hyperparathyroidism/Dr. Nicholas Coe/ Dr. James Norman

Dear everybody,
I had surgery with Dr. Norman. He says that they (Dr. Norman and his team) treat everybody like family (he says this twice). Well, I guess he treats his family like sh*t then! I'm not saying that he isn't a good surgeon, he is the best at what he does. BUT, to say that he treats his patients like family is ridiculous. He is famous for being rude, curt, mean, etc., etc., is that how he treats his family? My appointment was at 6:00 am. I tried to get a later appointment but they had none. I ended up waiting in the freezing cold waiting room for 3 whole hours!!! My goosebumps were enormous, I was worn out from shivering so much. Now why couldn't I get a later appointment I'm wondering. I get in...the nurse tries to find a vein to put the IV into. She tells me I have tiny veins (not good when a nurse says this!) She ends up poking and unpoking me for what seemed like an hour, I nearly fainted. Not once did she say sorry. She ended up getting another nurse to do it. I had a huge black, blue, and purple knot on my hand for two weeks afterwards. I'm a sucker for apologies, just say sorry and I'm happy. Then I go back to get my sestamibi scan. They tilted my head back in the most uncomfortable position possible and said stay perfectly still for 20 long minutes! They put the scan over my face and it's approximately 1/2" from my nose. I felt claustrophobic so I ended up getting a panic attack. I asked if I could have breaks in between my scan and they said that Dr. Norman is on a tight schedule so I couldn't, I ended up having to get sedated. I could wait 3 hrs in the waiting room but I can't take breaks in between my scan?? After the operation Dr. Politz talked to my husband briefly...VERY briefly. Dr. Norman never even introduced himself to my husband. I had to convince my husband previous to my operation that finding a doctor over the internet is ok and that Dr. Norman is legitimate, I knew that once he met Dr. Norman and heard him talk he would be convinced that he was a good doctor. BUT, he doesn't even get to meet him because Dr. Norman is probably too busy with another one of his 12 patients he had that day. He doesn't even have the decency to introduce himself to my husband. I guess that's what you get for $20,000! AND...all this talk about "light" anesthesia??? I felt absolutely horrible after my operation! I felt like I woke up with swine flu, bird flu, you name it! And to make matters worse, they just want you the hell out of there once your operation is over! The nurse asked me how I felt and when I said horrible she said I'll give you something for the pain. I assumed that she was going to give me Tylenol or Advil and when I asked her she said she was going to give me Morphine!! I stopped her thank God! In Dr. Norman's website it says that the most they give their patients is Tylenol or Advil and here I am ready to have Morphine put into my veins! Educate your nurses a little more guys!! I got dressed feeling like I was going to pass out, got a wheel chair to take me out and I was so weak I couldn't even hold my head up. Dr. Norman comes over and talks to me for about 2 seconds and I'm so weak I couldn't even hold my head up to look at him. My neck was so swollen I looked like Peyton Manning. Went back to my hotel and slept, slept, slept. Dr. Politz calls and it's obviously a rushed call and he's
not in the mood for questions. They brag about calling their patients after the operation but it's so phoney, they really don't want to talk. Heck, I was probably his 12th patient he called that night. My point is this, they didn't treat me like family. The whole thing was hell. BUT, I do think he cured me and I'm feeling better. SO, undoubtedly Dr. Norman is an excellent surgeon but as far as him treating his patients like family....a load of c**p!

Hi:

This is a reply to Dr. Norman's message. I live in Columbus, Ohio and I had a bad parathyroid surgery

performed on me in Oct., 2008 by an ear, nose & throat surgeon here in Columbus named Dr. Michael

D. Martyn. I truly don't think he knew what he was doing because he went in and took two perfectly

normal parathyroid glands out and then sewed me up. After six weeks went by and my calcium levels

did not go down, he order me to have a scan of my thyroid and when he got the results, he said it

still didn't show anything. I then asked him what he would do and he said to remove half of my

thyroid and hope that my bad parathyroid gland was embedded there! It was then that I thought he

was a quack and he didn't know what the hell he was doing and that he wouldn't touch me again

at all!

I considered going to Tampa but it would cost me too much with your extra charges for the surgery

and my travel and lodging costs, so my wife got on the internet and searched out surgeons who

are listed under the Board of Endocrinologists or something like that I think?

We came up with the name of Dr. William Farrar who is afine surgeon here at the James Cancer

Hospital in Columbus. I went to see him and he seemed to think right away that the bad gland

could be in my chest area. Sure enough, after running many different kinds of scans and tests

they found it to be there, and were able to reopen my original scar, pull up the bad gland and

remove it without having to crack my chest area!

Now, My only problem is that I only have one parathyroid gland left and I have to take 6500 mg

of calcium every day to keep my calcium level in the normal range. I also Have IBS so the lower

calcium level is playing havoc on my bowel habits.

I am very pleased with the service I received from Dr. Farrar. He seems to be very knowledgeable

in the field. Also, who would have thought that the bad gland could be in my chest area?

My advice to anybody who needs parathyroid surgery would be not to go to a general surgeon

go to a surgeon who specializes in neck or thyroid surgery. Ask them how many of these surgeries

they have done. Ask them what test they will have done to find out where the bad gland might be,

and how many surgeries they have done where the bad gland is located somewhere other than right

around the thyroid gland.

These were some of the things I learned the hard way!

Thanks,

Bob

Guest: I am sorry you had the experiences you had with Dr Norman. I certainly didn't. First of all, having had a husband ill for MANY years I have come to the realization that the medical community as a whole could do better by their patients. Having said that I too was probably Dr Norman's last patient of the day and became annoyed before it was my turn. BUT, I am so darn grateful he took me as patient, gave me my life back and I no longer suffer from ALL the symptoms I had with pHPT. Kinda like having a baby, when you see that sweet face you suddenly forget the pain. Could his procedures that day for you been better? Probably. Have you sent him a letter to voice your complaint? Over the years I am learned to voice my legitimate complaints to Doctors. Some have listened others haven't. I don't care if they think I am a &^%$#. You have to be your own heathcare advocate and they can only be better if they get our feedback. Understand this is jmo, for what it is worth. I hope your recovery is successful and consider yourself lucky as MANY people with this disease are still searching for a diagnosis as most Drs give them the "wait and see diagnosis". Best of luck. txg

Bob: I have only one parathyroid left due to hyperplasia. It has been 17 months since surgery and I now function well with one calcium supplement and one multi-vitamin daily. Sounds like your Dr is staying on top of things. Please remember not to take calcium up to 4 hours before having lab work as it will give a false reading. Good luck to you! Best regards, txg

Does anyone know of a surgeon in the Cleveland Ohio area does the Mirp surgery? I seem to have this normal calcium hyperparathyroid. My calciums are always normal. My urine calcium was normal. My PTH is now 95 and has been 89, 70 something and even 6 months again was in high normal range of 58, and my vitamin d was very low to start but is now low normal range in the 31 range and my calcium is still normal at 9.7.

osu87 - I don't know who is in the Cleveland area but I should think there would be a good surgeon there. Have you checked the Cleveland Clinic? My advice is to do some research- internet, phone book, phone calls, be sure you have found an excellent surgeon and go wherever the surgeon is. A previous post recommends a surgeon in Columbus and that is not far from you. Put more emphasis on quality than distance. Talk to the surgeon and be sure you feel comfortable with him and that you get all your questions answered.

Verify that they will protect your vocal cords and monitor the PTH during surgery. I would want radio guided surgery if the adenoma hasn't been located on a scan. An experienced surgeon should be able to do the surgery with an incision of 1-1 1/2 in. Half my thyroid and a very large nodule were removed at the same time through the same sized incision.

I too had normal calcium on all tests and slightly elevated PTH. A good sized adenoma was found at surgery. I'll bet you will turn out the same. - mass-

Hi, I live in Columbus. I had to have an additional parathyroid surgery in March because my first

surgeon did not know what he was doing so I went to Dr. William Farrar who is a surgeon at

the James Cancer Hospital here in Columbus and he was great. He located the bad gland which was

in my chest area and removed it with no problem. He is quite knowledgeable in this area. I don't

know if he does the MIPR surgery though. Give him a call and they will help you if they can.

His office number is 614-293-8890.



Good Luck! Bob

Hi Txg, Thanks for your concern. I just received a message from my surgeon's office last week and it

looks like I'll be on the calcium for a long time. They have been checking my levels now for several

months since my last surgery and they said that now my levels are stable and i will need to keep taking the same amount of calcium indefinitely. Next week I go to see a Gastroenterologist to see if

he can help me with my bowel problems. I also have a double hernia which doesn't help either!

Thanks, Bob

Agh, I'm so sorry to hear that you're going to be on calcium for awhile. When you get an update on your gastro appointment, let me know. I'd like to hear how it turns out! :)

Hi: Well I went to see the Gastroenterologist last week and he suggested that I have a colonoscopy

and an endoscopy because I am getting a lot of heartbearn also. So, I went through with the tests

and the worst part was the initial cleaning out of my colon because the day of the test my rear end

was on fire because I have serious hemorhoids. But the good news is that they gave me diprivan

and it completely knocked me out and I didn't remember a thing until I woke up later when it was

all over. That drug is great, no wonder Michael Jackson got addicted to it! The good news is that I

don't have any polyps or colon cancer and the only thing that I have is a hiatal hernia which he

prescribed pepcid for and a new drug called align to help me with my irritable bowel problem. Now

I'll have to call him because I need to get something to help clear up my internal hemorhoids which

have gotten worse because of all this cleaning out of my system. Wow, what a year this has been

for me! Hope better times are ahead.

Hi Bob, thanks for the update! I hear you on that though, I think 2009 has been a bad year for a lot of people in a lot of different ways. It does sound like you're on the path to recovery. Thanks for keeping me updated and keep doing it if you can--I always appreciate reading how you're doing!! Thanks :-)

Bob, glad your tests turned out well. Taking calcium daily will just be a part of your routine. Give yourself time to heal and hope your health improves daily. Sorry I haven't been on in a while as hubby has been very ill, but is better now. Best regards to all, txg

Hi texgranny: I must have missed this quote for some reason. Sorry to hear that your husband was

ill and hope that he is doing much better by now! I am getting along OK but after the colonoscopy,

the Dr. put me on Align and it is really not helping my bowels so far. I either seem to be constipated

or have too many movements and when I do my hemorrhoids are on fire! Maybe I need something else

along with the Align because I have IBS. If it doesn't get better, I'll have to give the Dr. a call.

Take care; Bob

Hello. I've been reading previous posts and wanted to post a couple thoughts on my experience with Dr. Norman in Tampa. I had surgery a little more than a year ago. I spent the previous year learning about parathyroid problems and figuring out what to do. One thing I learned is that most doctors do not know much about the parathyroid. And they don't want to hear about it from patients either. Dr. Norman's parathyroid website is an incredible resource for patients. It would be awesome if more doctors did the same thing.

Understanding what this problem did to my body has been an ongoing process and still continues. At the time of surgery I knew sleep problems, constantly needing to go the bathroom, anxiety and depression were my symptoms. I also had a little bit of bone pain in my wrists. To be honest, when I was first diagnosed (by my oncologist) I didn't think there was anything wrong. Reading the list of symptoms was a revelation and I began to recognize that I had a problem. Since having surgery I noticed that I hardly ever have headaches, something that had bothered me since I was a teenager (I'm 38). Also my immunity is 10 times better than in the past. I frequently had colds and often felt like I was getting something. This year I did not have a sick day from work, which I never done before in my life. By the way, I see an oncologist because of high blood counts. She gave me every test imaginable but never found anything beyond parathyroid disease. Since the surgery my blood counts, which were never that high, have been going slowly lower, but are still not normal. One more problem was high blood pressure, which I think is also slowly improving, although it is hard to tell since I only started getting it treated after surgery.

I would recommend Dr Norman to anyone. I have a hard time imagining anyone in the world is better at dealing with this parathyroid problem.

Having said that, I think a couple words of caution are in order. The clinic in Tampa is essentially a tool for doing one thing -- curing parathyroid disease caused by a parathyroid adenoma. If that's what you've got -- use the tool. See your own hometown doctor for ongoing care. They operate on so many people there is just no way they can keep up with you after the operation. On the day of the operation they treated me like family. By organizing their clinic the way they do they are helping thousands of people instead of dozens.

I think the website makes life seem like a picnic afterwards. This is not really true. Do not forget that this is a surgery. For someone like me who had never gone under the knife before it was a little tough to handle for a couple days. Definitely bring someone with you to Tampa to help out. Also if you have anxiety problems, airplane flight, operation in a hospital, airplane flight, makes for a hard three days. It takes your body a while, weeks really, to adjust to the calcium changes. Expect ups and downs. I wouldn't put too much stock in any one blood test afterwards. How do I know I'm cured? Because I don't have to go to the freakin' bathroom every 10 minutes! :-) So for me it was not the instant euphoria like it seems to be for some people. I was definitely knocked back a little by the operation and then there was a trend of improvement that keeps going. One lesson I have taken from all this is that medicine is not an exact science, and dealing with how you feel about your health takes time and is not easy.

So that was a lot more than I was thinking I would write. For anybody who wants to ask me questions I have and the part you need to know is readmesj.

Dr. Coe took out my thyroid and did a wonderful job. I went to Boston for a second opinion and it was said that I should have a very experienced surgeon as my tumor was growing around my vocal cords and I am a singer by profession. He was fantastic, got every last bit out, no issues at all. You truly cannot even notice my 3 inch scar on my throat. People were amazed at what and excellent job he did! Excellent, excellent doctor. I will gladly send pictures. My surgery was in 2007 and I couldn't say enough wonderful things about Dr. Coe...he truly is the BEST!

Hi, Quick question what were your side effects of hyperparathroidism? I have been in search of a diagnosis for my boyfriend we have been going to doctors and specialists for several years and still don't have a diagnosis. He has something wrong with almost every major organ in his body. His food sits in his stomach undigested for hours he even burps up food from the day before and you can smell it. He has heart issues when he stand then sits his heart races (he takes a beta blocker for this), he feels dizzy, faint, confused, spotty vision, ringing ears, frequent urination, abdominal pain, GERD, nausea, cold hands and feet, gasping at night, bloated etc. Are any of these the same symptoms some of you have had? Any information helps. Thank you