2010 - Time for a Full Body Scan

Lots has happened since I last posted to this blog.  In Summer 2009 I had a neck ultrasound.  This is part of my usual follow up.  It revealed a very small undefined area on the thyroid bed - where my thyroid used to be in the neck.  It is likely that this is a lymph node (good thing) that is too small to biopsy.  However, given my history, we can't rule out thyroid cancer.

The doctor (my third; I've switched care to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics) wanted me to wait a full year before another ultrasound.  My response:  NO DEAL!  I asked for six months.  She said no.  I then wrote to my second doctor in the Quad Cities...the one who originally diagnosed me properly (first doctor missed the &%*# cancer for three years) for her opinion.  She was reluctant to give advise, but did give me the proper questions to ask.  So, I wrote back to my current doctor and asked:
Does all thyroid cancer produce thyroglobulin?  (My cancer marker is thyroglobulin - it is undetectable - a good thing.)  Of course the answer is no, so waiting a year is NOT a good idea.  She agreed to a full body scan in the Spring.
So, what's a full body scan?  It means pull iodine out of my body by going on a low iodine diet for two to three weeks.  Then take injections to raise the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone.  Then swollow a low dose of radioactive iodine and get scanned.  Where I "light up" will show thyroid cancer tissue or other normal areas of the body that take up iodine (e.g. saliva glands).  Hopefully I won't light up!!
So, now it comes down to finding the right few weeks to do this.  It has to be a time when I can very carefully control my diet...so no eating out, no travel unless I can cook for myself, no processed foods, etc.  I'm targeting March...I'll keep you posted!