Nick Isenberg
Neil News LLC
(970) 945-8936
818 Blake Ave.
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
September 27, 2010
For immediate release

Medical Documentary Eases Radioactive Iodine I-131 Therapy

Glenwood Springs, CO—When documentary producer Nick Isenberg was told that he needed
radioactive iodine therapy for thyroid cancer—what he found was confusing and scary. So he asked his endocrinologist if there was something doctors could hand patients so they’d know what to expect.
There wasn’t. But there is now.

It’s “Thyroid Cancer’s Magic Bullet.” An engaging and fascinating 62 minute documentary that answers most questions patients will have, including the ones they didn’t know they should have asked. And, it will make it easier for doctors because patients will be more comfortable and have less need to call them with questions.

After taking “the pill,” patients become so radioactive they can’t be near any adults for 24 to 72 hours. In Isenberg’s case, he spent 36 hours in a lead-lined hospital isolation room. When he was released, he could be no closer than three feet from any adult for no more than a half-hour a day, for an additional three days. After that, he still couldn’t go near pregnant women or children for an additional week. And, he had to have his own bedroom, bathroom and even his own dishes when he came home.

But it gets more complicated. Before the treatment patients have to be on an “iodine-free” diet and some patients also have to stop taking their thyroid medicine (like Thyroxin) which can cause them to almost stop functioning.

Isenberg, who has been a reporter for 41 years, was the ideal person for the project. He has thyroid cancer and needed I-131 radioactive iodine therapy. He produces documentaries and knows what’s needed. And, he’s been one-man banding TV reporter for 34 years. (A one-man band is a television reporter who takes his or her own pictures, including pictures of themselves.)

That’s important because he was so radioactive that no photographer could come close enough to him to take pictures. Isenberg said his biggest challenge was getting pictures inside the isolation room because anything he brought in with him had to stay in the room. That meant not only his clothes but he’d have to leave his cameras in the room and any video tapes or camera chips. So, even if he took video and pictures, he had to leave them there. But, he solved the problem.

Even more important than great technical skills, he knows what’s important to people and how to present it so it’s engaging not only to people with thyroid cancer and their family and friends, but to almost anyone who watches the documentary.

Topics include:
• The Prep, The Pill and the Post.
• What it’s like being in an isolation room.
• How doctors figured out that I-131 could be used to fight thyroid cancer.
• How to make food taste better after radiation.
• How to avoid public restrooms when you’re radioactive.
• Side effects and how to reduce them for a number of kinds of radiation.
• How people get thyroid cancer.
• How to tell your kids that you won’t be able to see them for about 10 days.
• Kids who have thyroid cancer. Support groups.
• How your being radioactive might affect your pets.
• Checking your own thyroid, and medical tax deductions for any medical expenses.

Go to www.nickisenberg.com for more information.

-30-