Good news!
The tech called me yesterday to tell me that Ed had his procedure done on Tuesday afternoon. In the following 24 hours, he ate all his wet food, drank all his water and ate some of his dry food. He gained TWO OUNCES by Wednesday, when she called me.
She called again tonight, and I may be able to bring Ed home on Friday evening.
There are restrictions for the next two weeks, but they are not quite as rigorous as we believed. I think the family can carry this off.
Cop Car, I had a funny conversation with the tech about waste disposal. I believe that it's important that children under the age of 18, and pregnant women. not come in contact with his waste, and I think that's why we are keeping him inside during the next two weeks.
She suggested that if we use a clumping litter, we could just flush it down the toilet, but this won't work for us. Unfortunately, we live so far off the road, that all that sand would simply fill our sewer pipes, rather than making it's way into the sewer system. So, we have to collect,and bag the litter. We will have to store it in the garage for three months.
The tech explained that garbage trucks are scanned to be sure that people are not disposing illegal material in the garbage dumps. It's possible that the "hot" litter would set off the sensors. So we'll store it until mid June, when it should be safe to put into the landfill.
The tech tells me that I will be able to have an hour of contact a day with Ed, much more than we originally believed. She said that humans are given hundreds of times the dose of radiation that Ed has received, and are at home with their families the next day. Ed can't sleep with us, but he's never been allowed in our bedroom, so that's not a problem. I can have him on my lap for a while each night, and pet him during the day, and still be safe.
What a journey this has been. I hope that everything turns out well.
Comments (7)
Woohoo! I'm glad to hear that Ed is doing so well already!
Posted by bogie | March 3, 2006 4:14 AM
Posted on March 3, 2006 04:14
OH, me too! Thanks, Bogie!
Posted by buffy | March 3, 2006 10:57 AM
Posted on March 3, 2006 10:57
SOOOO glad to hear the good news!!
Posted by Jessica | March 3, 2006 9:02 PM
Posted on March 3, 2006 21:02
Good for Ed!!
OK...check my math here. With an 8-day half-life, and assuming that the 3 months are measured from the day of the isotope implant, the amount of radioactive isotope remaining after 3 months (or, 13 weeks), if found, as follows.
Number of half-lives = (13 weeks)(7days/week)/(8 days per half-life) = 11.375 half-lives.
Amount of isotope remaining = (.5)^11,375 = .0003765 or .0377% of the original amount.
Since I don't know how many micrograms were implanted, I can't go further with calculating your exposure; but, I think your tech said it all when she said that humans are given hundreds of times the dose and go home to their families the next day.
BTW: Funny that I never considered a person's garage as proper storage for hazardous waste!! *grinning*
Posted by Cop Car | March 5, 2006 3:08 PM
Posted on March 5, 2006 15:08
Not sure what I proved, other than my being able to produce typos at an incredible rate. At the end of my first paragraph, above, I meant, "is found". In calculating the Amount of isotope remaining, I meant "=(.5)^11.375 ="
Posted by Cop Car | March 6, 2006 8:25 AM
Posted on March 6, 2006 08:25
Cop Car, I know so absolutely little about science that I couldn't have done those calculations, and really don't understand them. But, I get the point....that the exposure is minimal. Ed sat with me longer than an hour yesterday. If I glow, I glow. *G*
Posted by buffy | March 7, 2006 10:10 AM
Posted on March 7, 2006 10:10
OK: Listen up, you budding scientist/mathematicians out there! All you need to know to make the calculation in question is the definition of "half-life" and how long the "half-life" of I-131 is. The half life of a radio-isotope is the length of time that it takes for 1/2 of the radio-isotope to decay to a different (in this case, non-radioactive) isotope. (Trust me that the half-life of I-131 is 8 days! *snicker* The decay rate is [1-ln(elapsed time)], but you don't really need to know that! You get extra points on the quiz, though, if you remember it.)
OK: If 1/2 of the I-131 is still radioactive on day 8 (its first elapsed half-life), then, 8 days later, 1/2 of that 1/2 will still be radioactive. Then, 8 days later, 1/2 of the 1/2 of that 1/2 will be left. (See where we're going here?) You can see the series emerging.
Day 8: 1/2 is left
Day 16: 1/4 is left
Day 24: 1/8 is left
Day 32: 1/16 is left
Day 40: 1/32 is left
Day 48: 1/64 is left
About now, I lose interest--as the readers probably did at line 2. The point I'm trying to make is that science/math are NOT black magic. They are just LOGICAL. Have a great day!
Posted by Cop Car | March 8, 2006 8:45 AM
Posted on March 8, 2006 08:45