Inconsistent information about I-131

lolitabeats1

I was reading the discussion boards from this website and now I am scared that I have exposed my children to radiation. I was administered 50mCi’s on 8/25 at 3:10pm and was give the following indications in writing:

“Sleep in a separate bed (at least 7 foot separation) 4 days
Avoid close contact with children and pregnant woman (at least 3 feet) 4 days
Keep at least three feet away from others 3 days
Drink plenty of liquids (e.g. water and juices) 2 days
Delay return to work 2 days
Limit time spent in public places to 20 minutes per day 2 days
Limit travel in personal vehicle to no greater than 2 hours (at least 3 foot separation in vehicle) 1 day
Do not travel by airplane or mass transportation 2 days”
This quoted information comes from the nuclear medicine department at the hospital. In addition, that I could cook for my children just not taste the food and then serve them. I want to cry. I have a six and eight-year old. The thought of them being exposed angers me. I stayed in my room for two days and when they went to school on day three I was cleaning the house and washing everything but, I was still walking around the house. Since day three, I have kept a distance more than six feet but not separated totally. As a matter of fact when I mentioned it to the nuclear medicine doctor, that if he recommended me sending my kids to another house, he gave me look as if though I was over reacting.

WHAT HAVE I DONE!

sunnyaz

What Have I Done?
With only 50 mCi's you are probably okay. That's a pretty small dose. Most of us take the longer road for cautions sake. As long as you didn't sit close to them and hug and kiss them for the first three days, and especially for long periods of time, they will probably be fine. While I think your Nuclear Medicine Doctor might have been a slight bit too liberal I wouldn't worry. Just walking around the house while they weren't home should not pose a danger to them. I watched movies at a distance of ten feet from my husband and daughter (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours). My last dose was 178 mCi's and I stayed away from my thirteen year old for seven days limiting us to ten feet distance of course for short periods of time. No hugging etc. I slept with my husband after five days although the recommended time for my dose was seven days. My husband was willing to take the risk because he was sick of the guest bedroom. I also flushed my system really well for the first three days.

Don't worry so much. You are probably a little bit worried as mother's do.

Blessings,
Julie-SunnyAZ

lolitabeats1

sunnyaz said:

What Have I Done?
With only 50 mCi's you are probably okay. That's a pretty small dose. Most of us take the longer road for cautions sake. As long as you didn't sit close to them and hug and kiss them for the first three days, and especially for long periods of time, they will probably be fine. While I think your Nuclear Medicine Doctor might have been a slight bit too liberal I wouldn't worry. Just walking around the house while they weren't home should not pose a danger to them. I watched movies at a distance of ten feet from my husband and daughter (about 1 1/2 to 2 hours). My last dose was 178 mCi's and I stayed away from my thirteen year old for seven days limiting us to ten feet distance of course for short periods of time. No hugging etc. I slept with my husband after five days although the recommended time for my dose was seven days. My husband was willing to take the risk because he was sick of the guest bedroom. I also flushed my system really well for the first three days.

Don't worry so much. You are probably a little bit worried as mother's do.

Blessings,
Julie-SunnyAZ

I hope you're right
Thanks Julie, I wanted to cry when I read the precautions the other patients took. I am going to ask to if there is some sort of radiation test that can be performed on my girls to see if they were exposed. I know that may seem extreme, but they are all I got!

nasher

lolitabeats1 said:

I hope you're right
Thanks Julie, I wanted to cry when I read the precautions the other patients took. I am going to ask to if there is some sort of radiation test that can be performed on my girls to see if they were exposed. I know that may seem extreme, but they are all I got!

arg I wrote up this nice response and it didnt save twice
ok real real simple

2 days most radiation gone
for 50mCi you probably ended with 10mCi in your thyroid
at 3 days you end up with about 6.8mCi
at 6 feet you are probaly giveing off rougly 1.5mrem of radiation at 3 days

natural background radiation is about 300mrem/year

yes you gave them some exposure but its really not alot

chest x-ray 10-100mrem

this one better send

nasher

lolitabeats1 said:

I hope you're right
Thanks Julie, I wanted to cry when I read the precautions the other patients took. I am going to ask to if there is some sort of radiation test that can be performed on my girls to see if they were exposed. I know that may seem extreme, but they are all I got!

arg I wrote up this nice response and it didnt save twice
ok real real simple

2 days most radiation gone
for 50mCi you probably ended with 10mCi in your thyroid
at 3 days you end up with about 6.8mCi
at 6 feet you are probaly giveing off rougly 1.5mrem of radiation at 3 days

natural background radiation is about 300mrem/year

yes you gave them some exposure but its really not alot

chest x-ray 10-100mrem

this one better send

i had alot more nice info and such but im not typing it agian

lolitabeats1

nasher said:

arg I wrote up this nice response and it didnt save twice
ok real real simple

2 days most radiation gone
for 50mCi you probably ended with 10mCi in your thyroid
at 3 days you end up with about 6.8mCi
at 6 feet you are probaly giveing off rougly 1.5mrem of radiation at 3 days

natural background radiation is about 300mrem/year

yes you gave them some exposure but its really not alot

chest x-ray 10-100mrem

this one better send

i had alot more nice info and such but im not typing it agian

Good to hear
Nasher,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. That really helps and is consistent with what I have been reading. Today is day 6, I will wait to hug and kiss them all over until Sunday just in case.

I love this website, I just came across it two days ago. I wish I would have found it when I found the lump in my throat, it would have eased my mind.

God bless you Nasher and Julie.

sunnyaz

lolitabeats1 said:

Good to hear
Nasher,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. That really helps and is consistent with what I have been reading. Today is day 6, I will wait to hug and kiss them all over until Sunday just in case.

I love this website, I just came across it two days ago. I wish I would have found it when I found the lump in my throat, it would have eased my mind.

God bless you Nasher and Julie.

Nasher is right again.
X-rays cause more damage than what you might have been potentially exposed to your children. If they use cell phones they might get more radiation in one year than they did in one day around you. But I doubt you exposed them at all. Glad to have you on the board. Keep in touch. We would love to hear how you are doing.
Blessings,
Julie-SunnyAZ

nasher

lolitabeats1 said:

Good to hear
Nasher,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. That really helps and is consistent with what I have been reading. Today is day 6, I will wait to hug and kiss them all over until Sunday just in case.

I love this website, I just came across it two days ago. I wish I would have found it when I found the lump in my throat, it would have eased my mind.

God bless you Nasher and Julie.

I actually have all the formulas for calculating radiation exposure I have in the past dealt with them. while doing the research to answer your question I actually learned a bit more about Radioactive Iodine just so i could do the calculations.

I honestly wish the first time i tried posting it worked... I had most the formulas written down and showed all the calculations... took over an hour to write it up... and about 10 min the 2nd time... then only about 2 min on the time it actually posted since I did a short post and only put the results up that I had already calculated.

I wish i found this website earlier too... I had my thryod out and was getting ready for RAI when I found this place.

again ask the questions get the answers... hope you stay a while after your treatment is done so you can help the next person who finds the board and is in a panic cause they did something wrong.