Tests results, Synthroid adjustments, Thyrogen....Oh the fun

Now that I have gone on my little rant, I guess I better get back to my story.

After the first two surgeries I was on .150 of the Synthroid. Then it was .175 and finally .200. In the beginning I felt like I was being bounced all over the place. One dose to another....One day I would feel great and within a couple of days I would feel horrible. Once I was on the .200 dose, I was doing much better. The biggest issue I had was sweating. Oh my, I would sweat at the drop of a hat. Cleaning, walking, it didn't matter what I was doing I would sweat. At least my hair finally stopped falling out.

About a week or so after the first Whole Body Scan, I got the results back.  It still showed some cancer still in the bed of the thyroid.  The doctor said that was normal and in six months I will go through the scan again and he feels that it will all be gone.

The six month scan was so much better than when I went off my Synthroid for treatment and the first scan.  They finally have this awesome drug called Thyrogen (http://www.thyrogen.com/home/thy_home.asp).  Now I get to stay on my medication and still have the scan.  Praise the Lord!!!  I will now have two Thryrogen injections a couple of days before the scan and that will push my TSH levels up to where they need to be in order to have the whole body scan.  It has made things so much better...however I did end up with a reaction to the medicine. Who knew Thyrogen had side effects, then I googled it...So my nurse and I came to the conclusion that I had an allergic reaction and next time I would have to take some meds that would off set the side effects.

I went in for the six month scan and the results came back clean.  In September 2009 I was declared cancer free.  Those were/are the most awesome words I could have ever heard.  The doctor said once the one year scan came back clean I could start counting the years in between scans.  Eventually I would only have to be scanned once every five years.  Yes!!!  I get to start counting the years.

In the summer of 2010, Paul and I went on vacation to see his dad and Aunt in Maine.  When we got back I would be on the low-iodine diet for my one year scan.  Getting to Maine was so frustrating...Our flight leaving Tulsa was delayed, we were delayed getting out of Chicago Ohare...then we finally got to our destination.  Had a great time.  It was my first time up in that part of the country and I saw some amazing things.  However, getting home took forever...We got to the airport and was informed that our flight was cancelled.  Thanks United for the heads up.  Being delayed wouldn't have been so bad if I had enough Synthroid.  Everyone kept telling me I would be fine.  I had been on the Synthroid for about two years and everyone said that was long enough and I wouldn't have any problems.  They were wrong.  So very wrong.

Trying to get home was a journey.  We got back to the airport and once again our flight was delayed (don't fly in and out of Ohare).  I was okay at the beginning of trip, but by the time we got to Chicago Ohare...I was a mess.  I was tired, weepy and just wanted home.  Paul kept saying, don't cry....don't cry.  I did my best...I was just so tired and not feeling all that great.  I was done with traveling, being at airports...I just wanted home in my bed.  We didn't get to Tulsa until about 7:00/7:30 pm that evening and didn't get to Stillwater until around 9:00 pm and then finally took my Synthroid.  Never go without your Synthroid unless you have to especially when traveling...that was terrible.  I now take my pill bottle no matter where I go.  Even if it is an over night trip.  You never know what could happen.  I would say it took a couple of days to get back to "normal", whatever that is.

We finally got back home and it was time to go back on the low-iodine diet for my one year scan.  But this time there was a change.  I already knew I would be able to take the Thyrogen shots but this time around I also had to be on a clear liquid diet and drink that stuff that cleans you out the day before. Went in to have the scan done, got the results and I was still cancer free.  WhooHoo!!!  However, the doctor (who wasn't my original oncologist) said we will we redo the scan in a year once again.  WAIT, what?  In a year....Why?  The doctor said that considering cancer cells were found in the lympth nodes, we needed to do it again in a year.  I said okay (even though I wanted to wait two years), I have been aggressive this far, what's another year.

Oh, the joy of trying to get the next scan done.  It deserves it's own post...