Thyca lingo

Since not all of you know what the heck I'm talking about sometimes in relation to my cancer, here it is:

Thyca: Thyroid Cancer

Papillary: the type of thyroid cancer I have

TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone): this number is super important to me. I have to be under .5 The higher it goes the worse I feel and the more at risk I am.

Endocrinologist: the doc who takes care of my thyroid.
Radiation Oncologist: the doc who manages my RAI therapy.

Low iodine diet.: I can't have iodine, which is in most food. I can't have dairy, much meat, anything processed or regular salt. That basically leaves fresh fruit and veggies. The reasoning for it is to make cells my hungry for iodine. I will be getting a small dose of radioactive iodine (RAI) next week for a scan to see if I have any thyroid cells left in my body. Thyroid cells will uptake iodine differently than other cells so it helps my doctors to see if I have any thyroid cells left. If I do, then it possible for my cancer to come back or spread.

Going hypo (hypothyroid):means that I'm off my medicine. The drug I take, Synthroid tricks my brain into thinking my thyroid is still there so that it doesn't overproduce TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) which would not only make me feel really bad, but could stimulate the cancer cells to make trouble. Going hypo is part of getting my body ready to have the whole body scan next week which shows if the cancer is still there.

WBS (Whole Body Scan): The scan of my entire body using a tracer amount of RAI to see if there are any thyroid cells in there.

RAI: radioactive iodine

Isolation: What I will be in if I have to have RAI treatment. The reasoning for this is that I would be radioactive and it would be unsafe for other people to be around me.