Low Iodine Diet Day Nine, Isolation Day Two

Have you seen the TV show Monk? Well, the main character is a brilliant detective but he has obsessive compulsive disorder. It is funny on the show but OCD is a reality for many. I think going through radioactive iodine treatment (which I had yesterday) could bring out the OCD in anyone. The rules can make a paranoid person go crazy. The issue isn't germs, per se, but bodily fluids. I seriously wonder how an OCD person goes through this treatment.

I'll list some of the rules and you can see what I'm talking about.

• Be careful with urine for FOUR DAYS after treatment. Flush the toilet three times after using.
• Be careful with saliva for FOUR DAYS after treatment. Do not share food. Do not share eating utensils. No kissing. Anything your saliva touches should be disposed of in the trash. When tooth brushing, spit into the toilet and flush.
• Be careful about distance from other people for FOUR DAYS after treatment. Keep a distance of at least three feet from others. Sleep alone. 
• Contact with children 12 and under: For the first TWO DAYS try to keep close contact (sitting on laps, hugging) to less than 15 minutes per day. For the next TWO DAYS close contact can be permitted to one hour total per day. There are no restrictions if the child maintains a distance of three feet.
• For the first FOUR DAYS after treatment, when you take a shower allow the cold water to run for five minutes after each use.

Breakfast: can you guess? :) Steel cut oatmeal and toppings.

Snack: zucchini bread.

Lunch: Chicken Citrus Salad

Supper: No Cream Cream of Cauliflower Soup - ThyCa Low-Iodine Cookbook - page 61. Kinda bland, unfortunately. Oh well, this is the last supper I have on the diet. I also had some Sweets and Beets chips.

Drinks: lots and lots of water, orange juice.


The end of the LID is in sight! Only two more meals!

I'm sucking on hard candy to keep my salivary glands working. This is important after receiving RAI.


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Low Iodine Diet Day Eight, Isolation Day One

Image source

No breakfast or lunch today!!!

I went to the radiation department at the hospital just after 10 am. I had a whole body scan which took about an hour and then waited for my dosage. I received the radioactive iodine pill (which came in a lead container) at 1:45 pm. I still had to wait 30 more minutes until I could eat. The last time I had eaten was a snack around 9 pm the night before. What a long fast and all I could drink was water!

Snack: banana, matzo crackers, strawberries.

Well, I'm isolated. It is a beautiful sunny day.

Dinner: chicken peanut stew. This is something I regularly feed my family. I made adjustments to fit the diet. I used water in stead of chicken broth, the peanut butter is natural anyway, the canned tomatoes were unsalted and the added salt was non-iodized. I made this in the morning, with my husband's help, before leaving for the hospital, while fasting! It tasted great after not eating for so long.

I packed my food along. I have a microwave and fridge here. The good news is that I get to end the low iodine diet one day earlier than I thought. It ends on Wednesday afternoon!

I'm setting up Skpe right now so I talk to my family and see them, too. Grandma, you're next!Pin It

Low Iodine Diet - Day Seven

breakfast: steel cut oatmeal, unsalted chopped pecans, cranberries.

snack: I packed a banana to bring along to church today.

lunch: chicken citrus salad, matzo cracker.

snack: zucchini bread.

supper: Chili

recipe from Thyroid Cancer Canada Low Iodine Recipe Collection
- page 155. Unfortunately, this was a dud. It looks good but is pretty bland. I guess when the diet is over I could add some cheese and taco chips to it and it would be fine.

I've been busy today, making dishes for the upcoming days of isolation. I'm bringing my food along so I don't have to cook much, just make oatmeal and a salad for lunch. Lots of packing to do!





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Low Iodine Diet - Day Six

You know this is sarcasm, right?

Breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with raisins, cranberries, and sliced almonds.

Snack: banana

Lunch: Leftover pea soup - can you believe I'm still eating this? :) Strawberries.

Snack: Sweets and Beets chips, zucchini bread.

Supper: Vegetable Stew - recipe from ThyCa cookbook - page 65

Well, the tiredness and crankiness of being hypothyroid is getting worse, that's for sure! I'm thankful for a very patient husband.Pin It

Low Iodine Diet - Day Five

No breakfast today - I had to fast before getting a low dose radiation pill. Tracer dose. The pill was in a lead container. The tech was a little too quick in his interactions with me today but that's off topic. He said my TSH level (measured on Tuesday) was good. I guess I'm almost ready to get radioactive on Monday!

Snack: banana, sweets & beets chips.

Lunch:

I tried to make it look pretty for the audience.

Chicken Salad, zucchini bread.

Supper: Leftover Pea and Carrot soup. I didn't feel like making anything new. I spent lots of time in the yard today. I probably tired myself out too much!

Snack: strawberries.

Dessert: zucchini bread.

Drinks: black tea, water.


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{this moment}

can you see an adult tooth coming in?

My lil' slugger, smiling in the sun. Finally a game with good weather!

My youngest is playing baseball for the first time. Practices in March and games started this month. This week there was a weeknight game which was tricky to manage. We had a very late supper afterward.Pin It

Low Iodine Diet - Day Four

Breakfast: steel cut oatmeal, zucchini bread.

Snack: orange

Lunch: Citrus Chicken Salad - recipe here. I think I'll have this again, when I'm back to regular food. Delicious!

Snack: Beets and Sweets chips.

Supper: leftover pot roast and vegetables.

Drinks: black tea, water, pomegranate IZZE.

No food photos today but this is from a few weeks ago. My boys are loading the dishwasher. They didn't want to touch anything "yucky" so they put on oven mitts. I thought it was funny.

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Low Iodine Diet - Day Three

I'm on the Low Iodine Diet to prepare to get radioactive iodine treatment. I'm blogging it to help others to plan their own meals.

Breakfast: steel cut oatmeal with raisins and cranberries.

Snack: grapes, strawberries, matzo cracker.

Lunch: Pea and Carrot soup. Terra Sweets and Beets Chips.

Snack: grapes

Dinner: leftover pot roast, leftover asparagus and carrots, snap peas.

Dessert: leftover zucchini bread.

Drinks: black tea, o.j.Pin It

Low Iodine Diet Day Two

I'm on the Low Iodine Diet to prepare to get radioactive iodine treatment. I'm blogging it to help others to plan their own meals.


Breakfast: Egg white omelet with chopped onions and red peppers. Zucchini Bread  (leftovers).

Snack: banana

Lunch - Pea and Carrot Soup (leftovers), matzo cracker, strawberries.

Dinner: Pot Roast - ThyCa Cookbook - page 27 (only 4 oz. of meat) , roasted asparagus (tossed with oil and Mrs. Dash).

Dessert: mango sorbet from Trader Joe's - delicious!

Drinks: black tea, water, Pomegranate IZZE (no red dye).


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Low Iodine Diet Day One

I'm on the Low Iodine Diet to prepare to get radioactive iodine treatment. I'm blogging it to help others to plan their own meals.

Breakfast: Steel Cut Oatmeal with raisins, non salted sliced almonds, cranberries. The funny thing about the overnight oatmeal that I made ended up with too much non-iodized salt in it! I had to remake it.

Zucchini Bread - sorry for the blurry photo!

Snack: Zucchini Bread - ThyCa Cookbook - page 100, strawberries.

Lunch: Dill, Pea and Carrot Soup - ThyCa Cookbook - page 67, an orange.

Snack: Matzo cracker.

Supper: Beef and Peppers Stir Fry -Thyroid Cancer Canada Low Iodine Diet Recipe Collection  - page 154.

Drinks: black tea, water with lemon slices, IZZE - pomegranate (no red dye).

Today was OK. I had a headache for part of the day. I think it came from all the work I did yesterday.Pin It

Low Iodine Diet - Day Zero

Tomorrow I start the low iodine diet in preparation for radioactive iodine to treat my thyroid cancer. I have already had my whole thyroid removed. This is to kill any remaining thyroid cells (aka cancer cells) that remain in my body. I read several blogs of people who did the diet (or prepared meals for a family member) that helped me prepare and so I decided that I would journal what I eat. I found that examples from real life people, with details, was so helpful to me.

Today I did a lot of preparation for the diet. This was complicated by the fact that I was putting my kitchen back together after I didn't have my full kitchen (no sink and limited counters) for a week due to a water leak and subsequent repairs and reconstruction. Ugg. I spent a chunk of my day finding things and putting them back into cupboards and discovering that lots of things were covered with a fine layer of sawdust.

I wanted to have at least a few days' lunches made ahead of time and I have a week of meals planned.

Today I made:

• Dill, Pea and Carrot Soup - page 67 - ThyCa Low Iodine Cookbook
• Zucchini Bread - page 100 - ThyCa Low Iodine Cookbook
• Steel cut oatmeal (overnight oatmeal) - made with non-iodized salt and no milk.

The soup is huge! I won't need many more soups, unless I get really bored of it. 

I had a little bowl of ice cream tonight - my last for a while. I expect that having my black tea without milk and no lattes will be hard.

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Disruption

I'm trying!

Disruption. I think that is the word for 2013, at least so far. Things have not been going along how I expect.

Thyroid cancer diagnosis in January followed by thyroidectomy and a difficult recovery. A "foreign object" in my neck appeared a month after surgery (likely a stray piece of thread from stitching me up) just under the surface and it won't likely be removed. This makes my scar line even longer! Water leaks and damage in my kitchen forced us out of the house for a few days and then back home to a less than easy place to manuever (kitchen things boxed up, no sink, and very limited counter space for making lunches makes for grumpy parents and kids).

Disruption is hard. I'm about to start another disruption - the low iodine diet - on Monday. I won't bore you with details but it is TOUGH. The best way to prepare for this diet is to make meals ahead of time and prepare snacks as well. No restaurant or take out food are allowed. I thought I'd have those meals made by now.

The plumbing is being fixed and my kitchen is being rebuilt either today or tomorrow. If all goes according to plan (ha ha ha!), I hope to make some meals and snacks on Sunday. I should have a sink and a counter to work on by then.

I've stopped taking my thyroid medication to prepare my body for radioactive iodine treatment. I'm hypothyroid and you can see what that means here. I was carrying along quite fine until yesterday when I started to feel sort of spacey. Just writing this post is a bit challenging - to stay coherent. At least I know this is one of the expected symptoms. I'll have to stop driving soon. Another unpleasant one is irritability. A torn up kitchen can make any woman testy but this is putting me over the edge!

I get new flooring and new countertops. I'm going for the old fashioned formica countertop. Saves money and I'm pretty sick of cleaning the grout of a tile one. For the floors, I'm going with a fake wood floor. I hope I can pick the right one. Now is NOT the best time for me to be making decisions!

If you are a prayer, please pray for me and my family. Hopefully I'll be back to normal in mid May.Pin It

Spring Break Sunny Days

Waterfront Park - Leavenworth

This year our priority for Spring Break was sunshine and warm temperatures. We had considered travelling to San Diego but when we looked at the forecast it was only going to be in the mid-60s there. The forecast for Wenatchee? 80 degrees! We stayed one night in Wenatchee and one night in Leavenworth.

Once we arrived in Wenatchee it actually was 80 degrees!

Skookum - Wenatchee's landmark

We used J's new smart phone (and Yelp.com) to find a great place for dinner - McGlinn's Public House. Great place, yummy food.

The next day the boys had a great time playing in the outdoor pool (at the Red Lion Hotel) which they had to themselves.

J and the boys explored Riverfront Park by the Columbia river while I went antique shopping.

In Cashmere (which is between Wenatchee and Leavenworth) we stopped at the Aplets and Cotlets factory and store and enjoyed some free samples. Cashmere has a great antique mall which I explored while J and the boys had BBQ. I found some milk glass vases to add to my collection.

In Leavenworth we explored almost all the stores.

A tried on a wolf hat

and C got a new friend - a beaver.

J and the boys had authentic German food at Munchen Haus. I opted for cheese fondue at Pavz.

On our last day, we went walking at Waterfront Park.

Some more Leavenworth photos:

Before leaving we drove over to the Sleeping Lady resort, which I wanted to check out. We had a delicious lunch there with an amazing view of the mountains.

On the way back home, we stopped at Stevens Pass (a ski hill) and we couldn't believe the amount of snow still around even though it has been sunny and warm for several days.

A short vacation but it was great to get away. The rest of spring break I plan to spend gardening.Pin It