In message  <[log in to unmask]> Thyroid writes:
> Linda,
>
> You said you had a Radio Active Iodine test, do you mean treatment?

I had the thyroid scan using radioactive iodine too.  This is not the same as
the RI treatment.  In the case of the test, you take one capsule of radioactive
iodine, return to the radiologist 6 hours later and have your thyroid scanned
from the front and the sides (with a control scan of your leg, so they can see
how much radiation you've got throughout your body, then subtract that amount
from the amount in your thyroid to get an accurate thyroid-only reading), and
return once more 24 hours after you took the capsule for a final "up scan", to
see if the radioactivity has started dissipating from your body and your
thyroid.

Depending on the way the scan looks they can tell what type of problem your
thyroid is having - the image on Graves' scans come out different from, say, a
thyroid tumor-caused scan.

Having been diagnosed with Graves', I was put on the propylthiouracil, not sent
for radioactive iodine treatment.  So you see the two - the test/scan and the
treatment are unrelated.

KM

=====

K.M. Goertzel
Manager, Business Development
Secure Systems & Services Operation
WANG I-NET Government Services
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