I should just take my sleeping bag and PJs to Hoag Hospital. I've been there every day this week, and I have to admit that it's not a bad place to spend a little time. I had my second Thyrogen injection Tuesday (Day 2), my scan dose of radioactive iodine Wednesday (Day 3) and my whole-body scan (WBS) today (Day 4), and I'm having my blood work done tomorrow...looking for thyroglobulin (Tg), which indicates the presence of thyroid tissue/thyroid cancer (the blood work can't tell which). I hope for a very low Tg (would it be unreasonable to hope for an undetectable Tg?) and a clear WBS.
I've had some nice (read: warm and fuzzy) moments at Hoag this week and some funny ones, too. One fabric softener commercial moment happened while visiting the infusion center on Monday with my 9-year-old son, Jack. I'd never been to the infusion center before, and apparently it's where patients go to get chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and other major stuff I'm clueless about. When I went in to get my injection (Easy Street compared to absolutely everything else they do to patients there), Jack waited for me in the main waiting room. When I came out after the shot, Jack told me one of the ladies who worked there had given him a wrapped gift. Apparently, at Hoag they have an entire committee or group (the Toy Auxiliary) of people who go around and give kids who are there with their parents or caregivers gifts "for being so patient," Jack said. Is that the nicest thing ever? Also, both days I was at the infusion center, they had a group of older volunteers who made the rounds with a cart of coffee, muffins, etc., for patients--all free. I know Hoag is a big operation, and I guess this could result in cold, sterile care, but they have really thought of everything as far as making sure cancer patients are comfortable and well taken care of. It was touching to see the staff and volunteers compassionately interacting with patients.
A funny couple of moments occurred when I think I might have
accidentally acted like a cougar to a male Nuclear Medicine tech when I got my 4 mCi dose of radioactive iodine Wednesday. This is a different location than Hoag's infusion center, which really isn't relevant or important, but I thought I'd throw that out there. First of all, let me just say that when I've been to this facility in the past, a female usually comes out to the waiting room to get me. Well, this time a dude came out, and I think I was initially so thrown off by the gender switch that I never fully recovered, and I wound up acting quite weird and spastic throughout my time with him. As he was leading me down the hallway to the weird locked door behind which was my dose of radioactive material), he asked me a few questions (which I dutifully answered), and I observed that he had a nice, deep voice. Nothing wrong with that, right? But what I said was (with an increasingly frenzied demeanor as the words tumbled out faster and faster and I became increasingly horrified with the impression I was making): "You should be on radio. [and then, worried he'd be offended because people jokingly tell "ugly" people they have a face for radio...I continued, faster...] I mean, not that you're not an attractive person, you are, but you should be a deejay or something because your voice is good. What I mean to say is you have a good voice. You have a good voice for radio... [And then nervously...] Heh heh."
Whatever.
Our interaction got a little more normal inside the dosing room where he gave me the 2 pills (I like my scan dose of radioactive iodine in two 2-mCi pills, thank you very much), and he asked me a few more questions about my thyroid cancer, and I presumably answered more normally, but I did spill a little bit of the bottle of water he gave me when I was pouring it into my mouth after the first pill went in.
My two sisters say I acted like a cougar to our waiter at Red Robin a few weeks ago, and I can see their point. I get hyper, and this comes off very, very friendly, and this may sometimes seem a little desperate...although I think I'm just
earnest, not
desperate, but whatever my true intent, I come off pretty weird and spazzy sometimes.
Oh well.
Life goes on.
I'll post my test results next week. I should have them Tuesday after my endocrinologist appointment.
