Five months ago today, Tanya was diagnosed. Seems like a lifetime ago, but just yesterday. Tomorrow is the I-131 (Radioactive Iodine) treatment. Waiting at John Muir Walnut Creek for the pre-treatment capsule so that a base-line scan can be done tomorrow morning. CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS TO BE OVER!!!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Finally Feeling Better
After being sick for close to a week, Tanya is finally feeling better. Being on the LID, she wasn't able to take any cold meds, so she had to go through it au naturel. Sucked, but being the trooper that she is, she dealt with it. How do colds know the perfect time to show up and screw with you???
Saturday, February 4, 2012
What a week
It's been a really crazy week. Between my work (working on the never ending demo setup), getting Tanya's RAI appointment schedule (incompetent medical professionals) and Tanya coming down with the cold the Zachary and then I had, we are ready for this week to be over.
The process of getting the appointment setup was much harder than it should have been. To get it scheduled, it took Tanya following up with her Endocrinologist's office multiple times (who knew it was so tough to call someone back to discuss what needs to be done, especially when you say that you will), calling the Nuclear Medicine department at the hospital multiple times ('No, we still have not received the faxed order from your doctor's office'), and having to provide the doctor's office with the proper fax number to send the order to. Not like she isn't under enough stress already!
We were able to confirm that the treatment will happen on the 15th. Tanya will be making multiple trips to the doctor's office and the hospital the week of the 13th to get all the Thyrogen injections, blood work, scans, etc. Then comes 3-5 days of isolation followed by another 5 days of no close contact (10 days total). We can't wait to get all of this over with.
Low Iodine Diet - Almost done with 1st Week
I can't believe that we are almost done with the first week of the Low Iodine Diet (LID). Some of the meals have been better than others; all have been bland. The 'Scottish Beer Pot Roast' was mediocre at best, the Tabouli Salad was pretty good, and the 'Gypsy Soup' was really good. Only 2 more weeks to go...
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
An Update, Finally...
Sorry for not posting anything in such a long time. Life, work and laziness got the best of me...
It's now been 10 weeks (10 WEEKS!!!) since the surgery. Tanya is continuing to heal; the scar is getting better, her calcium levels have stabilized, her voice is back to normal, and she is feeling pretty good overall. It took longer than expected to get the calcium levels to get back to normal (low-normal, but still normal). She has been going in weekly to get her calcium and PTH (para-thyroid hormone) levels checked, but hopefully that is now over.
At the suggestion of Dr. Hsieh, Tanya has been going to Physical therapy to work on her neck and right shoulder. Thanks to those appointments and the exercises she is doing at home she is starting to regain the strength and movement she had pre-surgery.
We have finally gotten to the point of setting the date for the radioactive iodine (I-131 or radioiodine) treatment. We are currently planning for February 15th. There is a lot to do before the treatment, including a low-iodine diet and some lab work. The low-iodine diet starts on Monday, and lasts until 3-4 days after treatment. That makes it about 2 1/2 weeks on it. Luckily we found a cookbook from ThyCa (Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association). It doesn't look terrible, just bland.
We did get good news in that Tanya will be able to get the Thyrogen injections prior to the I-131 treatment. This means that she doesn't need to go off of her thyroid meds (Levothyroxine), which will make her more comfortable. We were not sure until this week if she would even be able to get it, as it has been back-ordered for over a year. We will go in to Dr. Kimmel's (the Endocrinologist) office on the Monday and Tuesday before the I-131 treatment for one injection each day.
I'll post more info shortly. I promise... Really! :)
It's now been 10 weeks (10 WEEKS!!!) since the surgery. Tanya is continuing to heal; the scar is getting better, her calcium levels have stabilized, her voice is back to normal, and she is feeling pretty good overall. It took longer than expected to get the calcium levels to get back to normal (low-normal, but still normal). She has been going in weekly to get her calcium and PTH (para-thyroid hormone) levels checked, but hopefully that is now over.
At the suggestion of Dr. Hsieh, Tanya has been going to Physical therapy to work on her neck and right shoulder. Thanks to those appointments and the exercises she is doing at home she is starting to regain the strength and movement she had pre-surgery.
We have finally gotten to the point of setting the date for the radioactive iodine (I-131 or radioiodine) treatment. We are currently planning for February 15th. There is a lot to do before the treatment, including a low-iodine diet and some lab work. The low-iodine diet starts on Monday, and lasts until 3-4 days after treatment. That makes it about 2 1/2 weeks on it. Luckily we found a cookbook from ThyCa (Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association). It doesn't look terrible, just bland.
We did get good news in that Tanya will be able to get the Thyrogen injections prior to the I-131 treatment. This means that she doesn't need to go off of her thyroid meds (Levothyroxine), which will make her more comfortable. We were not sure until this week if she would even be able to get it, as it has been back-ordered for over a year. We will go in to Dr. Kimmel's (the Endocrinologist) office on the Monday and Tuesday before the I-131 treatment for one injection each day.
I'll post more info shortly. I promise... Really! :)
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Continuing To Heal
Tanya is continuing to get her strength back and to heal. The 'steri-strips' that covered the incision have come off so we can see where the doctors worked their magic. It looks really good, better than I could have hoped it would. I am calling it Tanya's battle scar. Also Tanya's calcium levels are looking better. She has to go in for more blood work tomorrow to get it checked again. Hopefully it will be closer to normal by then.
I can't believe it's been over two weeks since she had the surgery. I also can't believe that my time off of work is coming to an end. I am so grateful to all of my coworkers who filled in for me while I was taking care of the family (you know who you are).
Later this week we have our first post-surgery appointment with the Endocrinologist. Hopefully we will find out when the next step in treatment will happen.
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