Last Tuesday I went to the Cancer Clinic to get my second shot of Thyrogen and then over to VGH to get a very small dose of Radioactive Iodine. The dose they gave me was only enough so that the iodine would attach itself to any Cancerous cells in and around my neck so that they would show up in a scan.

That night I got all my stuff together, which wasn’t very much because I couldn’t bring very much, and prepared for my 3 days in isolation. Ugh, I  was not looking forward to it.

I was nervous about the whole experience, not really sure why, but I guess it was all a fear of the unknown.

We got there Wednesday morning and I went for a few scans and then met with the doctor who basically went over the few things I already knew. Then Chad and I went upstairs, had some breakfast at the cafe and then was admitted to the hospital.

We went up to my room, which was on the 15th floor, which is also the Leukemia floor, and were brought to this room off in the corner locked away from everything. There were two rooms in this section of the floor that were sectioned off with big doors and both the rooms and the hallway were lead lined.  I guess this is where they stick everyone who is radioactive.

There was also something very eerie about being in the Leukemia Ward.

While waiting for the nurse to come back and give me my hospital PJ’s and whatever stuff I would need, we started to read all the ‘rules’ that were listed on the bulletin board in the room. There was a list of food that I was apparently allowed to eat and another list that I wasn’t allowed to eat. No one had informed me that I would be on a restricted diet, other then the fact that I couldn’t bring stuff with Iodine in it (which did not clue me in to the fact that SALT contains Iodine, but anyways). As I read on I realized that every single thing I had brought as a snack I was not allowed to eat. Great!

Finally the nurse came back, I put on my PJ’s (which made me look like a convicted prisoner) and was told I would have to wait probably an hour before the technician would come up with the radioactive iodine. At that point Chad kissed me good bye and went off to work since he really couldn’t stay any longer and I was fine waiting in the room watching TV.

By 12 I was getting pretty hungry but wasn’t allowed to eat anything until an hour after drinking the iodine. Finally at 1:30 the technician came and I drank the stuff. It was very odd having a lady come in wearing all this protective gear, carrying a giant metal case with all this special stuff surrounding the tiny vial of radioactive iodine and then I, having no protection, had to consume it. She had me drink it with a straw and then down it with water. It didn’t really taste like anything. Then she measured the amount of radioactive stuff coming off of me, and bid me farewell.

All the handles in the room and most of the surfaces were covered in plastic and protective sheets. They said it made it easier for clean up after I was gone. I had to flush the toilet twice every time I went and I had to have a shower every morning. I had to drink lot of fluids and I was only allowed to have people come visit me for a short period of time while standing at the doorway. Certain things had to be thrown into one bucket, and other garbage in another. It was all very bizarre.

Finally 3pm came and I could eat something. By this point I was starving and had a headache from the whole thing. I grabbed the tray of food that they brought up for me and almost puked. The food smelled so bad and it had no flavour. Chicken with no salt and no seasoning, steamed broccoli with nothing on it and a bed of ghetto rice. It was cold andso gross. Unfortunately, I had to eat. I was dying and it was all that I had. I ate the smallest amount possible and then chucked it. I just could not eat it.

The food was the worst part of the whole experience. Every meal ended up being the same thing and it made me so unbelievably depressed. I couldn’t handle the food so I just didn’t eat. I basically starved myself and survived on the bag of Starburst that Claudia bought me. Every time they brought me my tray of food I cried. How could someone so obsessed with good food live on this crap? I went into survival mode and figured if I didn’t move then I wouldn’t need energy, and if I didn’t need energy then I wouldn’t be hungry, and if I wasn’t hungry I wouldn’t have to eat the crappy food. I know that sounds nuts but it was the only sane thing I could do.

At least breakfast consisted of toast and fruit. That I could eat.

There was a phone in my room, but of course it didn’t work.  I tried calling Chad and my Mom all of Wednesday but the calls would not go through. I was getting so unbelievably frustrating. I had a direct number so people could reach me, but of course Chad didn’t write it down because he figured I would just call him. I knew that he was freaking out because I wasn’t calling but there was nothing I could do. Luckily my Mom stopped by Thursday morning to bring me cookies so I told her about the phone and passed the number onto Chad. It felt so nice to finally talk to someone.

The nurses on the 15th floor were nice. They couldn’t really do anything for me because they weren’t allowed in the room, but they would come by everyone once in a while and wave through the door window to see if I was OK. It was nice to see someone since my wing was pretty much abandoned.

The view was beautiful, but it was hard to enjoy, all alone up there. I tried to stay positive for the most part. I mean I wasn’t in pain or anything so I really didn’t have it ALL that bad. What got me down the most was just how frustrated I was with everything.

Frustrated with the food, and the phone. Frustrated that I wasn’t told I would be put on a weird diet. Frustrated that I wasn’t prepared as I thought I should have been for the whole thing. And Frustrated that the damn nurses would not turn off the lights in the hallway at night so I could sleep.

All I wanted to do was go home. Naturally.

Finally Thursday afternoon came and the doctor came in to measure how radioactive I was. Thankfully I was already low enough that he said I could actually go home Friday morning as long as I stayed away from people. WooHoo!

I waited all night for Chads call to tell him what time to pick  me up but nothing. At about 9:30 the nurse came to my door and said my husband was on the phone saying he had been trying to call me since 6pm but couldn’t get through. Low and behold the phone had some how partially fallen out of the jack so it wasn’t even hooked up. I don’t know how the hell that happened. UGH Frustrating!!! Finally he got through and said he would be there at 9am to pick me up.

Sleeping in a hospital bed with weird smells and bright lights all around you is not the most comfortable thing in the world and by 8am the next morning, when I had to get up, I was exhausted. I quickly jumped in the shower to scrub myself off before Chad came, but quickly realized that wasn’t a good idea.

Oh sensitive body.

Due to the fact that I has basically eaten nothing for 2 days, I was quite weak, which isn’t evident when laying down, but becomes very evident when violently scrubbing ones self in the shower. Fainting was evident. Luckily, this has happened many time before, due to the fact I hardly eat in the mornings, so I knew the signs.  I tried to rinse myself off as fast as I could so I could go lay down on the bed with some food, but the water pressure in the hospital shower was that of misting rain. Shit. This wasn’t going to happen. I turned off the shower, grabbed a towel and then saw spots. Shit. To the floor I went.

Once I hit the ground I was good.  The nice cool floor always makes me feel better but I knew I couldn’t just lay there and wait for someone to find me. Plus, this had happened before and I knew what to do. I just had to dress myself, grab the muffin I wasn’t suppose to eat and lay on the bed while consuming said muffin to satisfy the body. This took some maneuvering and a second fainting spell but I made it. Thank God I made it.

I didn’t tell anyone I fainted, other then Chad. It didn’t matter anyways. Actually, it probably did matter but I didn’t care. I wanted OUT. I knew I would be fine.

Finally I got home but I still felt very faint and sick. Ick. Friday was not a good day. I started to feel the side effects of the iodine which was a sore throat, swollen glands, and a very swollen neck. Felt like someone was choking me.

I basically spent the rest of the weekend in isolation at my parents house. I’ve never watched so much TV in my life. The one thing that was basically driving me nuts was that I couldn’t spend any time with Chad, and for someone who is in his face tickling him 24/7, it was very difficult.

Tomorrow I go back for another body scan. This one is suppose to take an hour. I guess it’s to see how much stuff is left in my body. I’m sure everything will be fine.

At least I am back to sleeping in my own bed!