party's over

Hello my loves!

Wow, these past weeks have been a whirlwind! We had our magical wedding celebration in Friday Harbor on September 1st. We enjoyed a week of fabulous weather and nearly every single one of my most dearly beloved came to join in the festivities. Families came together from near and far, wounds began to heal, and our love was celebrated. It was so incredible to see the culmination of a lifetime of dreams come together into exactly the event I wanted to create. Our wedding coordinator perfected every last detail and allowed me to relax and be pampered on our big day instead of sweating the decorating. The guys lended their hands and even submitted to some "pink" jobs, like tying chair sashes. It all came together into the most special event.

But it all ended too soon, and I had to begin my low iodine diet on Monday in preparation for my radioactive iodine treatment next week. Last year I decided to do an all-raw diet, which may have helped with my energy levels, but this year I decided to focus on comforting and delicious foods. I really wanted to try out all my new kitchen gifts that we received! Last year I also had to go off of my thyroid medications for about a month resulting in an extreme hypothyroid state, and all the symptoms that accompany that. This year I am getting the thyrogen injection instead. I don't know much about the injection, but I do know that I am glad I won't have to go off my medication! I'm not allowed to have anything processed at all, and I can't eat out, in case the foods contain iodine. I also have to give up soy, so no tempeh or tofu for me! I've spent the past few days cooking up some staples, like bread, beans, seitan (a vegetarian wheat protein), vegetable stock, stew, and pesto, so that I'll be well fed this week and throughout my treamtent. Although it's more work to make these from scratch, it really helps so that I don't feel deprived, and really, shouldn't we be making as much of our foods from scratch, anyway? It's the small things, like mustard and soy sauce, that get annoying. I've been so lucky to have wonderful friends helping out with the cooking as well.

On Monday I have labs and a thyrogen injection, Tuesday another thyrogen injection and then a I-123 test dose, on Wednesday more labs, a full body scan to see if the RAI is absorbing, and then the radioactive iodine treatment, if it is. Honestly, getting the treatment would be a good thing. If it wasn't absorbing and I didn't have the treatment would mean that I would have to try another treatment instead - external beam radiation. I'll be locked away for a couple of days following that, then I'll have more labs on Friday. I should be well enough to be back to work the following week. I'll have a body scan on Thursday, the 20th at 10 am, to see how well the treatment worked.

This round we have decided to do outpatient treatment, instead of the lead room I was locked in last year. The conditions are that I have to have a separate bedroom and bathroom from anyone else, and of course I have to stay far away from anyone. Since our home only has one bathroom, I can't stay there, but even a hotel room would be more comfortable (and much cheaper) than the lead hospital room! I'll just have to make sure I get lots of antinausea meds from my doctor, since that was my primary symptom last year.

What an amazing summer it has been, and I am so grateful that I got to enjoy it so much before beginning my treatment. I will post photos from our weekend soon.

xoxo,

Lisa