Your body has the natural ability to eliminate the iodine once it has served its purpose. This allows the treatment to be completed in a few days.

The radioactive iodine that is not taken up by your thyroid is rapidly eliminated through body fluids such as urine, feces, saliva, and perspiration. This means that, for a number of days after you swallow the iodine, everything that you touch could become contaminated with radioactive iodine. In order to prevent the spread of this contamination, it will be necessary for you to remain in a specially prepared room. For this reason, you will be given a private room with a private bath. The room is basically no different from other private rooms except you will notice that paper has been placed on the floor. This makes it easier for us to contain any radioactive material and to clean the room after you are released from the hospital.

A personalized dose of medicine (iodine-131) will be prepared according to your doctor’s orders. It will be brought to you in capsule or liquid form in a lead container. When handling the medicine, take it promptly to avoid unnecessary exposure of hospital personnel to the radiation. At the time you take the medicine, there may be several people present. Typically, your doctor and Radiation Safety personnel will be present.

Radiation Safety personnel, although not members of the ward staff, will make routine visits. These individuals are qualified professionals trained in the safe use and handling of radioactive materials. It is their responsibility to ensure that your room is properly prepared before you are given your medicine. More importantly to you, it is their responsibility to monitor the progress of your treatment. They will be using special meters which tell them how quickly your body is getting rid of the iodine. The meters that they use do not "give off" radiation, but merely detect radiation coming from your body. Readings from these meters will help the Radiation Safety personnel determine when your body has gotten rid of enough of the radioactive iodine so that you may be released. Since everyone is biologically different, there is no way to accurately predict how long it will take for your body to get rid of the iodine. Depending on your biological make-up, typical hospital stays range from 2 to 5 days. The Radiation Safety staff member will keep you informed of your progress in getting rid of the iodine.

Answers to Questions Most Frequently Asked by Patients

What does the iodine taste like?

The iodine may be either capsules or liquid. If in capsules, there may be anywhere from one to several, depending on the dose your doctor has ordered. You should swallow them as you would a vitamin tablet or any other medication, one at a time. There should be no strange taste after swallowing. If your medicine is in liquid form, you may notice a slight salty taste. There should be no immediate side effects and you should not "feel" any different immediately after taking the medicine. Although not common, some patients who are receiving large doses may notice a slight dryness in their throats. This is perfectly normal and can be relieved by drinking water or sucking on some hard candy.

May I have visitors?

This is a decision that will be made by your attending physician. Ask your attending physician before you arrive at the hospital to eliminate inconveniences to you and your family and friends in the event that visitors are not allowed. If the attending physician allows visitors, they must be over 18 years of age and not pregnant. There will be a notice on your door that will tell your visitors how long they may stay in the room. To reduce the exposure to the visitors, we ask that they remain six feet from your bed. This line six feet from your bed will be clearly marked in your room. Since children and unborn babies are more sensitive to radiation, children and pregnant women are not allowed to visit. Additionally, visitors are not allowed to use the toilet in your room.

How do I handle personal needs?

You will be given some personal items as well as a hospital gown to wear. These should remain in the room after you are released from the hospital. These items will be disposed of by the Radiation Safety Office since they will be radioactive. Since your skin may have radioactive iodine on it, you should shower twice a day and wash your hair at least once a day. This will reduce the amount of radioactive iodine in your room and help to get more accurate readings of the iodine levels remaining in your body. You should put on fresh clothing after you shower. Additionally, please flush the toilet twice after each use to help reduce the amount of radioactive iodine present.

How do I get my meals?

The diet recommended by your doctor will be provided through the normal hospital channels. Disposable food items such as paper plates, forks, knives, and spoons should be placed in the bag or container provided in your room for pickup by the Radiation Safety staff.

Why must I remain in my room?

The treatment that is good for you is not helpful for the ward personnel, the general public, and other members of your family. The iodine is a drug prescribed just for you by your doctor. Like other prescription drugs, it should not be taken by others nor should others be exposed to the radiation from it.

There are laws which limit the amount of radiation that ward staff and members of the public may be exposed to from medical treatments such as this one. To ensure that these laws are observed, precautions must be taken. One such precaution is that you must remain in your room during your hospitalization. This prevents the unnecessary spread of radioactive iodine and the unnecessary exposure of others to radiation.

  When can I go home?

 How long you are hospitalized depends on many things, but you will normally need to be hospitalized for several days. The Radiation Safety personnel will inform the nursing staff when the iodine has reached the desired level in your body. The length of time of your stay depends mainly on the amount of medicine your doctor prescribes and your own body. You may be able to speed up the process by drinking lots of fluids and this is recommended.

When the amount of iodine in your body has reached the desired level, all that remains is to get the doctor’s release order, take a final shower, and change into clean clothes. Radiation Safety personnel will give you detailed instructions at the time of release. Even though the amount of iodine in your body will be very low at this time, a very small amount will remain for several more days. This will not interfere with most daily activities, but you should read the discharge instructions carefully.

What precautions should I take after being released from the hospital?

Your release from the hospital is based on the level of radiation exposure that you could give to another member of the public. Because the exposure from your body is low, you may be released with limited restrictions. However, small amounts of radioactive iodine remain in your body and will be released in the ways we discussed earlier. For added safety, for the next week, you should:

• Avoid long periods of contact with children and pregnant women. Brief moments of hugging and touching are allowed. Do not sit with a child on your lap while watching TV or reading a story for long periods of time since this would unnecessarily expose the child to low levels of radiation.
• Try to remain at least six feet from all pregnant women.
• Avoid mouth to mouth kissing and unprotected sex (use a condom).
• Do not share eating utensils with others.
• Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water.
• Flush the toilet twice after each use.
• Wash hands thoroughly after urination.
• Wash your eating utensils and clothing separately from those of others.
• If you have recently delivered a baby, do not breast feed for at least two months.
• If you should need emergency surgery or medical attention, contact your doctor and the Radiation Safety Office.

Please feel free to ask questions at any time during your stay with us. Radiation safety related questions may be directed to the Radiation Safety Office at 721-9826. Medical questions should be directed to your doctor.

                      Initial Verbal Briefing for Iodine Patients

1. Iodine-131 is a radioactive material that is taken up by the thyroid gland. Once there, the radiation can be used to reduce the size of the thyroid. What is not taken up by the thyroid is lost through the urine, feces, saliva, and perspiration. This means that everything you touch will become contaminated with radioactive material.

2. To protect others from this radioactive contamination and from radiation coming from your body, special steps have been taken. These include:

1. Much of the room you will be in has been covered with paper. This makes it easier to decontaminate the room after your discharge. It also makes it easier to clean up if there should be a spill of beverages, food, or if you were to vomit or become incontinent. Although there is nothing about this treatment that would likely make you feel nauseous, if you should feel nauseous and can’t get to the toilet, please ask the nurse to bring you a basin or use the trash can next to your bed.
2. Although it is not general practice, if your attending physician has allowed visitors during your stay, a section of your room has been marked off. This is a control line used to control visitors to your room. Adult visitors are allowed to visit you in your room for the time allotted by Radiation Safety as long as there is no physical contact between you and the visitor. The visitor must remain behind the control line. You should remain well away from the visitors. Visitors are not allowed to use your bathroom. No one under the age of 18 or who is pregnant will be allowed to visit. This is for their protection since younger individuals and unborn children are more sensitive to radiation than adults.
3. For the same reasons, you are to remain in your room during the course of treatment. This will probably be several days. Radiation Safety Office personnel will come by periodically to measure radiation levels. When your radiation level is so low that you no longer pose a risk to others, we will inform your doctor so that your discharge from the hospital may be arranged.
4. Your food will be served on disposable paper plates with disposable eating utensils. Use the container provided to discard disposable food items and utensils when finished eating. Use the laundry container provided for your linen and bed clothes. These will be collected by Radiation Safety.
5. Normal nursing care will be provided; however, the nursing staff will wear gloves and booties to avoid contamination. Do not hesitate to call for a nurse if you need one.

3. Shortly, your medicine will be brought up to your room. It will arrive in a lead container designed to block the radiation during transport to your room. You will be given capsules or liquid medicine to take. The people bringing the medicine will be wearing gloves and booties so they don’t get any of the radioactive material on themselves. Although this may look a bit intimidating, you should experience no discomfort whatsoever with the medication. You cannot feel the radioactivity. Although not common, there is some chance that after several days you may notice some discomfort on swallowing, tenderness in the neck, or sore throat. This is not an indication that anything is wrong, but point this out to your doctor if it should occur.

• Avoid long periods of contact with children and pregnant women. Brief moments of hugging and touching are allowed. Do not sit with a child on your lap while watching TV or reading a story for long periods of time since this would unnecessarily expose the child to low levels of radiation.
• Try to remain at least six feet from all pregnant women.
• Avoid mouth to mouth kissing and unprotected sex (use a condom).
• Do not share eating utensils with others.
• Drink plenty of fluids, preferably water.
• Flush the toilet twice after each use.
• Wash hands thoroughly after urination.
• Wash your eating utensils and clothing separately from those of others.
• If you have recently delivered a baby, do not breast feed for at least two months.
• If you should need emergency surgery or medical attention, contact your doctor and the Radiation Safety Office.

Please feel free to ask questions at any time during your stay with us. Radiation safety related questions may be directed to the Radiation Safety Office at 721-9826. Medical questions should be directed to your doctor.