

The treatment itself was anticlimatic...a small vial of liquid to drink and then home. I need to stay away from my family (in passing is fine) so I am staying in my new basement craft room which is complete, as of yesterday, and is stunningly beautiful.

I can go back into public on Sunday afternoon.

The best part of today was getting off the low iodine diet and eating take out...in fact, I'm not supposed to prepare food for other people for 3 days (what a change from the past 2 weeks!). I think we'll eat a lot of take out in the next few days.

Day -1 1/3: Tomorrow is the big day

I have labeled this T-1 1/3 instead of T-2 because I now have really good information about what is going on. I just got back from Radiology where I took my "Tracer Dose" of Iodine-123. Tomorrow I go in, get scans and then (most likely) take my therapeutic dose of I-131. But the good news is that after that, I can go off my low iodine diet almost immediately. (Do I smell Pizza in my future???)

Day T-5: Strike while the iron is hot

I'm not even sure where that phrase came from, but it has become my motto. Welcome to Day 12 of hypothyroidism. I am your host, Lisa Francis.

Today my parents and grandma are visiting so I am recreating my Spaghetti dinner for them. As what has become usual, I woke up at 5:30 this morning (after an 11:30, yikes!, bedtime). By 9:30, I had 3 lbs of hamburger browned, the sauce made and simmering, the chocolate fudge pudding cake ready to go into the oven, and the 2nd batch of bread ready for its second rise, not to mention 3 loads of laundry done. I had unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, put away the 2nd load of dishes and am deciding if I have enough time to stain my pocket doors. When I have energy, I have it all at once. Will I still be awake at 2:00pm?? Probably not.

When the fatigue hits, it hits hard and fast, but I know that I absolutely have to sleep. But otherwise, I feel pretty much OK. I notice that I get a lot more head rushes if I get up and down too fast, but otherwise, frankly, I am shocked at what I can do. But I never, ever take it for granted that I'll be able to do it tomorrow.

Hopefully, I'll be back on meds by the end of the week or early next week and be able to even out a bit.

T-7: 10 days without Thyroid meds

I think I am starting to feel this whole hypothyroid thing...walking to the breakroom to heat my lunch was like running a marathon...although food seems to help, so I am hoping to get another burst of energy to get me through the afternoon.

Weight is starting to creep up even though I have not been eating junk and watching portions. UNFAIR!

The Accidental Chef, T - 10

On the plate: chips and salsa, chicken fajita with onions, peppers, salsa, small plate: apple berry salsa with cinnamon and sugar matzo. See, so tortilla or cheese on the fajita!!

OK, this post is actually being written on T-9, but it is 4:30 in the morning and I meant to do it last night.

Once again, I am beside myself with glee, merely for doing what most people do all the time...cook a great meal. I do, however, have a greater appreciation for restaurants now and will never take for granted all the work that they save me!

Anyway, last night (or should I say all day yesterday) I made chicken fajitas with onions and peppers, homemade fresh salsa, homemade tortilla chips (made with corn tortillas which had no prohibited ingredients), apple berry salsa, cinnamon chips (which I could not eat, so I put cinnamon and sugar on a matzo and used that--turned out well) and finally, after a week of NO CHOCOLATE, I made a chocolate fudge cake (in the low iodine cookbook, but almost identical to the "chocolate mess" recipe I make all the time.

Surprisingly, I am still feeling rather well. Besides all the cooking, I got a lot of painting done in the basement. I am a bit more tired, and falling asleep about 9 pm, but I am waking up so darn early and not being able to go back to sleep. From most accounts, people sleep a lot during this time, but I really have been sleeping worse at night and minimally during the day, although I am taking more rests between tasks.

The hardest part is not knowing whether or not this is as bad as it gets or if the whole thing will unexpectedly catch up with me without warning. So I thank God emphatically that I expected to feel like crap for this period and I have had no meds for 7 days so far and have had 7 really good days.

Tonight: leftovers. The Accidental Chef is taking a break.

Silver Lining, T-13

Do you have any idea how much sodium is in food? Even "fresh" chicken and some pork can have lots of added salt. If nothing else, I will always be more conscious of what I am eating. Maybe with this new awareness, I can lower my bp somewhat.

Ahh...Day 4...starting to feel the effects of no thyroid med...a bit tired, but OK. It is a busy time making bread and everything from scratch. I think I'd be tired under normal circumstances!

So, today Josh made a loaf of bread (I can't eat), I made the cinnamon bread from the Low Iodine Cookbook (more like a dessert/coffee cake). Then I decided that I'd made Italian Beef for sandwiches for supper tonight, so I had to make French bread to serve it on. I never even thought about making the French bread before, but it was easy and looks excellent.

Tomorrow: pot roast with carrots, onions and potatoes (no skins, potato skins are BAD BAD NEWS on a low iodine diet, but the inside is OK). The trick will be deciding how to season it since I can't use onion soup like normal. I also want to try making homemade pork breakfast sausage for pancakes and sausage (dinner Monday night) and apple berry salsa with homemade chips.

Day T -14: The joy of PB&J

I have rediscovered the joy of peanut butter and jelly. Of course, this sandwich is made with no sugar/no salt natural pb (which the regular grape jelly makes palatable) and on thinly sliced (thanks to the electric knife) homemade bread. So the meal count is 8 low-iodine meals down, 40 to go!

I am getting better at the bread baking thing...I am very thankful for my bread machine...even when I use it in the "dough only" mode.

Low Iodine Diet: part 2: Lisa can cook!!!!

Look what I can do when I have to! I can cook! Since I can't go out, and I can't use processed foods, I have to make things from scratch...so, for the first time in my 42 years, that is HOMEMADE spaghetti sauce (I might never go back to Prego, but the kids will), homemade rosemary bread, olive oil with pepper to dip it in (no butter or margarine allowed) and homemade balsamic vinigrette salad dressing (which tastes exactly like The Old Spaghetti Factory's dressing. Since I can't have milk, I'm drinking OJ with calcium. Best part is that I froze 5 portions of spaghetti sauce for a quick meal that I can eat even if the family is eating something else. I am so glad this is the summer...this would be really hard if the kids were in school with activities and stuff.

Last night I made Pork Chops on the grill (and froze the individual left overs), Asian veggies, grapes, applesauce. The chops were really good. I might have the only family that looks forward every year to the 2 weeks of Low Iodine Diet.

...of course, this is only day 2 so I may be sick of it really really soon.

Tomorrow's plan is grilled chicken and cinnamon apples. I am loving the Low Iodine Cookbook, but also finding it fairly easy to adapt many other recipes...substituting olive oil for butter, for example...but I do miss CHEESE!!!!

Low Iodine Diet, part 1

T-16 (They tell you it is for 2 weeks...but with a day prior for the tracer for the scan and at least part of the day of the ablation, I counted 16 days)

Last night, I couldn't sleep...OK, that was the gallon of iced tea I drank at Beef and Boards during my "last hurrah," but also I kept dreaming that I woke up and ate all the wrong foods!

In reality, I am off to a good start...thanks in part to the fact that my normal breakfast (Coco Wheats with peanut butter) is not on the restricted foods list, although it is different with no sugar/no salt peanut butter...had to add extra sweetener to it. Orange Juice instead of milk, not the end of the world.

I've been snacking on nuts (no salt, but that is how I prefer them anyway, and the protein boost should help keep energy levels up a bit). My low iodine corn muffin was great (added extra sugar to the recipe), and I am currently enjoying no salt peanut butter and strawberry jam on homemade low-iodine bread (I must learn to cut my bread slices thinner...I think I'll use the bread machine for the dough and do the 2nd rise and baking in a regular pan in the oven.) I'll probably depend more on fresh fruits (a habit I'd be happy to keep). And...I have an excuse to make homemade kettle corn (sweet/salty popcorn) with non-iodized salt because it is something I love and actually am allowed to eat!

Now...about dinner...yikes!

...And thus it begins: The new T - 16

Today I start my low-iodine diet and withdraw from my Thyroid hormone. This is the worst part of the treatment...being hypothyroid for about 2 weeks.

There is a method to avoid this part, by taking synthetic TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), but the research is still out as if this approach is as effective in catching any lingering cells. My doctor doesn't like to do it that way, but he was open to letting me make the call (how cool is that!)

Believe me, I researched and researched, prayed, thought, and talked it out...and decided to give myself the best possible chance at never having to do this again...I would hate to have taken the easy way out, and then regretted it later.

I think I have my radiation on the 25th of June, but there was some confusion as to my scheduling, so I am waiting to hear from my doctor today if what was scheduled was actually what is supposed to happen.

Still no concrete date for Radioactive Ablation

I still don't have a concrete date for the radioactive ablation treatment, but it will probably be around the 25th of June...I am actually looking forward to getting this over and getting the dosage of Synthroid figured out so I can feel normal in the long term.

Lately I've been feeling almost too good...wired and tired sometimes, but I feel like I am going a mile a minute. My BP is a bit too high, so I get to add yet another drug to the regimen.

I am beginning to plan for the low iodine diet I have to be on for 2 weeks prior to the radioactive iodine. I can have salt, but it has to be non-iodized, so most commercially prepared products are out if they are made with salt because there is no way of knowing from the label if the salt used is iodized or not. That means Josh (who likes to use the bread machine) and I will be baking homemade bread with approved ingredients (there is a whole list of other things...NO MILK OR DAIRY AT ALL, NO EGG YOLKS, NO SOY OR SOY OILS and lots of other stuff) so this will take a bit of planning. I am going to go through my pantry and put stickers on everthing that is OK for me to eat so I don't have to think about it when the time comes. The Thyroid Cancer Survivors' group has a cookbook online, which I have printed and has some great ideas/recipes. For two weeks, that is 14 whole days, I will be a Lisa no one has ever seen...the Lisa who cooks from scratch! UGH!

Day +17: What happened to May?

The month of May totally got away from me...it went so fast! I bet September will sneak up on me fast too...and the summer, which has yet to truly begin, will be ending.

I have no restriction on my arm, so I can do whatever I want with it. Lately, that has been painting trim work for the basement. The basement project is coming along nicely, but a little slower than we thought...of course, I wasn't a huge help for several weeks recently. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I should have more concrete dates for my radioactive iodine treatment after my appointment with Dr. Myers on Wednesday...then I can start making better plans for the summer.

Other than my BP being a little higher than it should (hmmm...can the all-chocolate diet have anything to do with that???), I am doing well and feeling well...please pray this continues. My primary care physician put me on yet another blood pressure med, but some of the elevation could be due to the drugs I am currently taking. I do feel a bit wired and animated, but then I hit the wall and sleep. Hey wait! That is not much different than in my pre-surgery days.