Plans

Today at church Ballerina told her teacher that I had a baby in my tummy named Morris. She was pretty adamant about it, especially that the baby was named Morris. Her teacher really gets a kick out of Ballerina, she's always telling me what funny things she says in class. Personality is definitely NOT an area that Ballerina is lacking in.

Obviously, no baby is in my tummy. I go in for my radiation treatment on Monday, March 15th and must be separated from my kids for a week to avoid exposure. Handsome Husband will take the kids to his parents' house for part of that week. Hopefully Captain Adorable will be mostly weaned by then (he's quite the momma's boy, which I love). My mom will fly in at the end of that week and stay the following week when I will be able to come home and won't have to be isolated from my kids. I figure I'll be doing lots of crying when I can't be near my little family. The longest I have gone without seeing my kids is about 48 hours when my in-laws babysat the girls while Handsome Husband and I went on our last anniversary celebration before Captain Adorable was born. Seven days will seem like forever.

I am advised not to get pregnant anywhere from 6 months to a year after the treatment (because my ovaries will have been exposed to radiation). But I wasn't planning on it anyway, so that works for me. There is a higher risk of miscarriage once we do start trying, though.

To prepare for the radiation I have started taking Cytomel, a different thyroid medication. Apparently it doesn't stay in the body as long as my previous medicine, so I take it 3 times a day. I will stop taking it at the beginning of March and I will also start a low iodine diet. I will pretty much be off dairy and there are a bunch of other restrictions. By the time I get my radiation I will be pretty hypothyroid and will most likely feel depressed, sluggish and crappy. So I am planning to make my food ahead of time and freeze it. I go off that diet a few days after the treatment and go back on my thyroid medication.

The radiation can collect in my salivary glands so I need to suck on lemon drops in order to prevent dry mouth. I may be nauseous the first couple of days. My neck may feel sore where any remaining thyroid cells are. I have to flush two times every time I use the toilet for the first several days. And I am not to share the bathroom with anyone. I need to shower everyday because while most of the radiation leaves the body via urine, it can also be found in sweat, tears and saliva.

I will be given two separate bags. In one I will put any trash I make (tissues, plastic utensils, paper ware, etc). In the other I will put anything I touch that I want to keep (books I read, cell phone, glasses, etc). I will need to put both bags in my garage for 3 months before I can chuck the trash and take out the things I used when I was most radioactive. I will be using my old glasses and old cell phone and an old laptop for internet access. I could put things in a plastic bag (cell phone in ziploc) and just use it that way instead and then I wouldn't need to put them in the special bags afterwards. Clothing and bedding can just be washed like normal.

I will need to stay 7-10 feet away from others (I will be staying at my grandparents' house) for the first few days and I cannot prepare food for anyone. It's pretty involved, but at the same time, at least I don't have to stay in the hospital for this treatment. As far as cancer treatments go, this seems pretty mild. My friend, Summer, who went through all this last summer says the worst part is going hypothyroid and that it is pretty terrible. I'm just hoping and praying that I'll recover quickly.