Parathyroid Surgery

himmelsbach · Newbie Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 17

Hi, my father suffers from parathyroid disease, and I am worried about him. The parathyroid surgery is next week, and it would help me if I heard some experiences with this disease.

myrtice · Silver Member Joined: 11 Dec 2004 Posts: 273

Hi, I suffer from parathyroid disease too, and I will have a parathyroid surgery. I have pain in the joints and I’m constantly weak. My bone mineral density is decreased, and I am in risk of fracture. My grandfather had the same condition, and he broke two bones before he had a surgery. When the symptoms appeared, I knew I had the same condition as my grandpa. I went to a doctor, and two tests (serum calcium and serum parathyroid hormone) helped in diagnosing parathyroid disease. I will have a parathyroid surgery, and I am scared of the possible complications. The surgeon must identify all four parathyroid glands and remove the one that is enlarged.

WANTING TO HEAL · Newbie Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 16

I HAVE READ THAT IN THE EARLY DAYS AFTER SURGERY YOUR BRAIN MAY STILL BE COMPROMISED. THE DIFFICULTY IS AFTER SUCCESSFUL PTX, BLOOD CALCIUM AND PTH RETURN TO NORMAL RAPIDLY...BUT IT TAKES FAR LONGER FOR THE REST OF THE BODY TO REPAIR THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY POSSIBLY YEARS OF EXPOSURE TO ABNORMAL LEVELS OF CALCIUM AND PTH. THEREIN MAY LIE THE ANSWER TO THE VARIABILITY OF RECOVERY...RAISED CALCIUM AND PARATHYROID HORMONE HAVE COMPROMISED THE FUNCTION OF MANY DIFFERENT SYSTEMS AND TISSUES IN THE BODY...WHO KNOWS HOW LONG THE DISEASE HAS BEEN PRESENT. SINCE MY CALCIUM IS 10.8 AND MY PTH IS 150...MY DOCTOR SAID HE COULD MONITOR...THE ONLY SYMPTOM I HAVE IS THRU THE BONE SCAN, MY HIP AREA IS OSTEOPENIA AND THRU THE SESTAMIBI SCAN A PARATHYROID IS ADENOMA...I'M TORN BETWEEN HAVING THE SURGERY AT THIS TIME OR WAITING TIL SYMPTOMS GET WORSE...

Leida · Newbie Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 21

If you can get it done now, do it. Even though I feel fairly crappy post-surgery, I got osteoporosis, left ventricular hypertrophy, worsening of my mitral valve prolapse, and a bunch of other nasty things from hyperpara.

It won't get better on its own, in other words, and very likely will make you feel worse. So probably best to have it done before you end up with full-blown osteoporosis, kidney stones, high blood pressure, etc.

And who knows? If you're not having much symptoms now, you may do a lot better with the surgery than the rest of us.

hazey · Newbie Joined: 05 Jul 2008 Posts: 3

Leida · Newbie Joined: 22 Mar 2008 Posts: 21

In my case it looks like they either missed a tumour, or it's taking longer than anyone for my levels to come down.

I'm four months post-op, still feel like I have a huge lump in my throat, my symptoms have been getting worse, and my calcium as of this week is 11, with a PTH of 55. I have taken no calcium supplements since I was two weeks post-op - at which time they put it down to my levels coming down slowly, but they were wrong.

This is NOT the norm - most people have successful surgeries. But I didn't, and I feel pretty wretched.

The chances of what happened ot me happening to you are almost zilch, so I'd still definitely encourage you to do it. I'd have another surgery if I could except they don't do them in my country, and I just don't have the money to go back to America.

You likely won't feel well in two days, but you'll probably start feeling considerable improvement within two to eight weeks.

Find a good doctor - Jim Norman isn't one. He still refuses to admit that my levels are abnormal or that it was possible that he missed anything, even though the consensus at this point is 100% that he did. And even with him the problem isn't his skills, it's just that he's become so arrogant he doesn't believe he can make a mistake - at least that's all I can say from my dealings with him. Well, he's rude and swore at me a lot, too, which was totally uncalled for. I do not expect surgeons to be my best friends, but this is appalling.

WANTING TO HEAL · Newbie Joined: 01 Mar 2008 Posts: 16

I'M 56 AND HAVE DECIDED TO HAVE THE SURGERY...
I HAVE NO SYMPTOMS OTHER THAN TEST STATING SO....HOPE I'M CATCHING IT IN THE EARLY STAGE...MY SURGEON IS DR FLYNN IN LOUISVILLE KY...I EVEN KNOW SOMEONE THAT HAD HER PTH REMOVED BY HIM AND SHE WAS BACK TO WORK IN 2 WEEKS AND IS FEELING REALLY GOOD...SAID SHE HAD NUMBNESS AND TINGLING A FEW DAYS AFTER SURGERY, BUT THAT HAS GONE AWAY...SAID SHE IS ON VITAMIN D AND CALCIUM....SHE REALLY LOOKS GREAT!...I'LL LET YOU ALL KNOW HOW I FEEL WHEN I'VE HAD MINE PTH REMOVED.

Parathyroid Surgery

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