Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!

This was the comic strip online today for Calvin and Hobbes, and when I saw it, it seemed perfect for today and the trials and tribulations of the last 5 months.

Dr. N called me at 9:45am (does she ever sleep?) with the results of the Whole Body Scan from Monday.  Ready?  She said that the only place they could see uptake of the iodine was in the neck area, which is what she figured would happen.  She said that means that there was thyroid tissue still there, and possibly cancer tissue, but they have no way of knowing at this point exactly what was there, only that the iodine went there and killed off whatever was lurking where the thyroid used to be.  From what I've read, it's impossible for any surgeon to safely remove all the thyroid tissue and microscopic bits can be leftover, so the uptake of the iodine there is normal.

There was no evidence of uptake anywhere else, like in the lungs.  Therefore, no cancerous thyroid tissue made it past my lymph nodes.

And, the thyroglobulin is still UNDETECTABLE!  She was very happy with that since I've been pretty hypo for a while now, meaning the cancer has perfect conditions to come back to any remaining thyroid tissue since there is nothing in place to suppress it.

So as of right now, I can take more cytomel in the afternoon to avoid the three pm train wreck, and I can stay on the cytomel for the rest of the week.  I have to go back in 6 weeks to check the TSH levels and see where I'm at.  She said I'll probably need to play with the dose for a bit until things settle down.  And, I'll go back in one year for another body scan and see what it shows.  I can also go back to work when I feel up to it--I'm aiming for next Tuesday, June 1st.  If I don't feel up to it, I'll wait.  

Insert huge sigh of relief mixed with happy tears here.  

I'm by no means completely out of the woods--1/3 of thyroid cancer survivors have issues with recurrence, more surgery, repeated RAIs and trouble regulating the TSH levels to a place where they feel good.  It's not enough to say that I just have to take a little pill every morning and be done with it--this is a lifelong series of bloodtests and scans, and anxiety-provoking waits for results.  Getting the TSH stable can be a complete nightmare too, and I'm speaking from experience.  Not to mention the absolute chaos this causes with all the other hormones and overall metabolism.  If anyone else tells me "it's the best cancer to have", they had better take a step back because I might haul off and slug them.  Even if I have 5 completely clean scans in the next 5 years, they never use the word "cured" with thyroid cancer because it never really goes away and can always come back.  I have had some good talks with St. Peregrine, so I'll just keep the channels of communication open with him and have him keep interceding so the cancer stays away.  That's what he's there for, right?  To help me stay in the 2/3 who never have to have another RAI.  

In the meantime, I'm going to play in my umbrella pool on this beautiful day and get myself back on my feet....today is definitely a good day.