This is my third round of LID, and I've had more whole body scans than I remember (I'm not sure if that's suppression or repression at work there.) I feel pretty comfortable about this process, but I'm still checking in over at the Yahoo! Thyca support group to get myself back in the zone, if you will. It's a good thing, too, because just now I came across something, as Monty Python would say, completely different. There was a message today asking about eating lemons before a whole body scan (WBS).
Now, I've heard of using lemons to clear the salivaries after RAI treatment, but not in conjunction with an RAI scan.
Noted thyroid cancer expert Dr. Kenneth Ain posted his advice, which is basically as follows:
1. One hour before the scan, peel and eat a large lemon as you would eat an orange.
2. Every 10-15 minutes after finishing the lemon, up until the time of the scan, use water to swish around in your mouth, and swallow the water.
The purpose of this procedure is to remove residual RAI from the salivary glands, and to help remove any radioactive saliva from the lining of esophagus. Radioactive saliva can be mistaken for persistent or metastatic cancer; with this protocol, the odds of that happening are reduced.
I've printed it off to bring to Houston and show my doctors there, and I'll be sure to find a lemon somewhere before my scan next Tuesday.
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