Met with the nurse from UW today that runs the isolation room. She was able to answer my questions which included: can I take in books and needlework - yes but they will be contaminated and have to be held for up to six months until they are no longer radioactive. Can I take in my laptop - yes, but it has to be wrapped in plastic, cannot be on my lap and I have to use gloves. How does my food get into my room - there's a lead lined doorway that they will put my food into and I will pick up. One interesting thing - anything that comes in my room stays in my room until I leave including garbage. So any food I don't eat, I have to put in a Ziploc bag (which I have to provide) and keep it in a open garbage can in my room. With all the extreme cautions we have to take in keeping my surroundings bacteria and germ free, it just doesn't make sense to me to keep garbage in my room for up to two weeks! Let's hope the radioactive stuff leaves my body in a timely manner. The nurse did bring pictures of the room and that was helpful for me mentally. I was also told there would be a exercise bike in my room but that's not quite true. There is one exercise bike available to the two isolation rooms but it is a first come first serve basis. So if the other room is occupied the day before me and they want it, I guess I'll just walk circles around my room while watching a VHS movie (they only have VHS players) to get my exercise (which they strongly encourage you to get plenty of exercise!?!). After the nurse we waited for 45 minutes (after my appointment time) for the doctor to arrive to go through the data review and sign consent forms. She explained all the forms but unless you're a doctor, it's hard to keep up and follow along. I think I got it all and signed the forms I selected.
I still have a ton of Disney movies on VHS ( haven't been able to part with them yet...) do you want to use them? you could brush up on all the cartoons and sing along to the happy songs while you're there.
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