It ain't "ideal", but it ain't bad....

After a long week of low iodine diet, injections, iodine 123, scanning, and blood work...the results are in. The scan was "clear", but the blood work, as my doctor said, was "not ideal". Apparently, some of the tumor marker, thyroglobulin, was detectable. It was such a minute amount, but, my endocrinologist wants to be "aggressive" with watching it. I'm thankful that there isn't a knee jerk reaction to just empirically treat me with another dose of I 131. I really don't want to have to do any more of that stuff, as it can cause a secondary cancer later on. So, the plan is to recheck my level in another 6 months while on my Levoxyl and TSH is suppressed. Hopefully it will remain undetectable on the medication. If so, then a year from now, another ultrasound, Thyrogen injections, low iodine diet, more I 123, scanning, and blood work will probably be the plan again. I was so hopeful for an "all clear" so that we could maybe loosen up on the follow up and just go with ultrasounds and blood work.

Between issues on mammograms and then my thyroid cancer, for the past 3 years, I've been told, "let's recheck in 6 months". I'm tired of my life feeling like it was on hold or in limbo every 6 months. So, as far as I'm concerned, this exam was negative and we're just rechecking blood in 6 months. I can't sit around worrying about it for the next 6 months. It may not have been "ideal", but it wasn't exactly bad news either. So, I'll take what I can get.

I'm all up in the low iodine

Day 4 of low iodine. The first few days were filled with anger and resentment of having to go through it again. And, by it, I mean the whole process of thinking about, going through special diets, getting injections, going through scans, and waiting again for results as if I were awaiting my sentencing. I am having a harder time dealing with the fact that this didn't end a year ago as I made myself believe. There's still a huge part of me in denial about the fact that I ever had cancer. I prefer to think of it as there was just something wrong with my thyroid. It was removed. End of story. I guess that's human nature. I'm not sure. Either that or just the nature of a nurse, or anyone else in the medical profession who thinks that illness doesn't really apply to them.

Either way, I'm in it again. I'm currently smack in the middle of this 1 week of low iodine. I am once again finding ThyCa an invaluable resource and friend. Today feels like I have accepted it a little better. And, I'm making the necessary adjustments in my life to plan, prepare, & follow through with the diet and the subsequent week of procedures and tests. Soon, it will be over and I'll have a good report and won't have to look forward to this again until a year or maybe (fingers crossed) more.