Not lazy my friends, just busy... now that I have a toddler! Here is my latest news copied and pasted from my yahoo 360 blog of September 28, 2006:

This week has been a challenging one for me. As it was last year. Two years ago (while pregnant) I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer and 2004 became a whirlwind for me, much of which happened that year has thankfully been lost in my swiss cheese of a brain.

Last September I had my first post-removal and post-treatment scan. It was CLEAR. That was a surreal and happy moment for me. Of course, any ThyCa cancer patient will tell you that they really don't give you something to cheer about until you have had at least two clean scans, i.e., two years post. So this week is my second scan.

It's no simple deal, the process literally takes all week. I had to go into the Nuclear Medicine department of my local hospital to get Thyrogen injections on Monday and Tuesday morning at 8AM. Thyrogen alters the levels in my body to the degree so that when they gave me a small dose (approx 4 millicuries) of Radioactive Iodine, or I-131 on Wednesday morning, my body would absorb it correctly and then Friday morning brings the Gamma Camera SCAN!

The big bummer is spending time away from my little girl. She is in the loving care of her Daddy who has been just great with her. They are having fun running around town, hitting the park and all... also tonight is FREE ice cream night at COLDSTONE CREAMERY nationwide! He has plans to take her there too.

The government assures its employees and everyone that this stuff is "safe" when handled properly and that those of us with small children should "just make an effort to keep little children away from our neck area where the destructive I-131 might concentrate." Yeah Sure. They also told those poor men who stood in the desert of Nevada in the 1950s that it was safe to stand a few feet from where they detonated atomic bombs ABOVE GROUND that they were "safe" and that any nuclear fallout could be washed off in a shower. Sadly, most of them died of Cancer.

uhhhhhhhhhh.... don't mind me if I err on the side of caution and take a few days away from my little girl. I feel bad enough that I might have passed on weak thyroid genes to her, why complicate things by exposing her to something that could destroy her thyroid totally if I can help it?

So where am I now? in Purgatory. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. waiting for more radioactive material (technetium 99) to be injected into me tomorrow morning.

the scan.

then more waiting for the results.

I really don't feel negatively about it, I think it will be a clear test. but just re-experiencing this crap brings it back to reality for me. cancer takes me to a dark place. it's scary and ugly and lonely.

my friends, I hope you NEVER have to go there.

Here is the follow-up posting of October 3, 2006 with said pending results:

some of you know me well enough to know that I am not a patient patient when it comes to waiting for test results. True to my nature, I didn't wait for my doctor's appointment scheduled for Oct 5th. I went to the hospital - straight to the records department and requested copies of all records from my visit including lab reports.

The scan report says there is no visible uptake of the iodine in my neck or in remote sites of the body, i.e. chest, lungs, bones, etc... which means NO CANCER! YEAH! NO CANCER TWO YEARS IN A ROW, PEOPLE. yahoooooooooooooo!

Okay. good news is always welcome. thanks again to all of you who have been supportive. I surely do appreciate it.

Now I return you to your regularly scheduled programming.