When I Wanted To Be Quarantined
BY BECCA MACLAREN NOVEMBER 7, 2014 I walked through a hospital door marked “Nuclear Medicine Department” knowing that when I left, I’d be radioactive. It took just a few minutes for the doctor to administer 100 millicuries of radioactive iodine, or I-131. He wore a surgical mask, gloves, and a heavy lead apron. He removed the pill, with tongs, from a cylindrical canister and dropped it into a paper cup. Then he backed out of the room. “As soon you’re ready,” he said from the hall, “make your way out of the hospital.” I took a deep breath. Get on with it, […]