Next things...

I've had very little going on lately in regards to cancer. I've been seeing my oncologist farily regularly, but nothing else. But next week is my follow up RAI (radioactive iodine) scan to see if there's any residual thyroid cancer. So I've been on the low iodine diet, which really isn't as bad as I made it out to be originally. Last time I had to do it for 2 months, but this time only a few weeks. And I've lost 10 lbs, which is a nice side benefit!
Ordinarily with this scan, I would have to stop all my thyroid meds for a month prior to the scan. That would make me extremely hypothyroid, which was a very unpleasant place to be - fatigue, hallucinations, memory loss (I almost forgot to include that one!) But thanks to a drug called Thyrogen, I don't have to stop my meds at all. That sounded like a good deal at first, but as I've read more about Thyrogen and understand how it works, it's a little scary. Instead of becoming hypo over the course of a month, I'll become hypo in just two little days! Yikes!
So my upcoming schedule is as follows:
Monday - Thyrogen injection
Tues - second injection
Wed - labs, then swallow the RAI pill
Thurs - a 2 hour full body scan at 11:00, then see my oncologist at 1:00 and get the verdict - to treat, or not to treat!
Fri - labs
If anything at all shows up on the scan, I'll have to have another high dose RAI treatment, which will mean 8 days in isolation again.
Along with all this, I've had a swollen area in my jaw for the past 3 weeks. My face is numb and tingly, and certain noises make my ear ring really loud. I've been trying to decide: dentist or doctor? I have no tooth pain at all, but it's a possibility. In my indecision, I've done neither in hopes it will just all go away. I'll probably stop in to see my doctor some time next week. Hopefully that's not related to everything else. Sigh...