The Long Awaited Scan!

So, after 7 months of waiting, I finally had my scan last night to see if my last dose of radioactive iodine worked. I had my entourage with me (they were mostly just curious about the results) and like a true Doggett/Cuthbert, we got there 30 minutes early. So we passed the time:

My mom kept complaining there was nothing to read there and Jake was still studying hard - no surprise there. Alex was drawing comics and I was just generally irritating people. At least I had fun! It finally became time to go back for the scan (and yes, they called me back late!) and I took Alex along as my photographer. You can only have one person in the room at a time. Guess what their reason is for this - because they only have one extra chair. Lame. You think they could come up with a better excuse than that! So here is the machine with my lab tech guy blinking:

And then they put this pillow under your knees so they won't move:

And then they bind your feet together so they won't move:

And then they tighten the strait jacket over your torso so your arms won't move (because their table isn't wide enough to rest your arms on - cheap lab!):

If you couldn't tell, you are not supposed to move at all during this procedure! So if you have a mom who likes to try and make you smile even though it is quite obvious you aren't supposed to move, don't let her come back with you. Then they lower the gamma camera so that it is just a few inches above your face:

And they start the Total Body Thyroid Scan which is such a lie because it only goes to your knees. But it does take 30 minutes to scan from head to knee. And I can't move. And I can't talk. At least, I can't talk until it moves past my head and at that point there's really only about 10 minutes left in the scan. Good thing I find my own thoughts very entertaining! After the total body one they do a second scan where they position the camera right above my neck for 10 minutes. This time they lower the camera to within an inch of my nose! Luckily, I am not claustrophobic, but it did bug my eyes because they had a hard time focusing on something so close, so for most of the scan I just lay there with my eyes closed. I don't have any pictures of that one because Alex had gotten bored by then and gave up her seat to Jake who eventually gave it up to my mom who tried to get me to laugh until the lab tech scolded her.

Last time I had the scan the ladies were nice and let us have a peek at the results so we would have an idea of what was going on. Unfortunately, these guys were sticklers for the rules and regulations. We pretty much begged and pleaded to get just a glimpse of the scan but they went all "HEPA rights" and "privacy violation" on us. And when my mom tried to look over their shoulders during the scan, they purposefully shifted their bodies to block her view!! So I have no idea what to expect during my doctors visit tomorrow. For goodness sakes! I'm been waiting over half a year to see if my scan showed any surviving thyroid cells and they couldn't even let me have my 5 seconds with my own scan! So I will know more and post more tomorrow. Let the anticipation begin!