Visions of Sugar Plums

I'm all scanned and counting down the seconds hours until I can eat normally again.  While I do not condone eating your feelings, that is pretty much exactly what I will be doing for the next week-ish while I wait anxiously patiently for my results.

In actuality, the diet isn't the worst thing ever.  If I could add a couple of things to it, I would have been dandy (like a little dairy.  Perhaps some cereal).  Two weeks isn't super bad.  I'm not jones-ing for food quite like I was last time.  However, there is a difference.  Last time I wasn't on my thyroid meds, so I have ZERO appetite plus enough lethargy that eating was a chore.  This time, I'm rocking a ridiculously medicated low TSH (thyroid talk) which means I have the appetite of a 15 year old boy.

I already informed Phil that we will be eating copious amounts of food this weekend, to which he was a little shocked.  I'm not usual glutenous, but he will oblige.  It is in his best interest.  It's either eat or pace a whole in the carpet.

But really I don't want to eat anything disgusting.  I'm not going to take a bacon cheeseburger, dip it in a milkshake and then throw some soy sauce and shrimp on it.  Although now that you mention it...

NO!  Some of the things I want are:

A sandwich
Something with mustard
Egg Salad
Rice
Cream Cheese
Creamy soup
Brownies with a glass of milk
Flour tortillas
Cheese

None of that is crazy.

Now, please excuse me.  I am off to daydream about pizza.

 

Beam Me Up

Ok I actually thought of several different titles for this post.  Other options included "Ode to Iodine" or "My Week in the Car" or something stupid like that.

Yesterday was my date with my radioactive iodine dose.  Tomorrow morning I go in for my scan and blood test.  Prayers and good thoughts are needed since I really REALLY REALLY don't want there to be anything weird on that scan or blood test.

Ugh.

It has been interesting week, to say the least.  Especially since Phil has been gone so I've been having to take care of the dogs and myself (which isn't a big deal but usually Phil helps A LOT with the dogs... and me who am I kidding).  But I have figured that getting shots in the butt really isn't too big of a deal.  And that is probably a good thing since I am hoping to do some fertility treatments which could very possibly involve multiple shots in the hip.

However, that nice little pregnancy test blood draw is turning into quite the lovely raised bruise.  Probably because he used an actual syringe to suck the blood out.  I've never had that done before.  By the time I get done tomorrow, I will have had 5 pokes in 5 days (3 different blood draws, 2 shots).  I am a human pin cushion.

Also, I am too young to be dealing with this crap.  For example, when I was waiting at the hospital yesterday  for my pregnancy test results (thanks for adding insult to injury hospital.  I could have told you I wasn't pregnant without the $50 blood test that my insurance won't cover even though it was required) before my dose, I took a look around.  I was the only person under 60 in the waiting room.  That's because people in their 20's aren't supposed to have to do this crap.  Hopefully this is my last one.

Secretly I am hoping that this little dose of radioactive iodine will finally give me a super power.  Totally likely, right?

And since I am trying to do my best to stay calm and not freak out, here is another picture from the beach:

I get to go back to eating normally on Saturday.  :)  2 more days!!

I'm afraid of bread

Alright.  It has been 10 days.  I have like 4 days left (I am pretty sure).  Literally my life right now revolves around food.  What I can eat.  What I can't eat.  Only 4 days left.  :)

I got freaked out yesterday morning from drinking San Pellegrino.  It's mineral water.  Apparently it contains 14 of 15 important minerals.  All but iodine.  Geez.

Did I accidentally order a Coke? (insert panic attack)

I've been having dreams that I accidentally have eaten something that I shouldn't.  Like a glass of milk.  Or spinach.  Or calves liver.  All things I would eat in real life obviously.

Basically I spend all my time eating fruits and vegetables, with splashs of beans daydreaming about unlimited amounts of carbohydrates and cheese.  Or wait I eat loads of peanut butter as well.  When I do convert a meal to low-iodine, it tends to be tasteless.  I think it is a lack of butter.  The only thing that doesn't cause food to be tasteless?  To eat everything seperately.

But I have found meal that has no dread.  Delicious-ness on a plate.  This will be made once the diet is over, for sure.

Mixed greens with avocado, candied walnuts (made from scratch) and roasted chicken breast (2 ounces) with a red wine vinegrette (made from scratch).

I just realized I had 2 ounces of meat and no grains yesterday.  I'd better be losing weight.  And I maintain that people who choose juice-fasts are crazy.

Fresh

Let me introduce to you my food:

That's pretty much it.  Plus some beans and egg whites.

I know what you are thinking... sounds super duper healthy.  It would appear so.  Heck... I might even lose some weight on this diet.  I wouldn't be opposed to that.  That is, until I discovered these:

The most glorious peanut butter cookies there ever were.  PLUS... they are completely grain free (which means I can have as many as I want) and probably the easiest things in the world to make.  Here's how you do it:

1 cup unsalted peanut butter (aka ground peanuts.  Personally, I am NOT a fan of the Trader Joe's unsalted peanut butter)
1 cup sugar (ok that's a lot of sugar)
2 egg whites (no cholesterol people)

Combine in a bowl.  Cook in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Remove before they completely cool.  Stuff your face.

If you can read between the lines here, these cookies are gluten free, dairy free, and kosher (unlike me).  They are however not peanut free.  Duh.

I am pretty sure this discovery will result in my gaining 5 lbs during this rabbit food diet.  Thank you THYCA Low-Iodine Diet cookbook.  I don't care.  I'm off to consume large amounts of unsalted peanut butter.

LID... AGAIN

I mentioned yesterday that I needed another whole body scan, which means I have get to go back on the low-iodine diet.  I wrote a post about the Low-Iodine Diet a while back, when I was preparing for my RAI treatment and whole body scan.  I'll give a little refresher for those of you who are new/don't remember/skipped that post.

Thyroid tissue needs iodine and is the only tissue in the body that takes up iodine.  Using a small dose of radioactive iodine (I-131) allows for a nuclear scan to be done, any iodine taken up in the body will light up the film.  To prepare for the dose of I-131, you need to starve your body of iodine.  This way, when you get the iodine, any thyroid cells will SUCK IT UP and absorb it, without having any other iodine in the body to compete with.  (Did I get that right, Phil?)

Starving the body means going on the low-iodine diet, or as I like to refer to it the "I only eat fruits, veggies, and beans" diet.  That's because the list of foods you aren't allowed to eat is RIDICULOUSLY long:

-  No dairy
-  No soy
-  No seafood
-  No seaweed
-  No sea salt
-  Only 4 servings of grains per day
-  No more than 6 oz. of (uncured) meat per day
-  Absolutely no iodinized salt
-  Only certain types of beans
-  No rhubarb or spinach
-  Only brown basamati rice, and even then try to severely limit it
-  No egg yolks.  Egg whites (gross) are fine
-  No potato skins
-  No Red Dye No. 5(?).  I know Red Dye 40 is ok.
-  No instant coffee/tea
-  No brown colas or anything with Caramel Coloring

Ok so it would have been easier to list what I could eat:

-  Fruit (other than rhubarb)
-  Veggies
-  Black beans
-  Chick peas
-  4 servings of grains per day which can include bread which I have to make myself (thank you Mom and Dad who don't read this for the bread machine), quinoa, millet
-  The inside of potatoes
-  Corn products (unsalted corn tortilla chips, unsalted corn tortillas which smell disgusting)
-  Unsalted nut butters
-  Fruit Juice

Basically iodine is in EVERYTHING.  Or at least all processed food.  Especially since a lot of manufacturers clean their equipment with iodine solution.  That means EVERYTHING needs to be made from scratch.  Since this work is better done BEFORE the diet starts and you become so crazy with hunger, I asked my friend Danielle if she would come over and help me prepare some staples for my 2 week hell diet.

{The To-Do List.  Phil, Danielle, and I all thought there was no way we were going to get everything done, but we did!  Pretty much because Danielle is the shiz.}

We only had like 5 hours, but we managed to bust everything out and got everything done that I wanted to.  Danielle is AWESOME.  Ok that is kind of an understatement.  I didn't get any pictures of us cooking because I was too busy either sending Phil back to the grocery store or cooking.

{All the goods.  Have you ever made refridgerator pickles?  Apparently this recipe is supposed to change your life.  Plus it isn't everyday you have to get to make your own ketchup from scratch.  Thank goodness I bought all those mason jars for Joanna's baby shower.}

Last time, I was on the diet for a month without thyroid meds.  This time I only have to go on the diet for 2 weeks and I get to stay on my meds.  Hopefully this means rather than gaining 3 lbs while eating practically nothing like I did last time, I will lose like 5 lbs.  Pretty sure the walking to the bathroom a million times a day from eating nothing but fruit and beans will help with that.  That was probably an overshare.  Well at least you don't have to live it.

Honestly, it isn't going to be that bad this time.  Two weeks seems like nothing compared with a month.  Plus I feel like this time I know what I liked from the diet last time and I feel WAY MORE prepared.  And because it is late summer in Oregon, we have an ABUNDANCE of excellent produce for fairly cheap.  And we happen to live about 5 minutes away from a market that sells said produce every day of the week.

This is not a diet anyone should choose to go on for losing weight.  The body NEEDS iodine.  In fact, there is some research that suggests the type of thyroid cancer I had can be caused from not getting enough iodine.  Who knows if it is true, but don't cut out the iodine, ok?

Food Lust

Wednesday at approximately 11:30 in the morning (PST), I stopped the Low-Iodine Diet.

*Insert cheers, choirs of angels singing, and me doing cartwheels down the street*

Side Note:  Technically, the doctor said I could stop it the day before, but I gave it an extra 24 hours for good measure.  I don't think I missed out by not eating hospital food.

And it wasn't a moment too soon.  The other day we were walking through the grocery store and I totally embarrased Phil.

This is a hard thing for me to do.  This guys knows EVERYTHING about me.  We tell each other absolutely everything.  Nothing is off limits.  While we may have had some boundaries in the past, this whole cancer process has definitely broken down any walls we may have had in the past.

Through out the entire shopping trip, I was telling Phil all of the food items I was excited to eat again.  Sandwiches on normal bread with mayo and mustard.  Milk.  Coffee with creamer.  Potato Chips.  Pickles.  Bacon.  Eggs.  Cheese (on anything).  Bagels with Cream Cheese.  Ranch.

We were walking down the frozen food aisle and when we past the frozen pizzas.  And that is when I let out a longing groan.  I guess it was loud enough that people turned and looked.  Whatever.

He thinks I may have developed an unhealthy attachment to food.

Living on basically fruit, vegetables, and nuts for a month will do that to a person.  Especially when the people around them keep flaunting food in front of them.  Still bitter about that one.

In case you want to reach me for the next few days, you may find me at one of the following restaurants:

- Padington's Pizza
- Hawaiian Time
- American Dream Pizza
- Sweet Tomatoes
- Big Town Here
- Red Robin
- McGrath's
- Sushi Restaurants
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- Thai Restaurant
- Any Italian Restaurant
- A diner for multiple breakfasts
- Every coffee shop I can enter
- Five Guys
- Burger Basket
- Konditerai

Of course I may also be vomiting from my gluttony.

{All pictures from my past posts of food.  Maybe I do love food...}

Iodine... I have missed you.

A Sleepy Compromise

Saturday night, Phil and I made some Low-Iodine French bread and it ACTUALLY tastes like french bread!  Crazy.  Since I'm only allowed 4 servings of grains per day, I used 3 of them yesterday to have french bread and dip it in balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

It was crazy good.  Almost made me want to cry.

Until it made me want to vomit.

About 10:30 Sunday night, acid reflux was raging war.  I am pretty sure it was the olive oil and whiskey.  Not the best combination.  I didn't go to sleep until after midnight and then woke up every single hour until 6 in the morning, when Phil had the alarm clock going off every 15 minutes until about 7:30.  THEN Phil was downstair wrestling in the kitchen or something.  I don't know but it was loud.  And after his shower, he proceeded to bump into the bed every 2 seconds.

After Phil left, I COULD.NOT.GO.BACK.TO.SLEEP.

{image found HERE}

I am tired.  And I decided to use my excellent mood this morning to call the hospital I had my surgery at to discuss the bill and then the hospital I will have my RAI to ask some gentle questions.

It was a resounding success.  Not really.

I confirmed that next week I WILL be headed to "Thyroid Cancer Prison" as I like to call it.  But I also found out that my LID diet can stop about 5 days sooner.  A little give and take.

The idea that I only have 10 days left on this diet makes me want to run through the streets rejoicing.  I probably won't be running though.  I'm too tired.

A little H-2-0

There is some debate over whether there is iodine in drinking water.  Some doctors recommend only drinking distilled water while on the low-iodine diet.  This is probably overkill, but I would rather be safe than sorry.  After a little research, Phil told me that a granulated activated carbon water filter (a Brita filter) would work for home, but I would still need the distilled stuff for work.  So Phil and I bought just a few gallons of distilled water to get me started.

We looked like survivalists.

Since I was now having to drinking special water from gallon containers, Phil recommended that I drink it directly out of the container.  Just like the frat-boy weight lifters.  He said I should slam back the water, let the water dribble down my chin, and then when I finish yell, "WOO!" while flexing.

I opted for a different drinking vessel.

{Now that's some pure lookin' water}

My favorite part about the water is that it has an expiration date.

{Expires February 23, 2014 at 10:7. That's specfic}

 

Apparently after a couple of years on the shelf, the water needs to re-enter the hydrologic cycle.

{image found HERE}

Yeah I just nerded out there.

Since my stash of water is getting a little low, we went to Safeway to restock and found this:

Really?  REALLY?  There's been a big run on distilled water I guess.

This is why survivalists always have a back-up stash.

My coworkers are MEAN

Let me preference this post by saying that I am currently preparing for Radioactive Iodine Treatment (oral chemotherapy) as a part of my Thyroid Cancer treatment.  To prepare for this, I am on a low-iodine diet (which mean I can eat basically nothing) and can't take my thyroid medicine (I am hypothyroid).  This post does not reflect my normal behavior.

I walked into my office yesterday morning and a wonderful aroma hit my olfactory senses.  When I turned the corner to go into my office, I saw them.

Breakfast sandwiches.  Ham, Sausage, and Bacon Egg and Cheese breakfast sandwiches.

And seeing (and smelling) these could not be avoided.  Let me show you the proximity of these sandwiches to my actual office (as in where my desk is):

There is no avoiding them.

I know people bring food into the office quite frequently, but I didn't expect them to bring something so aromatic and then put it RIGHT NEXT TO my office.  The entire office smelled like cheese, bacon, and sausage.  One of my coworkers said, "I can't smell them."  I wanted to reply to that with, "That's because you still have sausage grease on your face."

I didn't say that.

I did, however, several completely inappropriate almost reactions to this:

1.  I almost started crying.

2.  I almost took all the sandwiches and threw them in the garbage.

3.  I almost took all the sandwiches and threw them on the floor while stomping my foot.

BUT I DIDN'T!!

And anyone who has gone through this low-iodine diet without Synthroid/Cytomel knows that is no small feat.

Needless to say, I think my hypothyroid symptoms are starting to sneak up on me.

Low Iodine Lunch

I am now 1 week into my low-iodine diet.  1 week down, 4 to go.

Today one of my coworkers told me, "If I were on that diet, I would totally cheat."  Well that would be completely counter-productive.  I'm not doing this because it is fun or to lose weight (although I'd better lose some dang weight).  And just a reminder:  for normal healthy people, iodine is very important.

Lunch is by far the hardest meal of the day for me.  Breakfast is fairly easy... Some egg whites with veggies and hash browns plus a fruit smoothie (read: pureed fruit and ice).  I save all my meat and grains for dinner, but that makes lunch a little tricky.

Last week I tried no-salt peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on low-iodine bread.  But the peanut butter doesn't taste like normal peanut butter (it tastes like peanut butter in England) and my low-iodine bread is getting a little dry.

So here it is... my lunch:

Carrots and yellow peppers with homemade hummus.  No-salt white corn tortilla chips with homemade guacomole.  Apples and a banana.  I am pretty sure my daily recommended 9 fruits and veggies are all right there.  My dinner tonight will be veggie-less.  I am such a rebel.

It isn't half bad except for the fact that it takes FOREVER to eat enough veggies to be full.  I might try to keep this up when my diet is over.  But I'll probably add some things.  Like bread.  And cheese.  And cookies.  And lasagna.

Now I'm drowling.

Radioactive Iodine and Low-Iodine Diet

A part of my thyroid cancer treatment involves a dose of Radioactive Iodine (RAI), which is oral chemotherapy.  To prepare for this, I will have to stop taking my thyroid medicine and go on a low-iodine diet for about 5 weeks (4 weeks before, 1 week after).

Educational moment:  Thyroid tissue is the only tissue in the body that takes up iodine and iodine is actually really important for normal thyroids.  Lack of iodine in the diet is associated with goitars and other thyroid malfunctions.  For this reason, developed countries have added iodine to pretty much everything to make sure that people get enough.

The type of cancer I have likes to spread via the bloodstream to your lungs and bones, but really it can pop up anywhere in the body.  And even after a thyroidectomy, there is still some remnant thyroid tissue left in the body (around the parathyroid glands).

Since iodine is only taken up by thyroid tissue, it is the perfect mechanism for killing leftover thyroid tissue and killing any thyroid cancer cells that may be in other locations of the body.  RAI will help get rid of any cancer cells which may have spread (which hopefully none did) and help keep the cancer from coming back.

A nuclear pharmacist (like our friend, Reid) will prepare a radioactive form of the iodine (I-131).  In terms of side effects, it doesn't have many.  It is a MUCH better alternative to systemic chemotherapy.

The Low-Iodine diet will basically starve my body of Iodine so that when I get the I-131, the thyroid tissue will soak it all up.

There are quite a few restrictions on this diet.  They differ a little depending on who you talk to, but here's the jist:

-  No dairy (that includes cheese, milk, ice cream, butter, yogurt, and chocolate)
-  No egg yolks
-  No soy products
-  Basically nothing processed
-  No iodinized salt
-  Nothing from the ocean.  No fish, shellfish, sea salt, seaweed, etc.
-  No chicken plumped with brine.
-  Only 6 oz. of meat a day
-  Only 4 servings of grains a day
-  No Red #3
-  Distilled Water
-  Certain types of beans are off limits
-  Not too much spinach and broccoli
-  No canned anything (except peaches, pineapple, and one other thing I can't remember)

There's still plenty to eat, but it requires a little more planning than usual since almost EVERYTHING has to be made from scratch.  And it will be a lot of fruits and vegetables.  I am secretly hoping I will lose weight while doing this, but that isn't likely.  In addition to the restricted diet, I have to stop taking my thyroid medicine so my metabolism will be virtually non-existant.  And I'll probably feel like crap. 

But it must be done!  I can do it.  Hopefully this will be one of the last steps in this process.

Almond Milk

Phil and I have always wondered about milk subsitutes.  What exactly is soy/almond/rice milk and how do they make it?  How do you milk an almond?

In case you too were wondering about how you make almond milk, here's how you do it:


Almond Milk

1)  Soak raw, unsalted, unroasted almonds and soak them in water for a day.

2)  For every 1 ounce of (dry weight) almonds, use about 1 cup of water.  Place almonds, water, some salt, a little bit of maple syrup, and a cap and a half of pure vanilla extract in a blender and blend away.

3)  Strain blended mix through cheeseclothe into a container.

4)  Taste.  The first batch I made was absolutely disgusting.  I had only added a few drops of maple syrup and hadn't figured out the vanilla yet.  Once I got that all figured out, it actually wasn't that bad.

Let me just say, there is a reason they put these things in cartons you can't see through.  It looks kind of gross after it has sat a while.  Definitely need to SHAKE before using.

I have no idea why anyone would ever make their own almond milk if they didn't have to.

Endo fun

{This is how Phil and I relax... Duck Tales and candle light.}

This morning was my follow-up appointment with my endocronologist.  It was a regular riot of fun.

The [new] murse (male nurse) went to weigh me and moved the 50 lb marker PAST my weight to which I said, "Oh no you did not!" in a joking voice.  He turned a bright shade of red.  Then he took my blood pressure which was 110/70 which is a little high for me.  When my mom pointed that out, the murse said, "It is probably because I overweighed you." 

Yes.  Yes it is.

Then the doctor came in.  After I confirmed that she was actually talking about me and looking at my chart, I began asking her the 21 questions I had prepared for the appointment.  I literally asked her 21 questions.  No joke.  Plus Phil and my mom had some questions for her as well.  I got my moneys worth out of that co-pay.

At one point, she examined my neck and said, "Your neck feels totally normal."  There's a phrase I haven't heard in a while.

And because my brain is in a massive fog thanks to inadequate thyroid hormones, I still can't recall about half of the appointment.

Here's the jist I think:

- In a couple of weeks, I will stop my thyroid meds and begin the low-iodine diet with hopes to have my radioactive iodine treatment in the third week of April.  Low iodine diet = eating like a rabbit.
-  The full-body scan will be a week after that.  Another scan a year after that.
-  Then she is giving me lots of thyroid hormones.  The good ones.  The kind that should help with the mental fog and maybe even allow me to lose some weight.
-  No babies for even longer than we originally thought.

A fun fact about radioactive iodine:  If I need to fly within 4 weeks of my RAI treatment, I will need a special letter from my doctor because I will set off the alarms at the airport.  TSA will consider me a safety threat.  That could make for a very uncomfortable security screening (if you catch my drift).

Since it looks like I will be on the low iodine diet sooner than we originally thought, Phil and I spent some time tonight looking over recipes of things to make in advance.  So far, we know we will be making low iodine ketchup, almond milk (which I always wondered how to make), hummus, and bread.

I never thought I'd be making my own ketchup.

But I do love me some ketchup.