# When the scan is done?



## pelyte (Apr 28, 2016)

I have faced with a question, when the scan should be done to see does the RAI ablated the remaining thyroid tissue or not. The scan done 3 days after the treatment (1600 Mbq dose used for treatment) shown three highly active spots in the thyroid bed. The doctor said they should be eliminated and prescribed the second treatment after three months. Is this a usual practice, because several weeks is really necessary for the ablation of the thyroid cells, isn't it? Thank you.


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Interesting. Did you have a pre-treatment scan, too?
RAI can and does work over a period of months. I've heard of people getting a second dose in six months but it's usually not done sooner.

Maybe they could do a pre-treatment scan before the next dose? Just to make sure you aren't getting more RAI than needed.

Also, what kind of cancer did you have?


----------



## pelyte (Apr 28, 2016)

No, there were no scans before the treatment. I understand from my studies in biology that such treatment is indented to work in two-three weeks at least in even in longer periods. In the Oncology institute locally, no pre-treatment scans are done. Thus, I wonder what to do: receive the next dose or not. The cancer is papillary (no distant metastases or lymph nodes are detected).


----------



## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

My thinking is that there's a lifetime limit on how much RAI you can get. I think it's 600mCi (I'm sorry, I don't know how to convert that to Mbq). So it's a great tool, but you don't want to over use it - if you have a recurrence, you want to be able to tap into the RAI tool then.

I'd be really tempte to have a whole body scan (i.e., an radioiodne uptake scan) before I took another dose. Or, at least, an ultrasound.

Did they test your thyroglobulin?


----------



## pelyte (Apr 28, 2016)

My thyroglobulin was 0.2 one month after the surgery. 1 millicurie equals to 37 megabecquerels. Thus, 600 mCi equals to 22200 MBq. Ultrasound is not a problem locally, but its quality depends on personnel experience. For example, in our case, the cancer was detected by biopsy, but not by routine yearly check ups using ultrasound.


----------

