I just got a hold of some of my records, and I have a question.
I had the nuc med uptake test before my big dose of RA-I. I have never known what my uptake level was, and I guess I never really cared. I HAVE on the other hand always wondered why my dose was so large..at 200mci. My endo said he hits it hard and hits it ONCE, doesn't want to revisit it again. Ok. Sounds good to me!!
Well, now that I have the record, I want to see if anyone can explain it to me.
"Uptake value of the thyroid gland is calculated at 4.5% (normal range equals 10% to 35%)" end quote.
I am just curious if this is why I had such a high dose, because my uptake was "low", OR does it not matter what the uptake was, as I didn't have a thyroid anymore and the % range of normal is for people with an intact thyroid?
Just curious.... was my uptake normal or low, and would that determine the amount of RA-I?
Thanks,
Lori
I was told my uptake was very high and I had a very high dose. A lot of the dosing is based upon the research and philosophies of the doctors there. My place is a high dose place in general. I asked them why so high, and they said because of a combination of things.
Also, I had a larger tumor (2.5cm) with vascular invasion, and spread to the muscle in front of it (lymph nodes negative)---so since it not only was a large tumor, but spread beyond that, they wanted to destroy as much tissue as possible.
I think your age, size of tumor, and spread can also determine dose, uptake is probably calculated in there somewhere too, but you'd have to ask them why.
Thanks, Reece, I do remember that you told me a long time ago that your dose was high, too, and that your friends' was at a local hospital and hers was low. I know my doc believes in high doses, but I was just curious if it was calculated due to the uptake, too.
Thank you,
Lori
