Geiger counter??

[Mcrpca]

My husband has been on Pluvicto (4 rounds so far). He also has some dementia and I’m having a hard time getting him to take radiation precautions seriously. I think objective evidence would help. Does anyone have a recommendation for a Geiger counter or other device that they find particularly helpful?

[TeleGuy]

I borrowed one of these while I was on Lu177 therapy:

geigercounters.com/Inspecto...

There are cheaper ones on that site. The Geiger counter informed me that the guidelines are too lenient in the US.

[Mcrpca in reply to TeleGuy]

From whom did you borrow it? I’m really interested. Thanks for the link.

[mrscruffy]

I bought an old CD Geiger counter at the army surplus store. Just like the one they use on me at the Cancer Center. Not doing Lu177 just though it was cool

[Mcrpca in reply to mrscruffy]

Good suggestion. Thanks

[spencoid2]

Surplus Geiger counters are not reliable. They might be OK for relative measurement but can also be inconsistent. Also old military or civil defense counters often require expensive high voltage batteries making them essentially worthless so don't buy one without details as to what batteries it takes and whether it seems reliable.

I bought a fairly expensive counter many years ago and use it to monitor my radiation when having PET scans and now while being treated with Pluvicto. Mine is s Mini Monitor series 900. They sell for $99 to a lot more on Ebay. Be sure you buy one that is tested and guaranteed. You can check out a counter yourself with any of the following but this is just to see if it works are all not to calibrate it. Uranium ore from the South East called pitchblend. Companies that sell Geiger counters often have it for testing. I bought some on E-Bay years ago but it is no longer listed? Vaseline or uranium glass is easier to find and is mildly radioactive. Old radium watch dials or hands are another possibility but most are so old now that they are no longer radioactive. If they still glow they are. Lamp mantels for camping or propane lamps contain thorium and are radioactive.

Electronics Goldmine is an online company that sells a variety of fairly inexpensive Geiger counters. I have bought from them a few times and found them to be reliable but have never bought one of their Geiger counters. They also sell radium watch hands that are radioactive for testing.

theelectronicgoldmine.com/c...

When I had my last infusion I asked that they tell me the level at one meter so I could compare it to my counter at home. Their counter which is calibrated or tested regularly agreed with mine so I am fairly confident that mine is working well enough for testing where I pee or my soiled clothes.

I am also very concerned about exposing my dogs who sleep with me even though it is generally not considered a risk because dogs do not live long enough to suffer the consequences of the level of exposure they would get from being close to a human undergoing Pluvicto treatment. Still I want to minimize exposure to my dogs so I bought a sheet of 1/16" thick lead that I encased in plastic and soft cloth which I can drape over myself after infusion so I can still sleep with the doggies. I use the Geiger counter to measure their exposure level. It is greatly reduced by the 1/16" lead. I previously had 1/32" thick lead and is was not adequate as far as I was concerned. I encourage the dogs to stay at the far end of the bed but the lead is there in case they wander. I bought the thick lead recently and have n ot yet tried sleeping under it all night. It might not be bearable, it weighs about 20n pounds and is not very flexible.

Don't waste money on a lead apron of the type used for dental xrays. It is not thick enough to do much with the levels of radiation you will be emitting during the first week after infusion.

[Mcrpca in reply to spencoid2]

Lots of great info. Thanks!

[Miccoman]

I was looking for them when I first thought about doing Pluvicto. Never followed through on getting one but Pluvicto is working great for me.

As I understand it, it's the Alpha radiation that does the killing but it doesn't travel very far. The Gamma radiation, on the other hand, does and so you want to be sure whatever you buy can detect both Alpha and Gamma (Beta as well wouldn't hurt). The one link I still had on my Amazon shopping list was inexpensive but didn't detect Alpha.

Best of luck, I know how challenging being a caregiver for a dementia patient is, I was very lucky dad didn't have serious health problems, too.

Oh, and remember to smile a lot -- it does help me.

[spencoid2]

no i think you need a PI for that. and contact your local Maffia for haul away.

[spencoid2]

Lu-177 emits both beta and gamma so most detectors other than ones that just detect alpha would be useful. Both beta and gamma decay at the same rate so if you are just wanting to measure how hot you are in a relative way it does not matter which you measure. For analysis of the therapeutic effect you need to be more specific. This one

theelectronicgoldmine.com/c...

does all three and is inexpensive and should be a reasonable choice. My Mini monitor has all sorts of calibration data that came with it but it was maybe $1200 new? I am not sure but i think that most less expensive counters do not have fancy features like calibrated meters alarms etc. However all you need is relative levels. Get a baseline at one meter right after infusion and remember what it sounds like. Then move another meter away and the sound should drop to about one quarter the number of ticks per second for every doubling of distance. Background is typically around 10 to 50 CPS which you can measure by getting far away from the patient. Since they say that you need to keep 2 meters (this is conservative) from other people for the first 3 or 4 days this can be used as your baseline of safety. For checking for radioactive urine you can be pretty fussy and for clothes all it takes is putting them far away from anything living for a week or two before laundering. I live in a remote rural area so it is no problem as I am not terribly concerned with the local wildlife. They do not live long enough to worry about them getting cancer from Pluvicto. So I still pee on the ground away from the house if I have urgency but not in town. I use an external catheter when traveling for convenience but do not use it while radioactive. I have to pee a lot and am not likely to make it to a restroom so I pee in a urinal. I found a bunch of cute little "growlers" made to look like mini kegs. They are stainless and have a tight screw top with gasket. The hole is just the right size for my now mini dick but would be OK for anyone other than a gorilla. There is still emission outside of the "keg" but it is reduced and there is virtually no chance of a spill and you can check with your handy Geiger counter.

Being an engineer I am nuts about safety and love measuring things

[Mcrpca in reply to spencoid2]

How do you clean your “growler?”

[spencoid2]

correction background is typically in the low counts per minute not second.

[spencoid2 in reply to spencoid2]

i just rinse it out and dump into the toilet. i have one that i use in bed most of the time. once my radiation has reduced to close to nothing i swap urinals and put the hot one away for a week or two. it is real nice to have the Geiger counter to check on things since i can forget now and then.