Polkaroo? Was Here? Didn't Miss Him This Time.

Polkaroo was here but I didn't miss him this time!!! (And we even match!)

You'll get that reference if you grew up in Ontario during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. However since many of you readers did not grow up in that period of time, I found a youtube link so you know what I mean.


TVOntario Polkaroo was here ... and I missed him 1981

Aside from the bad acting and low budget film quality, I loved to watch the Polka Dot Door as a kid and it took me years to figure out that Polkaroo was always the man dressed up in the costume. No matter which man was cast in the role, he always had an excuse to leave before Polkaroo showed up. Polkaroos would then emerge saying one word which was, you guessed it, "Polkaroo!" with various intonations and pitches (depending on his feelings when responding to a question and the voice of the male actor cast for that episode.) How original! And depending on who the guy on the show was for the episode, the "Polkaroo!" would range in pitch. Don't laugh! A lot of Canadian actors got their start on this show. For example, Tonya Lee Williams went on to star in the American soap opera, The Young and the Restless.


Shout out to Tonya Lee! I have met her several times through the "film festival world". Years ago, when I told her I wanted to tour my festival ICED IN BLACK across Canada, she laughed (hard). (Very humiliating.) I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and then went on to run my festival across Canada to nine cities in seven provinces for two years on a shoe-string budget. I proved her wrong. Tonya Lee also began her film festival called REEL WORLD which is currently in its tenth year.

When I wrote the post Thyrogen? Was Here? I Missed It Again on April 17th, I was aware that this expensive medication which would have prevented me having to "go hypo" and experience hypothyroid side-effects, was on an extended short supply from May to June to July.

Now according to Genzyme Canada, as of July 15th, that the "limited inventory of Thyrogen in Canada is now completely depleted. There is no availability of Thyrogen in Canada". They also expect temporary shipment delays and regional disparities throughout 2011 and 2012. What the *$%# ?

But apparently, I'd still be missing the Thyrogen if I chose to have waited for it.

This is extremely unfortunate news. Thyrogen is a medication administered before radioactive iodine (RAI) in the treatment of thyroid cancer. Given that the price of Thyrogen ranges from $ 1500-2000 for two single doses, was unavailable when I needed it, and was not covered by my medical insurance, I decided to "kick it old skool" and go hypo, which is what everyone who had thyroid cancer had to do before Thyrogen came along. As a result, I had bloating, sleepiness, lethargy, weight gain, depression, etc. I was not permitted to operate a vehicle. A lot of folks had many and even worse side effects than I did. Fortunately, many of my side effects are now gone.

But if I had waited.

Waited for the Thyrogen that they said would have come but never came.

What would it have been like?

What about the thyroid cancer patients who have to wait or are still waiting?

All in all, despite the side effects of going hypo, I am glad I went through it when I did. I got the RAI over and done with. Besides, "going hypo" gave me a lot of material to discuss on this blog. (Visit my posts from April and May 2011).