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Tuesday, December 28, 2004
'Wow! What a Ride!
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming 'Wow! What a Ride!' -- Hunter S. Thompson
Saturday, December 11, 2004
HOME AGAIN
Hallelujah! Leila and I are home again! I am so thankful to all of my family - everyone pitched in and helped us out so much.
I was well taken care of by my Dad, he kept me company when I was feeling sick and depressed.
Leila was well loved and cared for during the nearly three weeks I had to stay a safe distance from her. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my adult life, to be near my baby but not hold her, feed her or kiss her. It was a joyful reunion when I finally felt safe to care for her full-time again.
I was well taken care of by my Dad, he kept me company when I was feeling sick and depressed.
Leila was well loved and cared for during the nearly three weeks I had to stay a safe distance from her. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my adult life, to be near my baby but not hold her, feed her or kiss her. It was a joyful reunion when I finally felt safe to care for her full-time again.
Leila has grown so much in the 5 weeks we were away from home. She is chubby! She coos and tries to talk all the time and responds to every expression we make with smiles. She took the moving around from Mom's, Sarah's and Grandma's homes like a champ - like it was just another day and a new "mommy". I am so proud of her.
Now that I am home I sure miss my family. There are so many people and things going on - I had forgotten what it was like to be in action all the time. Here in northern California it is such a slow-paced lifestyle.
Dad, Mom, Sarah, Parker, Andy, Stephy - I miss you already.
Love you.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Thursday, December 02, 2004
THYROID TREATMENTS TRIP ALARMS, STUDY FINDS
"Radioactive medical procedures can set off alarms in a post-9/11 world"
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY
Most seasoned travelers know that their watches and belt buckles can set off airport metal detectors. A new study also shows that patients who have certain medical procedures might themselves set off security sensors designed to find "dirty" bombs or other radioactive weapons.
Patients may emit small amounts of radiation after being treated with radioactive iodine, for example, or after being injected with compounds used in PET scans, bone scans and cardiac stress tests, says Lionel Zuckier, a radiology professor at New Jersey Medical School.
Patients have been treated with "radiopharmaceuticals" for years, and 16 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed each year, according to the Society of Nuclear Medicine. Since 2001, however, doctors say they're hearing about more patients setting off portable radiation detectors used in subways, tunnels and other public places, says Zuckier, who presented his findings Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.
Patients injected with a material called FDG before having a PET scan stop emitting a detectable level of radiation within 24 hours. But patients undergoing iodine therapy for thyroid conditions emit radiation for 95 days.
Many doctors say they now provide patients with detailed explanations of their treatments, along with telephone and pager numbers, just in case patients are stopped by security. Chaitanya Divgi, a nuclear medicine specialist at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, says security officers have called about his patients 15 to 20 times since 2001.
One elderly couple in a Winnebago were detained last year at a bridge at the Canadian border while trying to return to Michigan from a camping trip. The man recently had been treated with iodine-131 for his thyroid, says Michele Beauvais, director of nuclear pharmacy at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oaks, Mich., where the man was treated. The patient showed border guards a card explaining his treatment.
"The guards said, 'Well, you can go, but we have to keep the Winnebago,' " Beauvais says. "It kept setting off the sensors." Guards eventually realized the suspicious signals were coming from the contents of the Winnebago's toilet. "None of the people at the bridge wanted to empty it," Beauvais says, "so they eventually let him go."
...hmmm... I should have an interesting time getting through Orange County and Sacramento Airports on December 10th when I fly home!
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY
Most seasoned travelers know that their watches and belt buckles can set off airport metal detectors. A new study also shows that patients who have certain medical procedures might themselves set off security sensors designed to find "dirty" bombs or other radioactive weapons.
Patients may emit small amounts of radiation after being treated with radioactive iodine, for example, or after being injected with compounds used in PET scans, bone scans and cardiac stress tests, says Lionel Zuckier, a radiology professor at New Jersey Medical School.
Patients have been treated with "radiopharmaceuticals" for years, and 16 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed each year, according to the Society of Nuclear Medicine. Since 2001, however, doctors say they're hearing about more patients setting off portable radiation detectors used in subways, tunnels and other public places, says Zuckier, who presented his findings Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago.
Patients injected with a material called FDG before having a PET scan stop emitting a detectable level of radiation within 24 hours. But patients undergoing iodine therapy for thyroid conditions emit radiation for 95 days.
Many doctors say they now provide patients with detailed explanations of their treatments, along with telephone and pager numbers, just in case patients are stopped by security. Chaitanya Divgi, a nuclear medicine specialist at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, says security officers have called about his patients 15 to 20 times since 2001.
One elderly couple in a Winnebago were detained last year at a bridge at the Canadian border while trying to return to Michigan from a camping trip. The man recently had been treated with iodine-131 for his thyroid, says Michele Beauvais, director of nuclear pharmacy at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oaks, Mich., where the man was treated. The patient showed border guards a card explaining his treatment.
"The guards said, 'Well, you can go, but we have to keep the Winnebago,' " Beauvais says. "It kept setting off the sensors." Guards eventually realized the suspicious signals were coming from the contents of the Winnebago's toilet. "None of the people at the bridge wanted to empty it," Beauvais says, "so they eventually let him go."
...hmmm... I should have an interesting time getting through Orange County and Sacramento Airports on December 10th when I fly home!
I TALKED TO THE DOCTOR!
Okay... finally the doctor called late yesterday. By the time he called, I had a list of 10 questions. Most of them had been answered by my own online research and by the nice people (other thyroid cancer patients) on the Yahoo Groups ThyCa Forum. So I ran them by the doctor for verification and he said yes, that they were correct. Several ladies from Yahoo Groups replied to me that they thought my scan was GREAT, that it looked normal to them. Keep in mind that most of these people have been through this several times already, so even though they are not doctors - their experience was just as valuable to me. It also helped to ease my mind.
Here it is.. the doctor said "it's a good scan, Christy - those are good results"
... I do wonder why he didn't just SAY THAT into my answering machine instead of rambling on and sounding so weird.
I asked if the uptake in the nasal area could have been from the cold or congestion that I have and he agreed that it could have been as that would not be the kind of place one would find thyroid cancer.
I asked what it meant that there was 'uptake' shown on the scan and he said that they expect to show uptake in the scan.. if there had been no uptake then it would have meant they didn't give me enough I-131. The uptake is where there is still residual thyroid tissue (healthy or cancerous, no way to tell the difference from this). The I-131 is also typically taken up in specific tissues like the thymus (middle upper chest region), breasts, liver, stomach, bowel, urinary tract including the bladder. However, the I-131 will continue to work for a number of months to kill off all thyroid tissue, whether cancerous or healthy. The key here is no "abnormal" uptake outside of those areas!
I inquired why he had made the comment that my case was not as straightforward as most - since no other doctor has referred to me in this way it had confused me. He apologized and explained he said so because I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while pregnant, which was very uncommon. Thyroid cancer is uncommon enough by itself... he said "you sure had a lot going on at one time!" (agreed).
I asked him if this meant that the cancer could come back eventually. He said yes. That with cancer there are no guarantees of a cure. They expect that this will have taken care of it, and I will continue to be monitored regularly with blood tests and periodic scans like the one I just had. If it starts to show again then they will just take care of it with surgery or another blast or radioactivity.
I'm not worried. I feel like I have been through the worst of this adventure - the unknown - and whatever may happen in the future will not be as devastating as what I have gone through this year.
Thank you, everyone, for your prayers, encouragement and support. It has continued to lift me when I felt like I couldn't even think straight!
Here it is.. the doctor said "it's a good scan, Christy - those are good results"
... I do wonder why he didn't just SAY THAT into my answering machine instead of rambling on and sounding so weird.
I asked if the uptake in the nasal area could have been from the cold or congestion that I have and he agreed that it could have been as that would not be the kind of place one would find thyroid cancer.
I asked what it meant that there was 'uptake' shown on the scan and he said that they expect to show uptake in the scan.. if there had been no uptake then it would have meant they didn't give me enough I-131. The uptake is where there is still residual thyroid tissue (healthy or cancerous, no way to tell the difference from this). The I-131 is also typically taken up in specific tissues like the thymus (middle upper chest region), breasts, liver, stomach, bowel, urinary tract including the bladder. However, the I-131 will continue to work for a number of months to kill off all thyroid tissue, whether cancerous or healthy. The key here is no "abnormal" uptake outside of those areas!
I inquired why he had made the comment that my case was not as straightforward as most - since no other doctor has referred to me in this way it had confused me. He apologized and explained he said so because I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while pregnant, which was very uncommon. Thyroid cancer is uncommon enough by itself... he said "you sure had a lot going on at one time!" (agreed).
I asked him if this meant that the cancer could come back eventually. He said yes. That with cancer there are no guarantees of a cure. They expect that this will have taken care of it, and I will continue to be monitored regularly with blood tests and periodic scans like the one I just had. If it starts to show again then they will just take care of it with surgery or another blast or radioactivity.
I'm not worried. I feel like I have been through the worst of this adventure - the unknown - and whatever may happen in the future will not be as devastating as what I have gone through this year.
Thank you, everyone, for your prayers, encouragement and support. It has continued to lift me when I felt like I couldn't even think straight!
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
sodium iodide symporters & other information
I am doing research right now and also asking questions to other Thyroid Cancer patients about the information on that report. I understand some of it but not all.
It was explained to me that the I-131 ablation (treatment) will continue to work for a number of months to kill off all thyroid tissue, whether cancerous or healthy. Another lady said that uptake in salivary glands is very normal.
I Just read this online regarding sodium Iodide Symporters "...Other tissues in humans contain sodium iodide symporters: the gastric mucosa, salivary glands, mammary glands, choroid plexus, ovaries, placenta, and skin (Smanik and others 1996~. Breast tis- sue, which contains iodine symporters, can therefore pump iodine into breast milk." http://books.nap.edu/books/030906175X/html/45.html
it's from a report or book titled "Exposure of the American People to Iodine-131 from Nevada Nuclear-Bomb Tests: Review of the National Cancer Institute Report and Public Health Implications" from the National Academies Press
It was explained to me that the I-131 ablation (treatment) will continue to work for a number of months to kill off all thyroid tissue, whether cancerous or healthy. Another lady said that uptake in salivary glands is very normal.
I Just read this online regarding sodium Iodide Symporters "...Other tissues in humans contain sodium iodide symporters: the gastric mucosa, salivary glands, mammary glands, choroid plexus, ovaries, placenta, and skin (Smanik and others 1996~. Breast tis- sue, which contains iodine symporters, can therefore pump iodine into breast milk." http://books.nap.edu/books/030906175X/html/45.html
it's from a report or book titled "Exposure of the American People to Iodine-131 from Nevada Nuclear-Bomb Tests: Review of the National Cancer Institute Report and Public Health Implications" from the National Academies Press
What the Report Says
I went to the hospital and got a copy of the ACTUAL post RAI report so I will know exactly what it said:
"Uptake is seen in the lower neck presumably in the area of the thyroid and there is lesser area of uptake above that, likely also in the thyroid bed. A fair amount of uptake is seen in the salivary glands and there is some asymmetry with uptake on the left probably in the nasal sinus. Some bilateral uptake is seen in the breasts likely due to the sodium iodide symporters. No areas of abnormal uptake are seen in the chest, abdomen or pelvis."
I know that the fact there there were no areas of abnormal uptake elsewhere is a good thing...
but is the rest good, bad or indifferent?
"Uptake is seen in the lower neck presumably in the area of the thyroid and there is lesser area of uptake above that, likely also in the thyroid bed. A fair amount of uptake is seen in the salivary glands and there is some asymmetry with uptake on the left probably in the nasal sinus. Some bilateral uptake is seen in the breasts likely due to the sodium iodide symporters. No areas of abnormal uptake are seen in the chest, abdomen or pelvis."
I know that the fact there there were no areas of abnormal uptake elsewhere is a good thing...
but is the rest good, bad or indifferent?
Waiting to Talk to a Doctor on the Phone - need some answers!
Now it's Wednesday...
So yesterday's 'waiting for answers' only panned out confusion for me. I am trying again today. Early this morning I placed calls to both the Chico doc's office and also to the doc here at Hoag (the one that administered the treatment) & left messages requesting a phone consultation. I just want to ask some questions.
What does all that stuff mean? Could someone please explain in plain layman's English so I can comprehend what is going on in my body? LOL. It really doesn't seem like too much to ask.
I am making plans to go to the records department of the hospital this morning and pick up a copy of the actual report so I can have it with me and in front of me when a doctor calls.
So yesterday's 'waiting for answers' only panned out confusion for me. I am trying again today. Early this morning I placed calls to both the Chico doc's office and also to the doc here at Hoag (the one that administered the treatment) & left messages requesting a phone consultation. I just want to ask some questions.
What does all that stuff mean? Could someone please explain in plain layman's English so I can comprehend what is going on in my body? LOL. It really doesn't seem like too much to ask.
I am making plans to go to the records department of the hospital this morning and pick up a copy of the actual report so I can have it with me and in front of me when a doctor calls.
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