i had my annual body scan at o'connor hospital on monday. it is my fourth year and i had the procedures down. mostly. it helped that i put all the details on my blog last year. hehe.
here's what i went through...
10 days before the scan (or 11 since i started it on the 12th), i get on my low iodine diet. in summary, i must avoid the following foods: first and foremost, iodized salt (i think i am the only person who has non-iodized salt in the pantry); anything from the sea including but not limited to sea salt, seaweed, seafood, etc; egg yolks and whole eggs (egg whites are ok); dairy products (which means... no ice cream!!); bakery products containing iodine/iodate dough (i just avoided all baked goods); red dye #3 (random, i know); most chocolate (due it milk content); soy products including tofu and soy milk; certain beans (red kidney, lima, navy, pinto, and cowpeas); rhubarb and potato skins (plain mashed potatoes were fine); rice also contains iodine but depending on the amount you ate. i just avoided rice altogether too. what did i eat? i had a lot of stir fry with ground turkey or chicken. some turkey patties. a lot of fresh fruit. it was sort of a cleansing diet. cleansed of all processed foods.
the body scan was scheduled for monday, the 23rd. however, the week before included injections, bloodwork and one I-131 pill for the scan. but last monday (the 16th), i get this random call from the nurse at my dr's office. she says that there's some sort of shortage of I-131 pills and that i should call on tuesday to make sure i can come in for my thyrogen injections because if there is no pill for me, there would be no point for the injections. apparently, they'd given a patient an injection and found out before the next injection that there were no pills for this patient. hoping not to make the same mistake twice, carol (the awesome nurse that she is) had me call o'connor to make sure i had a pill with my name on it. later, i got a call that it was okay to go in for my injections. on wednesday morning, i went in (i had to meet with my doc to go over the side effects and precautionary information) to get my first injection on my upper right buttock. very interesting location. i didn't really notice any pain or side effect. when i removed the bandage, there was a small spot of blood on it. no biggie. the next day, i went in for my second injection and it was much different afterwards. it was painful for a while back there. later that day, when i removed the bandage, there was a splash of blood! much more than the first one. no wonder why it hurt. ugh.
last friday was the I-131 appointment at o'connor. i had to get bloodwork done right before the pill appointment across the street from the hospital. it used to be a really long wait but in the last couple of years, there has been no wait. which is nice. after the bloodwork, i went to outpatient registration. that took a while. then headed down to nuclear medicine. amanda, the front desk admin was there four years ago when i had my surgery there. same with dr. yen, my nuclear medicine doc. he's the coolest guy ever. always so nice and remembers me every year. we talked about how i had one year to go and i was going to be out of his hair forever. he replied that they didn't want to boot me out just yet. aw. then there's bruce, one of their techs has been there this whole time too. he's super nice. always calls me 'doll.' another tech is jennifer, who's been there at least the last 2 times i've gone. there's something really special about coming to a place, and going through a procedure that scares the hell out of you and yet, the people there that care for you, remember you and really do take good care of you. i can't thank them enough. so, i get my pill (hahah, there's a label with my name on it!) at ~9:30a and i can't eat until 11a. ugh. i was already starving. and there was this weird taste in my mouth. yuk. before heading off to work, i go grocery shopping. as soon as it hit 11a, i'm stuffing my face with almonds. mmm.
the weekend is a little boring for me since i'm still on my diet. i basically spend it alone (except the mornings when my niece and nephew wake me up). i just cleaned and ran errands. then monday, i go in for my scan. i get my lemon drops (to help keep me salivating, i know, sounds gross) as usual. the scan machine is set up like a bed, with pillows and blankets. it's quite nice. they put on some enya to help me sleep/relax. the first part of the whole body scan takes 30 minutes. there's this top part that comes down about an inch or less from my face and slowly scans every inch of my body. next is the neck scan which takes about 15 minutes. i doze off for about 5-10 minutes for each part. they have these panels in the ceiling of an island scene with palm trees and the ocean for you to look at while lying down. it's quite serene. when it's done, dr. yen comes in to tell me i'm okay or not. and i'm good to go! yay!
it's been a bit of a ritual for me to head over to nordstrom for cappuccino afterwards. i try to see some of my cousins there. and then, i head to work. i got to work around lunchtime and adriana (my work colleague & friend) is waiting for me to have lunch. she's waiting in my office with a cute floral arrangement as well as two pints of ben & jerry's. she's the sweetest ever! i've been craving ice cream SO MUCH. we had turkey burgers and came back to the office for some ice cream. yum! thanks adriana! you're the best! ♥
