Preparing for Radiation

This is a huge learning process for me, and everyone I know. Thyroid Cancer is a little different in how it is treated. So now that they have removed the thyroid and nodules, they are going to use radiation to kill any existing thyroid/cancer cells. I have read that if your nodules are small and the cancer was inside the nodules, that they may decide not to do radiation at all or maybe a small dose. I have also read that in a lot of those people it returns later down the road. This is where you really need to do your homework, get a second or third opinion, and pray about it. My cancer was staged at a 2 because of the size of the tumor. My doctor also said he's going Zap it so that hopefully I won't have to deal with it later on. He said that he doesn't know yet whether my cancer will be the type that is aggressive and will be hard to treat. So the way they radiate thyroid cancer is very interesting. First, they take you off of any and all thyroid medication. They took me off of my Synthroid that I have been on since I was 21, after surgery. They gave me Cytomel, which is a little daily dose just to make me feel a little better until I got closer to my treatment. You also have to wait 6-8 weeks after surgery for the treatment. That really "bugged me as it felt like nobody had any urgency in the matter and I felt like I needed to do something now! Last week I was taken off of the Cytomel, and had to stop working as I'm a school bus driver and the doctor doesn't want me driving around without any thyroid in my body. Our thyroids control so many things in our bodies. It's really amazing what that little gland's job is. Here is a link if you want to know more www.http://housecalldoctor.quickanddirtytips.com/what-does-the-thyroid-do.aspx On April 2nd I will have to start a low-iodine diet (LID). The reason for this is that they want to deplete all the iodine from any existing thyroid cells. Our thyroids absorb iodine and use it to function. Radioactive iodine is supposedly a safe therapy because the radioactive iodine is primarily absorbed by thyroid cells. Thyroid cells are the main cells in the body that can absorb iodine, so no other cells are exposed to the radiation. When the thyroid cells—both healthy and cancerous—absorb the radioactive iodine, they are damaged or destroyed. Thyroid cancer cells, however, don't take up the radioactive iodine as easily as the healthy thyroid cells do. To encourage them to, is the reason for the diet and the medication withdrawl.