Radioiodine treatment is done and dusted! It was so boring. On the plus side I was not nearly as sick as I was last time! I felt much more in control, too. I guess I had the advantage of experience.
I had no sickness with the injections, and only a bit of queasiness from the radioiodine itself. The queasiness was remedied with some anti-sickness. I'd really psyched myself up to feel horribly ill again this time around, and I was so relieved when it wasn't nearly as bad this year as it was last year. So relieved, in fact, that I felt slightly giddy about it!
When I first went in I thought to myself, and said to a couple of people, that I would just think of the day I come out and that would get me through it. I realised after a while that this was the wrong approach. On Monday evening I had a lot of anxiety, and I just kept thinking,"Oh, this time is just going to drag on and on!" The next morning I decided that instead of thinking about the day I go home, I'd just have to take it day-by-day.
Last week I wondered it I should some kind of A Day In The Life kind of thing whilst I was in the hospital. Thought it might be a good way to show people what the process is like. Then I realised that no amount of Instagram filters could make it interesting. (Not to mention that I don't even have an Instagram account) I can, however, offer the following pieces of advice:
My first piece of advice would be to ask questions. I am STILL learning that is okay to ask questions. I keep apologising to staff for asking questions, and they all tell me that it's okay. If you're not sure why they're going to the treatment they want to do, or what that treatment even involves, then don't be afraid to ask!
My second piece of advice would be to take things you don't care about. This sounds obvious, I'm sure, but once you come out of hospital you have to wash the clothes you brought (twice) and then stash them away for a month. Last summer when I first did this treatment, it was fine for a while because I was wearing shorts to bed. Then one night, the temperature dropped by a few degrees and I didn't know what to wear because all my pyjama bottoms were stashed away!
Third piece of advice is to get moving! This is for a couple of reasons. 1)You might get a bit restless since you can't leave your room for a walk around the building. 2)You have to go um, number two before you leave. If you're too sedentary, then your bowels won't move. My room had an exercise bike in and I really took advantage of that this week. I didn't turn it on, I just sat and pedalled (also the plug for the bike wouldn't reach any of the sockets, and no way what I was going to try to move the bike on my own)
In fact, while we're on the subject of...that region, I would also advise drinking a lot. That way you'll pee a lot, and the levels will go down faster.
I think that's it for advice. Hopefully it is useful!
As for the treatment itself, I'm not sure how it went, and I got no indication from the technician of what my scans looked like. I won't find out how well it went till I see the consultant in a few weeks. I think I did all I could to help my body take up the radioiodine, though. Oh, and I don't have to go in for a scan on my birthday, which is great!
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to eat tuna melts, and talk people's ears off. Nothing new there!
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