So, is secondhand radiation safe?

The more I've been reading about people's experiences with radioactive iodine, the more I'm concerned. We all know the dangers of secondhand smoke, but secondhand radiation exposure? The hospitals and doctors treating a person would have you believe that if you stay 1m away from everybody (including pets) for 11 days you, and they, will be fine. Except, according to real people's real experiences they are not being entirely truthful. Take for example, a woman in the US who walked into her father's garden shed a few days after treatment where she proceeded to set off the Geiger Counter he had in there! As if that wasn't scary enough, reports say that the 'send people home' approach instead of keeping them isolated in hospital for the few days immediately afterwards (the danger period) only came into force in 2007. Pre-2007 patients having radioactive iodine were kept isolated for four days afterwards and after that they were sent home. Is this just for economic purposes? I definitely think so. Treatment varies around the world.  In Australia you ARE still kept in hospital and isolated from others, in Hawaii you are kept in and monitored; in the UK and the US you are sent home to contaminate every living thing you care about. I am so angry about the dangers of secondhand radiation NOT being explained fully to me so I could take more than the paltry regulations they tell you to take. They are: sit in the back seat of a car in which you are travelling with another person. Impossible when that car is a jeep (because of my back problems) the close proximity of sitting in the back seat to the driver (hubs) is as close as if I were sitting next to him, which is what we had to do as I can't sit on the back seat where it is more bumpy because of being over the wheels because of the back problems. The doctors aren't worried are they? lets be honest here, they are not living with you in the same house. I am also advised not to travel on public transport, to keep away from pregnant women and children under 5 until October 1st. Everything else will be ok until 20th Sept. Other advice from differing NHS trusts and indeed from hospitals around the world are: Keep an arm's length away from anyone else, keep 1m away from anyone else, no flying for 6 months, do not get pregnant for 6 months (helpful to men I always thought!) wash your clothes every day, shower every day, do not prepare food for others, do not share utensils, and it goes on and on and on. Hospitals only ever cherry pick their 'conditions' you are never told all of these things by the same hospital, it is downright illogical and confusing. Better to go and live on the top of a mountain for 6 months and be done with it eh? (except you'd probably contaminate the mountain!!) Seriously though, it does make you wonder if it would be safer for all concerned to stay in hospital until it's over, but then of course, like I said earlier that costs money doesn't it.

Because it is not visible, we are unaware of the dangers the radioactive field we are emitting just by being in the same house as someone. My dog thinks I don't love him as he can't sit next to me on the couch I presume until October 1, as I could affect his thyroid as well as hubs. Hubs and I already sleep in separate rooms because I don't sleep well and keep him awake, which is unfair when he has to go to work, so we decided a while back to have separate rooms, therefore sleeping apart was not going to be a problem; just living in the same house is. Flush the loo twice, rinse utensils before washing them yada yada yada.

Apart from this, radioactive iodine can permanently damage the saliva glands and cause a very dry mouth, it also plays havoc with the body's mucous membranes, which are critical for digestion, all the enzymes go haywire and all they tell you before you take this thing is: 'You will only get a sore throat for up to 48 hours afterwards' except I didn't, I had to go back for an x-ray 4 days afterwards and had to stretch my neck upwards so they could take the picture, now I have a sore throat and neck. The problems I already had with my swollen throat, catarrh and mucous and unable to swallow saliva have definitely been exacerbated. I was told, and had indeed hoped I would be making my problems better, not worse. Then, later when the thyroid cells begin to die off I can expect to put on a huge amount of weight, which apparently is impossible to lose, I will have problems with no saliva and I will be constipated because the body will start to slow down. Add to this, further blood tests to find out if my thyroid has become hypothyroid (underactive) will be needed, probably for life. I say probably, because in this country, and definitely where I live, follow up healthcare is a lottery. I have had undetected thyroid problems since mid 2000's yet pre-treatment, my blood test for thyroid always came back normal, so how will they tell I will have an underactive thyroid or not if the tests keep coming back normal. I suppose I'd have to go into the coma (myxoedema) which can happen with underactive thyroid, or collapse somewhere (knowing me, it will be highly inconvenient) before they will help me. Also, because my veins have been completely buggered up by inept junior doctors and some nurses in local hospitals who can 'never find a vein' but doggedly persist in digging around for one until I am black and blue literally, and my veins have thrombosed. Because of one person's cack-handedness, I suffered with a thrombophlebitis in my left wrist for 18 months, how attractive is that? It looked for all the world like a slug under the skin, all green and black bruising and then yellow as it healed, oh yes it was delightful - NOT.

So, to sum up, I am not happy to have had this treatment with all the side effects kept away from me, and the fact that I will have to have regular blood tests to see if I am going underactive, with all the digging around in my veins, I will have none left, what will they do then? Well, then it becomes my fault that they can't find a vein, and at which point I remind them that I didn't bugger my own veins up just to spite them, rather they did it to me and this is a consequence of staff who don't do it properly, because on those occasions when you get a really good phlebotomist you don't even know you have had blood taken, no bruising, no scarring and no pain. Sadly, I only ever see these people once in a blue moon, the rest of the time I'm at the mercy of gung ho nurses who take great delight in saying things like 'hope the next one is normal' thinking I can't hear the insult, I am normal my dear, least I used to be until cack handed junior doctors and some nurses buggered up the veins, it's your fault NHS, not mine, stop blaming the patient for your mistakes.

At least they have now found out why my earlier RAI was not in my records, apparently I have two sets of notes!  No, I'm really not joking, you couldn't make this up could you?  They promise faithfully, just like they have so many times before, to amalgamate them.  I am not holding my breath I can assure you.


© silversapphire 2009

All rights reserved. No part of the publications, or of this website may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means without the express prior written permission of the Author