Death warmed over
So it is Monday. It has been a really really long weekend. Friday, to miss the worse of the traffic we headed into Seattle late in the morning rather than early in the afternoon. That gave us the opportunity to stop at the pharmacy and pick up my pain meds - which are still screwed up since the hospitalization - sort of. I get my meds, but they are not yet being mailed. Hopefully that has now been cleared up. That's just normal VA paperwork. It just takes times to get it worked out is all.
We got to my RAI apt about three hours early, but they were happy to have us there. It gave them lots of time to have the safety coordinator spend a lot of time with us talking with us about what to expect - though we never did a strait answer about how long I should stay in complete isolation as the scan had not been read yet.
That happened while we waited, hubby keeping my mind off what we were about to do and keeping my mind as calm as possible - though I have to say I cried that morning when I huggged my Service Dog in Training good bye before we left. By the time we got to talking with people at the VA I had taken so many antipanic meds that they could have told me they were going to skin me alive and I would have been fine with it.
In the end, it was two pills. I don't know if it was a high or a low dose, it was 150 but I don't know the (words have gone away - what the scale? the unit of measurement is?) units for that is. And again, no one seemed to be able to tell me exactly how long I should stay in complete isolation. So we are assuming the full six days we had planned on in the first place.
I do know that it has an 8 day half life, so it will be a full 80 days before it is entirely out of my system and out of my stuff - and out of this hotel room.
The day before, Thursday, I did get to go out and love on my horses, and that helped a lot. I really miss my dogs. Hubby called me from the bedroom on Sat to verify what I needed from the store and my Corso (Service Dog) heard my voice on the phone and just went nuts! she barked and eventually stole the phone from hubby. I understand she has taken to searching the whole house and yard for me every night before she will settle down and go to bed.
As for me... For the first hour I felt jazzed. My system was so strarved for Iodine it was happy to have it in any form. Of course there was a problem checking into the hotel - we don't have that kind of money nor do we have a credit card so this stay is entirely on mom-in-law, but she is in another state. It took two hours to get authorization faxed back and forth and by that time I was feeling just dead tired.
Hubby finally got everything worked out, and brought all my stuff and me up to my room. It is a nice room. He got me in a handicapped room so there are balance bars in the bathroom which means I don't have to worry about falling - which is a big help. There is also a fridge and a microwave, so my disposable ice chest and not disposible toaster oven were not needed. Oh well.
As for how I have been feeling - weak is the only word that fits. Sitting upright for more than a few minutes leaves me nausaus and dizzy. I have been taking a lot of naps and a lot of nice warm baths. I have been so weak that laying on the couch, poking at my jigsaw puzzle has been the extent of most of my movement. It has also left me with stiff muscles in my shoulders and back. I hurt all over. Just sitting up long enough to type this has tired me out.
I am hoping that tomorrow will be better. Today I started back on my T3 meds. I even got adventerous enough to go down and eat at the free breakfast from the hotel. Hot waffles, hot biscuits and gravy, and sausage were a welcome change to my diet. Oh, and ice cold milk. The plates were all disposable and today I am at the point where I am allowed to be within three feet of people for up to an hour - and it took a lot less than an hour for me to eat.
Just the effort was enough to exhaust me. I got back to my room, laid down on the couch, and fell alseep for five hours. Since waking up I have gottten a lot more done on my jizsaw puzzle - it is about half done now.
Other than the general weakness and exhaustion, I really haven't had any side affects. I have been diligently sucking on lemon drops. The general aches and pains are probably due to the radiation or the hypothyroidism - I have learned NOT to use my narcatic pain killers for my broken back for the general aches if I expect to be concious! Good thing I also brough Advil.
Oh, I also have a horrible headache - but that could be from just about anything, including spending 23 hours a day laying down. I go home Wednesday morning - after having my daughter help me clean all the surfaces I have touched in this room.
LOL - so my daughter packed clothes for me, which included a pair of her shorts.... AND THEY FIT!!!
We got to my RAI apt about three hours early, but they were happy to have us there. It gave them lots of time to have the safety coordinator spend a lot of time with us talking with us about what to expect - though we never did a strait answer about how long I should stay in complete isolation as the scan had not been read yet.
That happened while we waited, hubby keeping my mind off what we were about to do and keeping my mind as calm as possible - though I have to say I cried that morning when I huggged my Service Dog in Training good bye before we left. By the time we got to talking with people at the VA I had taken so many antipanic meds that they could have told me they were going to skin me alive and I would have been fine with it.
In the end, it was two pills. I don't know if it was a high or a low dose, it was 150 but I don't know the (words have gone away - what the scale? the unit of measurement is?) units for that is. And again, no one seemed to be able to tell me exactly how long I should stay in complete isolation. So we are assuming the full six days we had planned on in the first place.
I do know that it has an 8 day half life, so it will be a full 80 days before it is entirely out of my system and out of my stuff - and out of this hotel room.
The day before, Thursday, I did get to go out and love on my horses, and that helped a lot. I really miss my dogs. Hubby called me from the bedroom on Sat to verify what I needed from the store and my Corso (Service Dog) heard my voice on the phone and just went nuts! she barked and eventually stole the phone from hubby. I understand she has taken to searching the whole house and yard for me every night before she will settle down and go to bed.
As for me... For the first hour I felt jazzed. My system was so strarved for Iodine it was happy to have it in any form. Of course there was a problem checking into the hotel - we don't have that kind of money nor do we have a credit card so this stay is entirely on mom-in-law, but she is in another state. It took two hours to get authorization faxed back and forth and by that time I was feeling just dead tired.
Hubby finally got everything worked out, and brought all my stuff and me up to my room. It is a nice room. He got me in a handicapped room so there are balance bars in the bathroom which means I don't have to worry about falling - which is a big help. There is also a fridge and a microwave, so my disposable ice chest and not disposible toaster oven were not needed. Oh well.
As for how I have been feeling - weak is the only word that fits. Sitting upright for more than a few minutes leaves me nausaus and dizzy. I have been taking a lot of naps and a lot of nice warm baths. I have been so weak that laying on the couch, poking at my jigsaw puzzle has been the extent of most of my movement. It has also left me with stiff muscles in my shoulders and back. I hurt all over. Just sitting up long enough to type this has tired me out.
I am hoping that tomorrow will be better. Today I started back on my T3 meds. I even got adventerous enough to go down and eat at the free breakfast from the hotel. Hot waffles, hot biscuits and gravy, and sausage were a welcome change to my diet. Oh, and ice cold milk. The plates were all disposable and today I am at the point where I am allowed to be within three feet of people for up to an hour - and it took a lot less than an hour for me to eat.
Just the effort was enough to exhaust me. I got back to my room, laid down on the couch, and fell alseep for five hours. Since waking up I have gottten a lot more done on my jizsaw puzzle - it is about half done now.
Other than the general weakness and exhaustion, I really haven't had any side affects. I have been diligently sucking on lemon drops. The general aches and pains are probably due to the radiation or the hypothyroidism - I have learned NOT to use my narcatic pain killers for my broken back for the general aches if I expect to be concious! Good thing I also brough Advil.
Oh, I also have a horrible headache - but that could be from just about anything, including spending 23 hours a day laying down. I go home Wednesday morning - after having my daughter help me clean all the surfaces I have touched in this room.
LOL - so my daughter packed clothes for me, which included a pair of her shorts.... AND THEY FIT!!!
Replies
Oh Yadlim it sounds like such a journey you are on but having everything under control! So glad you wrote so much in your journal to share with all of us. What is the picture in your puzzle? Glad you have things with you to give you some enjoyment. Getting plenty of rest is always needed. You are in my prayers!