hyperparathyroidism/Dr. Nicholas Coe/ Dr. James Norman

I, too, had the MIRP surgery by Dr. James Norman, Tampa, FL in 2010. Yes, he's prompt in getting in touch w/you (perhaps a little too anxious to earn the $16,000+ surgery fee). While he has many surgeries under his belt, I must caution you about the sugarcoating that exists on his website, his assembly line approach & lack of availability for post-op care questions. I didn't like his liberal use of foul language when I finally did get him to respond & yes, he wrote and told me I was lying, also, that I HAD NOT tried four times to contact him. He completely denied any responsibility for problems I developed immediately after surgery, have worsened and are still ongoing. It seems I will now never have any help in determining for sure if it was/is related to the LMA anesthetic device he uses with his surgery. I have since learned that he has stopped using this device, but no one seems to know why. I will forever remain grateful for the symptoms that did abate, but this does not make up for yet another doctor too cocky for his own good and mine! I am not just talking about a personality difference here, I am talking about the quality (or lack of) of my life after his "13" minute procedure which took "40". It appears that there is damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and he will, of course, admit no culpability! He has devoted a great deal of money to start up a foundation. If you search, you will find access to a parathyroid chat site. While it operates under the guise of a charitable foundation (501) (3) (c) it reeks of a marketing tool to glean new patients. Having said that, it still is an amazing place to find over 1,000 other people with parathyroid tumors ( & currently w/o tumors, also). You will just have to disregard the fact that he will allow no doctor to post comments to help suffering people. One tried to help recently and all of the posts were deleted. You will still find it a great patient resource because we have not let that stop us from chatting off-line and exchanging much needed information. I wish so much that we could contact each other from this site, but apparently that ability does not exist. I hope to see you on the chat site. Perhaps we could mention and look for the proverbial "red carnation" so that we would "recognize" each other. God bless to all of those still suffering.

I'm newly diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism. My calcium is 10.8 and PTH normal. I am very tired all the time, having trouble concentrating and my joints hurt. The endocrinologist wants me to have a ultrasound and scan, then see a surgeon. I am trying to find out all I can about all of this. I'd like to find an experienced surgeon in Virginia. One question I have is, what kind of calcium is prescribed because I absolutely can't take calcium carbonate. It is constipating and I have IBS. I sure appreciate all the info on this site.

I live in Miami, Florida and understand that there is a Dr. Tershakovec at Baptist Hospital in Homestead is proficient at minimally invasive surgery for parathyriod. My Endocrinologist wants me to go to Tampa to have Dr. James Norman do the surgery. What is your opinion of this action? Joanie

Joanie - I would suggest that you talk with both doctors and see who you feel most comfortable with. You'll learn a lot from Dr Norman's website but the personal relationship is important too. Be sure all your questions are answered and you feel confident with the surgeon you select. I wish you the best. mass

Hi txgranny, I'm in Plano, TX. getting ready to choose a surgeon. considering that 300,000 Americans have hyperparathyiodism, you would think more doctors would be up to speed on it. Do you feel you were cured after your surgery.

A number of PHPT "sufferers" formed a wonderfully informative/supportive page, once we realized the true prevalence of this disease and how great the need is to spread awareness and equally important, to support each other.  We very quickly came to realize there were so many others in the same boat as ourselves, in trying to figure out where to go and in whom to place trust/confidence for the best possible outcome.  So for this reason, I post the link to the page. 

In addition to this, I would like to add that as our numbers grew over time, people began making recommendations for surgeons who had performed their Parathyroidectomy with success.  We have compiled a list based on these recommendations.  While it is not a large list yet, it has at least grown to contain over 50 names, in varying parts of the U.S. (& a couple of other countries, too).

My best wishes to all those seeking help.

Where do I find the list of surgeons you are talking about?

Sorry Paul, obviously I did not read the posting rules well enough to realize url's are disallowed by the moderators here.  So the links I posted have been edited.   I do know that we have a poster or two who "stumble on to" the page on which we post, but I am not exactly sure how we appear in the feeds, when searching.  It is called Parathyroid Disease Support and Awareness, so you might try searching and see if it comes up by that, as I have never personally tried it that way. 

can you give another tip how to find this page please? really desperate

my PTH was just 89 with a 9.8 serum calcium; however a previous calcium test 3 wks ago was 10.1. Who did you have your surgery with, I am sure i have the parathyroid problem and now am concerned to have the operation reading all the comments.....

Hi, when I went to google and typed Parathyroid Disease Support and Awareness Page, we came up 4th in line. ...... The only thing more specific I can possibly think of, but would be a bit cumbersome, is if you search for a doctor that has on-going blogs on many different topics--he calls his page Buckeye Endocrine, and once you find his page, when you scroll down, on the right hand side are listed many titles about which he's blogged. Specifically, there's one entitled Baudrillard and Parathyroidectomy and I was rather irked at some of the misinformation he imparted in his blog and felt compelled to respond. Luckily he provides the ability to leave a comment & I did. In my comment I listed our url link so that other's might find us and he allowed it to stay. (...hope this helps)

@Moonchild, correction, he calls it Buckeye Surgeon. As a matter of fact, I noticed when I entered the search for "our page" his page came up in the feed a little further down from ours.

Up until two weeks ago I had been taking Vitamin D 5000IU daily and stopped after watching Dr. Normans video on the subject and reading more about what vitamin actually does. The most notable symptoms I have are constant headaches, massive fatigue, depression and muscle aches all over. These symptoms have let up a good deal but are still a pretty strong presence. Has anyone else experienced this. My next step is to get some really good sunglassses and to stay out of the sun, or stay covered up.

My symptoms seem to have a cycle of becoming much worse for a few days then for about two weeks they are much lighter. Is this common with hyperparathyroidism?

I had surgery with Dr. James Norman in May 2010 and my insurance company did not cover me for Dr. Norman's services since he was not in my network, however the other costs associated with surgery including the hospital, anestesiologist, and labs were covered by my insurance company as they were in my network.  My total costs out of pocket were approximately $9,000, which included my $3,500 deductible and that was with having insurance!  My daughter had the same surgery about 18 months ago with no insurance coverage whatsoever and she paid about $12,000 with Dr. Norman at the Tampa General Hospital.