Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Alien Inside Of Me


These are the pictures from my Total Body Thyroid Scan. This was after I was radioactive for a few days. A and B are full body and C is the area of my thyroid only. The triangle of lights are the markers they placed on my forehead and on both shoulders so they would know the approximate location of where my thyroid used to be. However, it's not that hard to locate where my thyroid should be - all you have to do is find the large glowing ball of light! Seriously! That thing that is emitting rays out from around it like a star are all of my residual thyroid cells, and there are A LOT of them! So it is more radioactivity for me! They are going to try and ablate it with a small enough dose that I don't have to be in isolation yet, but if it doesn't get them all, it's the isolation chamber for me! One cool thing is that on A and B you can see my digestive system where some leftover iodine is! You can just see my stomach, intestines, etc, which as a science teacher, I think is so cool!

The worst part is the non-iodine diet they have me on! Here is what I had for dinner:

100% wheat pasta (because I can't have egg yolks)
I smothered it in tomato paste that had no salt in it (iodized salt and sea salt are not allowed)
A fruit smoothie
Not too bad. Here is breakfast:

Scrambled eggs made of only egg whites
Two pieces of 100% Rye bread - one covered in peanut butter that we made ourselves because we had to make sure it didn't have any salt or butter and the other in this raspberry honey that we had to check to make sure it didn't have red dye #3 because that's not allowed either.
One banana

I wasn't too hungry for lunch so I had some plain popcorn (remember, no butter or salt) and some plain nuts.

This diet is no fun, but I'm only on it until Monday morning when I become radioactive again. Then I am going to the nearest fast food place and gobbling down foods that are covered in salt and artificially flavored and colored! All with a big glass of milk because I can have absolutely NO dairy!


Oh yeah - and if anyone has access to a Geiger counter, please let me know! I want to know just how radioactive I become! And yes, I am a science geek and totally proud of it!

7 comments:

not active said...

Hi Mari and Jake!
Thanks for keeping me in the loop with your emails and I like reading your blog. How long will you have to be on your diet, Mari? I currently only eat raw food (basically fresh fruits and veggies) and it sounds like your diet is pretty similar. I know it can be hard at first, but I have some great recipes and recipe books I could send you to help spice things up a bit. You'd be surprised at how good raw food can taste! - Jackie

kandice liljenquist said...

Hi Mari!!!
Just wanted to let you know that i looked at your pictures, and actually knew what i was looking at cause i have seen similar pictures in the past :) I hope the diet goes ok, it sounds pretty healthy... maybe i should try it! check out our website... shane is the one who blogs, i haven't got the "bug" yet so we will see.... thecampbellway.com XOXO kandice

wendy said...

Good luck tomorrow Mari!I am sure you are looking forward to getting this part behind you. Although I don't know-you and Diane have this strange way about you! We love you!

Buffy Dayton said...

Holy cow, I can't even keep track of what you can and can't eat! Jake has to freaking grind your peanut butter. CRAZY! Don't feel bad for my weak little illness that I had this last week, it doesn't even compare.....doesn't even compare! You are a trooper.

Sarah said...

You poor thing! I hope all goes well.

Jared West said...

Hey Mari its Tauni from next door! Carly told me about your blog and all that has been going on with you. WOW!! First of all you are incredibly hilarious! I never would have dreamt that the princess, and singer from next door would turn into a science geek!! I LOVE it!! I love your positive funny attitude, especially given your circumstances. Keep it going!! We're thinking about you and love you! Tell your family hi! We miss you guys!

The Lee's said...

Hi Mari! I hope you are doing well. You seem to have a pretty positive attitude and I know that helped my mom tremendously when she had her cancer. If there is anything I can do, let me know.