Fine For Now

YAY! Fine... for now. That is not to say I WONT have to have radiation. It is saying that I owe it to God and Atlas that I don't have to jump into radiation right now.

I have the greatest support system ever. This appointment another lady from church went with me and we met Bob there. It is so nice to have someone else to pass Atlas too so that he stays busy and not upset. Also the lady that went with me had REAL cancer last year and spent like 13 weeks in Boston having radiation after her stint here with chemo. I feel really petty worrying about this "if-you-have-to-have-cancer-choose-this-one" cancer.

Here is what I gathered:

The radiologist basically says I am at almost NO risk at this point... The cancer was completely encapsulated and nothing escaped during the 5 pricks from the fine needle biopsy. SO, since I am nursing my baby, right now is not a good time to bother taking extra precaution to do something I might not need.

Yay for being vocal and insistent that I NEED to nurse my baby first and foremost. Not to say that I would not take the best care of myself first. I want to be HERE for my baby so obviously I would suck it up and do what I need to do to keep myself healthy and alive. However, my own research lead me to ask allllllllllllllll of the questions I needed to.

WHEN I stop nursing I need to have an iodine scan. This is where they take a very low level of Radioacitive Iodine and then do a full body scan to see where the thyroid cells have escaped to. If it turns out that my body is full of them then the best precaution is to take the RAI and go "away" for about 8 days. Mom says I can come stay with her and we can do the daily cleaning rituals together, she even has my own bedroom/bathroom set up.

With the low-level RAI I can pump/dump for several days to a few weeks. I am not sure if I am comfortable with nursing when I am at a "Safe level" of RAI. They can do all the tests and stuff to see if I have a "safe" level in me before I go back to nursing... but I am not sure that is good enough for me.

I had planned on doing a HUGE donation to Get PUMPed once the radiologist said I didn't need the radiation... but being that I dont know when I plan to stop nursing... I'm not sure I can give an ounce up yet. So I am holding onto it. I currently have 500, 600, and 300 ounces at neighbors homes and another 1400 in my deep freezer and 130 in my fridge-freezer... but that is not enough in the long run. I might reconsider when I hit 6000 ounces, but I dont want any regrets when doing such a good deed.

When I mentioned that my "plan" to stop nursing was either when my kid hit 3 to start weening or when I got pregnant again and dried up or just whenever he was interested in weening himself. Apparently that is not good enough. The doctor mentioned something like "14 months old or so."

Until they tell me not to, I will have to have weekly blood tests to see where my hormone levels are at. If I have a high TSH (thyroid hormone level) then it means that I need to up my medication (when they have me start it) High TSH means that the hormone is almost non existent.. or at least decreasing too much. As long as it remains low.. then my body is still holding on to some of it. Some people can go 8 weeks before hitting their half life... others only about 2 weeks.

I'm wondering if I am one of those with the shorter life span of hormone... I was expecting the 23 day half life... but I am just dead to the world these past few days and wondering if has already fallen off the charts. Then again, the baby just got teeth 6 & 7 within 2 days and I havent slept a full 2.5 hours in a row in days.

Just in typing this he has woken twice. I'll finish this when my head is clearer