We got back from the doctor's office with some news with which I am quite happy-- although not that much has changed.
First we have an appointment to see the radiation oncologist Wednesday morning (the very next happening Wednesday-- yay) and will find out more info about that process (how long will I be radioactive? will I leave something like a radioactive snail trail behind me? and important things like that)
Second and more exciting is that I got a prescription for a temporary hormone replacement. Here's the cool thing that I learned today:
Thyroid hormones have a pretty long half-life so it takes quite a while for them to naturally dissipate (about six weeks) taking the thyroid-less person on a slow gradual decline into a pit of despair. Where as this version of thyroid replacement has a short half-life so it dissipates roughly twice as fast as the stuff my thyroid left behind. So this is roughly how I think of it. This has no scientific bearing... it's just my current understanding.
The x axis is time in Weeks, the y axis is how I'm feeling (very measurable).
The red line is my perceived progression with taking the temporary hormone replacement, the blue line is my perceived natural progression.
The aqua shaded parfait illustrates bonus better feeling time, the brighter the better.
First we have an appointment to see the radiation oncologist Wednesday morning (the very next happening Wednesday-- yay) and will find out more info about that process (how long will I be radioactive? will I leave something like a radioactive snail trail behind me? and important things like that)
Second and more exciting is that I got a prescription for a temporary hormone replacement. Here's the cool thing that I learned today:
Thyroid hormones have a pretty long half-life so it takes quite a while for them to naturally dissipate (about six weeks) taking the thyroid-less person on a slow gradual decline into a pit of despair. Where as this version of thyroid replacement has a short half-life so it dissipates roughly twice as fast as the stuff my thyroid left behind. So this is roughly how I think of it. This has no scientific bearing... it's just my current understanding.
The x axis is time in Weeks, the y axis is how I'm feeling (very measurable).
The red line is my perceived progression with taking the temporary hormone replacement, the blue line is my perceived natural progression.
The aqua shaded parfait illustrates bonus better feeling time, the brighter the better.
Hormone Dissipation: Feeling vs. Time
(channeling my father here)
So now I'm feeling just fine! It's nice to know that I can somewhat rely on feeling fine for a given time but there is still a lot that we'll just have to wait and see.
3 comments:
is it papillary cancer? I'll pray that it's papillary! OR I'll pray that it was a mistake & you've got mono instead. :)
My friend was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Cancer on August 31st. She's having it out on October 15th.
You're in my thoughts & my prayers!
Side note: I talked you up when I was in Toronto last weekend. There's a puppetry shop that needs to know about you. :)
Be well, friend! I'll try to give you a call this week, if your throat is feeling better.
Thanks Stacey!
I guess I was lucky in that we didn't know for sure that it was cancer (although it was likely) until after it was removed.
It would be a lot easier to freak out knowing you have cancer. But the time I knew I had cancer I didn't have it anymore-- it was already gone... and thus... difficult to freak out too much (but it didn't stop me from trying).
The weeks leading up to the surgery were hardest for me-- harder than getting the surgery and harder than recovering from it. Of course I'm not on the "other side" of this yet but if your friend would like to talk about how she's doing with someone who's going through it too please send her my contact info.
I have papillary as well ( the easiest one to treat-- the very least scary)
And thanks for the reference-- word of mouth is the best kind! And while I plan on taking things easy I do plan on working when hormone levels are satisfactory. :)
My friend's mom had papillary thyroid cancer a few years ago, too. She's taking it really, really well. She's basically seen that it's not that big of a deal (in terms of cancer) and is able to crack morbid jokes at church, and whatnot. And if you can't crack cancer jokes at church, where can you crack them?
as much as it will make you feel like crap, I'm glad you're doing the radiation to clear it all out.
Let me know when you're up for some phone-talking :)
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