The hospital was horrible. I won't bore you with the details. I cried for 24 of the 36 hours I was there. I wasn't given edible food until a hour before I left. That had something to do with my crankiness.
That, and being locked in a room that is not your own, relying on people who don't give a shit about you to provide you with everything you need. That was another big reason. I called my dr. and said 'enough'. Check me out. She had the nuclear medicine team come up and scan me and miraculously, I was way lower than they expected me to be on my levels and said I could go. They said that drinking a lot of water would help me pass the radiation through my system quickly and between the two gallons of water I drank, then peed or cried out, I must have done a bang up job.
It really didn't matter what my levels were, I wasn't going to stay there another minute. So now, I'm sitting in my room, bored to tears. But not real ones this time.
Its impossible to describe how good it feels to finally be home. There is nothing like being totally dependent on other people and having them let you down so badly. It was an experience I don't want to ever repeat. I wish there was some way I could help other people to avoid having to deal with it either.
Other than the trauma of the hospital stay, I feel fine. My neck is very swollen and a little sore, but I expected that. I didn't get nauseous or throw up at all. That might be that they didn't feed me for 36 hours, or just that my body handled the radiation pretty well. After I took the pills, they scanned me with the geiger counter and it read 45. By noon the next day, I was down to a 10, which they considered safe. It's still odd to me that they allow people do to this on an out patient basis. If there was an object in public that read that high, it would be immediately quarantined. But so many people with thyroid cancer are routinely given this treatment and sent home.
But I'm home now, still staying away from the family for a week to make sure that they aren't exposed to any risk. I have already read three novels and watched countless hours of tv. But I'm very happy that it's done and over with. Just a few more days in my room and I'll be back to normal. Well, as normal I get.
7 comments:
I didn't comment on your last post but read it and have been thinking about you. Hospital stays aren't fun and good for you on doing whatever it took to get out sooner. Hope you continue to feel better and better every day.
So glad that you cried enough tears to get out of that place. The hospital kind of sounds like the one I was in when I gave birth to Nolan. HORRIBLE. Glad you're home, I hope you recuperate well and get back to normal.
Hospitals can really be such crappy places. Glad to hear that you are finally home and not too radioactive.
this is so weird to me. When I had my RAI in 1981 it was done as an out patient and I was given no instruction. Happy new year!
This sounds truly terrible. I really do hate hospitals in a big way. Thank goodness this whole ordeal is just about over. :)
So your superpower is your ability to clear radiation at a super fast rate? Or is it the ability to *not* lose your shit on the people who were supposed to be taking care of you?
I'm glad you're home and probably a few pounds lighter after being on a starvation diet. Better start eating or you will be skinnier than the bride. :)
I'm sorry your hospital stay was so horrible. Glad you're home!
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