Pet contact ok or not after Nuclear Technetium 99 scan?

[rowanbovis]

Hello,

Can anybody tell me if it is ok to be with your animals (dog, cats and guinea pigs) after a Technetium 99 thyroid scan? I rang to confirm my appointment and asked the receptionist who wen to check came back with a Yes. I understand that it is not safe to sit with an under-16 yr old human for more than half an hour on the day of this scan. I mentioned this to the lady and she said it was ok with pets because they don't live for as long as a human.

The endo is sticking with multinodular goitre and I guess she ordered this a while ago to look for any hot nodules.

My last test was in September of last year and the results were much more normal:

TSH: 1.17

mU/L

0.27 - 4.2 R

T4: 13.8

pmol/L

12 - 22 R

T3: 4.91

pmol/L

3.1 - 6.8 R

[rowanbovis]

P.S I've not been medicated at all and am now off Lithium.

[PurpleNails Administrator]

I doubt any harm will come to your pets short term or long term if you did have close contact.

I did avoid contact with my dog when I had nuclear scan. The dog stayed where they were put, but my children kept coming to check on me. Adding the time up still probably didn’t exceed the close contact limit but when you read instructions like that I always want to be over cautious.

Hospitals may perform scans in slightly different ways and have different advice. You Should be sent in writing exactly what involved and instructions afterwards.

[rowanbovis in reply to PurpleNails]

Hello PurpleNails! We had a chat about this a few months ago. From your description back then, it looks like I'm having the same scan with the same ingredients. I've arrived at the top of the waiting list but am now in much better shape and wondering whether to have this at all. It's been impossible so far to find the info about animals. I think I will ask a vet.

[pennyannie]

Hello again ;

Well done in getting off all the medication.

How are you feeling ?

How are your eyes now ?

If you have been diagnosed with TED - thyroid eye disease - or in fact just suffering with symptoms please remember that it is not recommended to have RAI thyroid ablation as it's likely to exacerbate your eye symptoms :

My eyes were fine and it was after RAI I became disfigured.

[rowanbovis in reply to pennyannie]

Hi pennyannie! Gosh I'm so sorry, and that you describe it as disfigurement. This is only a scan, not ablation. Also the radioisotope is Technetium 99, not even radioactive iodine. I imagine it's the radioactivity that reacts with eyes though, not the type. My eyes are tons better in that they don't feel full of sand and fur but they are permanently bloodshot and I think may have bulged slightly as the inner rim of eyelid is visible in a way it never used to be - looks a bit odd if I have make-up on (which is possible again now): eyeball - pale rim - mascara - lid - if you can picture that. Optician put dye into my eyes and said they were dry. Generally, I am much better. The only lingering difficulties are tinnitus, raging hot flushes, occasional high heart-rate and stiffness - all for no logical reason.

I hope you're ok? I'm waiting for a vet to ring and will report back.

[pennyannie in reply to rowanbovis]

Yes I know that but I was just reminding you of RAI thyroid ablation and should this be suggested it should be discounted because your eyes are already affected.

I likely didn't express myself well, and it can be deeply upsetting to not see the same face and yes that you grew up with.

[rowanbovis in reply to pennyannie]

Thank you for the reminder. Despite the bloods looking better which matches my pattern of intermittent thyroiditis, the endo offered me ablation and thyroidectomy. I declined. She left it that I could have short courses of Carbimazole as and when. I was horrified by the ‘cut it out or burn it’ attitude which would leave me on the Levo seesaw for the rest of my life.

[pennyannie in reply to rowanbovis]

Good - there are many people on this forum who are doing just that :

Listen to your body and you will start to sense " the when " and find your own best dose of the Carbimazole and with some medication in the cupboard so you can nip things in the bud yourself.

[Rita-D]

I had a nuclear scan last week and was told to avoid young children for 24 hours. Nothing about pets.

[rowanbovis in reply to Rita-D]

Thanks Rita-D. I hope your scan went well - I'm waiting for a vet to ring back.

[Rita-D in reply to rowanbovis]

It did thank you. No evidence of any disease caused by cancer but evidence of degeneration of the shoulder (possibly age-related). I think drug related as it’s a known side effect. I’m being sent for an x-ray.

Hope you can get some answers as you what you should do. xxx

[rowanbovis in reply to Rita-D]

Thank you Rita-D. Was it a bone scan? I had one of those very low radiation bone scans last Summer (ordered by the endo) and it showed osteopenia which was rather a shock as I’m not long over the menopause rainbow.

[Rita-D in reply to rowanbovis]

It was a full body scan with a radioactive isotope injection. Was injected and then had to go away for 3 hours then come back to be scanned. I had a DEXA scan 12 months ago which shows mild osteopenia. The hormone blockers that I’m on cause it and also damage to the joints. I think that’s what the shoulder problem is. Problem is I have to be on this drug for another 8 years so I’m worried about what other damage it will do in the meantime. I’ve only been on it 2 years. Hoping they can give me something for the pain.

[rowanbovis in reply to Rita-D]

Gosh, health and medicine is a minefield. Is the medicine you are taking for your bones?

[Rita-D in reply to rowanbovis]

Yes it is. One is a hormone blocker and the other is for bones but it can damage bones too, particularly in the jaw.

[Batty1]

I would say no since another group I belong when they get thyroid cancer treatments they must stay away from family and pets for 3 weeks

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to Batty1]

This is for a scan and a very small level of radiation.

Radioactive doses are measured in MBq (mega becquerel)

Scan would need approx 80

RAI treatment for hyper 200 - 300

treatment of thyroid cancer 400 - 500

So cancer treatment has highest level and patients are usually isolated in hospital until levels safe to distance from others.

Lower doses for hyperthyroid is given as outpatients and don’t need to be hospitalised.

[Batty1 in reply to PurpleNails]

Oh its just a regular scan where they swallow pill ? If thats the case it was 2 days for me before I could touch people and pets.

[rowanbovis in reply to Batty1]

No way! It's an injection actually.

[rowanbovis in reply to PurpleNails]

Thank you. I'm sorry, I forgot to ask how you are. How are you, PurpleNails?

🙂

[PurpleNails Administrator in reply to rowanbovis]

Ive felt off lately, heart palpitations mainly. I had blood test this week which was due, so waiting for thyroid results. Might be higher than they should be. Endocrinology discharged me, so GP is monitoring now & this will be first time. So predicting an interesting time explaining my TSH is always suppressed.

ENT discharged me over a salivary gland swelling saying cause unknown but be reassured it looked fine. Then they arranged a second scan, which I’m convinced was so a trainee dr could practice - so a complete waste of my time without my permission.

I’m also on a long waiting list to see a specialist about my eyes. I had a video consult after 6 months wait and Dr said I had droopy eyelid, which was long standing. I said I’m quite certain it’s mostly the eye alignment & She said to me what did I expect? I almost said …er diagnosis & treatment would be good, what are patients you normally see after? But I kept my cool and said I was concerned about the alignment seems to be worsening and she said it couldn’t be treated unless it affected vision, plus I have TED. to which I said - I was told TED wasn’t possible because I didn’t have antibodies. She hastily said she read it in the notes and I’d need a face to face appointment, but then said there’s a long wait list.

[rowanbovis in reply to PurpleNails]

So having TED is in your notes?! I feel furious for you. I was livid when it turned out Multinodular goitre had been diagnosed and written up 7 (now 8) years ago. From what I have read, TED is definitely not reliant upon having hyper antibodies (Trab?). Good luck for future consults. I record all telephone consultations.

[rowanbovis in reply to Batty1]

Thanks Batty1. Crumbs that's a nightmare - 3 weeks! This is only a radiotracer ink.

[Batty1 in reply to rowanbovis]

I realized this after purple nails pointed it out. It was 2 days for me but I swallowed a pill.

[Beads]

Tc99 has a half life of 6.5 hours. So in 6.5 hours you’ll have half the amount in your body than now, another 6.5 hours it’s a quarter, after a day you’ll be at a sixteenth. If worried send the pets to a friend’s for a day.

Background: I used to QC check the generators they use to make the stuff, we left our waste in a bag in the lab (behind shielding when fresh). After a week it was so ‘cold’ it could go out with normal waste.

Sorry, noticed after typing that the post is a couple of days old, late to the party again.

Edit: got the maths wrong.

[rowanbovis in reply to Beads]

That is excellent info, Beads, thank you very much. The scan isn't until next week so your answer has come in plenty of time. I have always been confused by the meaning of half-life - not anymore! 🙂 I think I'm going to cancel as I don't have people to farm out all the animals to (herding guinea pigs is not easy), lodger is away so can't shut myself in a room while he feeds the troupe, and don't have an empty place I could go to whilst getting a sitter in. The endo states in a letter to the gp that the ultrasound had not recorded any changes since the ultrasound taken 8 years ago, and as I am over the bout of thyroiditis, there will probably be nothing to see.

I'm not risking the animals if there is no reasonable reason.