Sunday, April 28, 2013

Quarantine

Four days after the dose, and I'm still in quarantine at my mom's. I still can't shoot webs, but I have some pain in my neck. Not sure why... it's where the right side of my thyroid used to be. Anybody got any ideas?

As of yesterday, I was able to go out and do things, as long as I wasn't in any one place for more than a few minutes. Happily, my brother rescued me by inviting me to Grayson Day. It's outdoors! And arts and craftsy! Score!

So we wandered the booths for a while and it was wonderful. We found our mom a Mother's Day gift (two weeks, people, get on it!) and met some very nice people. Good times, but I wish I'd gotten a foot long corn dog. Not that I like corn dogs all that much, but for the novelty of getting a foot long corn dog.

Today was rainy, so I spent most of the day down here in the basement. It wasn't a total waste, though, because I finally got started on the cake stands I need to make for the Georgia ICES demo next week. Check them out:


Pretty, right? I made three like this.

This is a close up of the tiki-statue leg of this luau cake stand. The plate part is bright green and fabulously tacky.
Perfect for hibiscus cupcakes.
I love this one. Pink, swirly stained glass with pretty beads going all around it? Yes, please.


But this has to be my favorite, and it's not even finished yet. If I am lucky enough for the Georgia Tech band to ever order another cake from me, I'll be ready with the stand. 

The last piece of cake should be served off "The Horse".
I have more to do tomorrow, but these were fun. 

Only three more days until I get to see my husband and kids again!

*About this quarantine thing*

I forget that not everybody has received the radiation guidelines from UAB four hundred times. So, FYI:

Radioactive Iodine (RAI) is processed and secreted through body fluids (saliva, urine, sweat, etc.). Hence all the drinking at the hospital. Because it comes out in sweat, all of my skin is radioactive. That's why I have to be away from my kids and that's why everything at the hospital was covered in plastic. Everything I touch gets contaminated.

Everything the Mandi touches...
So, to try and keep everyone else safe, I stay down here in my hidey hole as much as possible. I wore socks 24/7 for the first three days I was here so my footprints wouldn't be as bad. I also wore latex gloves whenever I had to go upstairs for any reason.

The couch down here is covered: I have a plastic bag on this cushion and the whole couch is covered with a furniture cover. 

The remote is covered in plastic, too.
My bed has a plastic cover on the mattress and the kids' mattresses have been completely moved out for this week. I will throw away the cover and pillow when I head back home. I'll also throw away my shoes and get a new phone (but this was overdue anyway).

My laundry gets washed completely separately and goes through the wash twice. Then I run the washer empty (but with some chelating cleaner like 409 in there) before anyone else can put their clothes in there. I use paper plates and disposable cutlery. I have a separate trash can for all the food trash stuff and anything else I touch, and nobody else can empty it. 

I have to flush twice and everything in the bathroom gets rinsed frequently and wiped down daily. I'll scrub it all with 409 before I leave. The toothbrush, hairbrush, shampoo, loofah, and everything else I've used will be thrown away.

Everything that went to the hospital with me will be put away for at least four weeks, so packing was an adventure. 

My daily pills were individually bagged so that I can take them without contaminating the pill bottle. I'll throw away this bottle of eye drops.  

The car is going to be interesting. It was a 3+ hour drive form UAB to mom's so I know that the car is wicked radioactive. I'll wipe down as much as I can and try to keep the kids out of there as much as possible until June.


Does that help?

I go for a full body scan on Wednesday and we'll see what lights up. Hopefully, just the salivary glands, kidneys, and bladder will show up on the scan. That's what's supposed to be radioactive now. I expect something in the neck to glow because of this pain- and that's ok. Some remnant thyroid is to be expected. What we DON'T want is anything like the lymph nodes, ovaries, or anything else to light up because that'll mean the thyroid cancer spread. That's not a good prize. But I'm sure it'll be fine.

Then, when everything is clear, I get to do this whole thing over again every 5-10 years. Overall, it's not as bad as I expected, so that's ok.

3 comments:

  1. Oh hello fellow ThyCa'er! I'm about to do the RAI on Thursday but will be admitted bcs I have a two month old baby and a toddler at home. Your photos of a plastic-wrapped room were great because I feel a bit more prepared with what to expect. Good luck on your body scan. Fingers crossed for great news! Nice to stumble upon your blog, friend.

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  2. Hi, Lauren! Good luck tomorrow, and don't forget your candy!

    xoxo

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  3. I did it!!! RAI complete! It wasn't awful but I have hypocalcemia and had complications because I was given the wrong doses of calcium (3,000mg less than I need to take, whoopsie!) and I suffered some rough heart fluctuations. When I left the hospital my radiation level was at a low 3.4. I hope you do great on your scan Wednesday, I'm sure you will!

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