Meet Crystal. RADIOACTIVE WOMAN!

Today I went and took the radioactive iodine (RAI) pill. I had been asked by friends and family leading up to the big day if I was nervous about the whole process, and I said no. I had been well prepared by my doctor, family members who are in the medical profession, and the insane amount of research I myself had done, so I was fairly versed in what the process would entail and what was going to happen. However, I don't think any of that truly prepared me for this experience. 

Driving to the hospital this morning I kept my mind focused on the traffic and the radio. When I got to the hospital I checked in, and after a few minutes they took me back to the nuclear medicine department. They had to do a pregnancy test first to make sure I wasn't pregnant, which I wasn't. And I knew that. 

After that the radiation oncologist came out and talked to me more about the process. He asked me questions about why I was coming in, what I was having done, and why I needed to do it to make sure I understood what was going on. I passed with flying colors. :) 

Then he explained how the RAI actually works. He said the RAI is a two part process. The first part is the emission of gamma rays from the medicine itself. He said this was the byproduct of the medicine and has a range of three to four feet. This is why I have to stay away from people because it could potentially damage them and their thyroid, unlike how it is helping me. Odd, I know, but it makes sense. Then he said the second part is the part that actually attaches to the thyroid cells and kills the cancer. That part, called a beta something-or-other, only has a range of less than a millimeter, so there is no worry about that piece affecting others. 

He told me the pill would be brought out in a vial that was contained within a lead case. Now, I heard this was how the RAI was going to be administered, and I even told people about it, but some people found it hard to believe. So I asked the doctor if it was alright if I took a picture of the lead container so I could show my family and friends. He kind of laughed but said it should be fine. After the doctor and I had a little chat, he left and the nurse came in and put some water bottles on the table for me. Then she left and came back with the container. Here is what it looks like:

The lead container

Close up of the lead container. The water bottles are 8 ounces each.

The lead container weighed probably about five pounds or so, maybe a little less. She placed it on the counter next to me, and then stood about 3 feet away. She told me I just needed to pull the lid off (it was already unscrewed) and inside would be the vial (I didn't get a picture of that. They don't really let you keep the lid open for very long. They want you to swallow it as soon as you can). She told me all I had to do was pick up the lid, pull out the vial, remove the lid to the vial, and then take the pill and swallow it. I had to do this all on my own. She couldn't touch it.

Here's a little something you might not know about me. At work I attend a lot of meetings and training sessions. Sometimes I like to play with my pen during those meetings. I like to pretend that my pen is a nuclear missile that only I have the ability to dismantle without causing it to blow up and destroy everything. This takes a practiced hand, my friends, and is not something that just anyone can handle. I carefully unscrew all the pieces of the pen, and take all the pieces apart until I get down to the container that holds the ink. I gently and carefully remove it from the shell of the pen and place it slowly on the table. Mission complete! I have just saved everyone from the world's smallest nuclear weapon! But wait!! Now my task is to put it all back together and make sure I don't cause it to go off. Once I put it all back together I gently place the pen on the table and give a silent cheer for yet another successful mission.

What does any of that have to do with taking RAI, you ask? Well, as I was removing the lid to the lead container and I peered inside to the tiny vial with the blue top, I was suddenly reminded of that little game I play, and my hands started to shake. I just started laughing and said "how funny is it that my hands are totally shaking right now?" The nurse kind of chuckled, but she couldn't fully appreciate my humor because she didn't know about my little game. It was a weird sensation to be thinking of that while I was actually handling something that was radioactive. And not only that, but I had to swallow it, too. Craziness!

Well, I pulled off the lid, removed the vial with the blue top, and tipped it over into my hand, but that little pill had a mind of its own and it decided to swivel, swerve, and otherwise defy gravity in my hand! I realized I could very seriously freak out right at that moment, so I grabbed it and threw it in my mouth and guzzled water until I was sure it had gone down. Mission accomplished! :)

Then the nurse walked me out of the room and guided me back to the elevators where I was able to get back in my car and go home. It was weird knowing all the things I knew about the treatment and knowing that I had just swallowed a radioactive pill and was emitting the aforementioned gamma rays, and yet they let me walk right out! It's just weird. I don't have any side effects. Right now I am extremely tired, but that could be because I haven't eaten anything yet. They said to wait for one to two hours afterward, so I am more than good to go eat something now. It was an all around interesting experience. Let's hope the RAI truly does a good job of killing off the cancer cells the first time around.