Underwater!

Wanted to share an update on everyone....the kids are doing great. Kaitlyn can now swim across the short part of the pool and loves to go underwater. She's getting really good at holding her breath and can go under to get dive sticks off of the stairs. Allen's been bringing the kids over to my parents the past few days. I can see them out of my bedroom window while they are playing in the backyard or the pool. It's so hard to be so close to them and not be with them, but I'm really happy to get to see them everyday.

Allen's surviving on his own with lots of help from our neighbors, friends and my parents. Of course, I had not doubts, he's such a great Dad!

I'm surviving as well. Really bored, but doing ok. I've watched 6 movies, read 1 book and at least a dozen magazines in the past few days. On Monday I can start to venture out of the room more and take walks outside or see my parents for more than a few minutes at a time. I'm wearing rubber gloves while I use the computer and anytime I leave the guest room.

The hospital stay wasn't as bad as a thought. They just put a table right inside the door and then the nurses would leave water or food on it for me to come and get. I drank more water than I thought possible! I had to shower every 4 hours and then change my own bed linens so that I wouldn't recontaminate myself when I got back into bed. Michael was the tech from nuclear medicine who gave me my dose of I 131. That was kind of freaky...I had to sign all of these forms and then put on rubber gloves. The medicine was in a very heavy lead container that I had to open and then take out a small plastic vial. Inside the vial was the pill - it looked like a Tylenol. Michael gave me instructions while standing across the room and kept telling me not to drop it and not to throw it up! Anyway, my dose was 100 millicuries. He came back after 1 hour with the geiger counter and my thyroid measured 50. He said that the next morning my "magic number" would be 15....meaning I had to drink, shower and pee this stuff out of me to get the level down to 15 so that I could go home. When he came back yesterday I measured 9 so I was really excited.

My whole body scan is scheduled for Monday the 23rd. They'll get some measurements on where the cancer stands and if it had spread anywhere or not. I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks again for your support for me and my family during this difficult time. We are all really looking forward to having this behind us.