Looking for a referral for a parathyroid surgeon

Thank you for the quick response & comments. Like I said, I'm following thru with meeting Dr Wen Shen, but am not impressed with UCSF in general, despite their positive reputation. I haven't even been able to get a live person on the phone there today. Hope you're right, though! Thanks!  

youre not doing well if your calcium is still high.. there is a problem. shouldn't be high after four months...

It's now March2015 and wondering if Wash state patient actually had PT surgery with STICKNEY in Seattle? I need 2nd surgery (long story-2010, who removed 2 PTs--1adenoma,1 believed adenoma but turned out was good! Plus never could find 4th gland) so now have high calcium+PTH 129 so believe I'm off to Norman in Florida. Chose not to go to STICKNEY because her website said--"it's not necessary to ck every gland". If my surgeon had checked the 2 glands he found with gamma probe that Norman/Politz used in their video surgery, maybe I WOULDNT be in this position. However, he looked twice for my lower left PT but never found it so perhaps that's the one that's now causing my problems. Just wondering how this other Wash patient recovered from her 2008 surgery with STICKNEY ???? Thanks. Kirkland pt

Hello, I am now dealing with this issue. My calcium is all over the place. It was 9.6 in 2013. 10.2 October 2014. 10.6 on 4/7/13. 10.0 on 4/13/15. Yes, it went down .6 in 6 days. Does not seem "normal" to me. My PHT is only 50. So, my family DRs office says it is all normal. I know it is not. I now have a kidney stone. I did not have one in 2013. In addition, I feel so awful. Muscle aches/tiredness/brain fog. I do not feel like myself at all. So, even in my present less than stellar condition, I know I need to act. I do not think I need to fly to Tampa yet. I appreciate the recommendations on here so very much! In regards to Dr. Emery Chen: He is now in Lancaster, CA moved from Woodland, CA. I called his office and they will charge me a $250 consult fee to have him look over my records. Being as I do not have a hyperparathyroid diagnosis, this seems fair and possibly my best option? I have also reached out to Dr. Yeh at UCLA via email. I have no idea if I will hear back from him or not. My DR is out of town. I was called with my latest "normal" lab results yesterday by her nurse, so I cannot get in to see her until next week (if they squeeze me in) and I cannot get a referral to even a local endocrinologist until she is back in town. I called proactively and the endocrinologist does not have an appointment for 4-6 weeks. Yikes. So, I may have to rely upon a surgeon looking over my labs and consenting to doing scans? I realize how important the facility is in performing scans. Thus, Dr. Chen sounds good from what I have read here, but what are the facilities like in Palmdale, CA where he now operates out of? I am rambling. I appreciate any input and all advice with this. Thank you in advance. I felt completely well in December; just 4 months ago. Now I feel exhausted, stressed out, and achey.

Hi…
I thought I would reply to your post to jimandmarcy since I corresponded with Jim last year concerning a similar issue. My advice to you would be to call the Endocrine Surgery Dept at UCLA and speak with Dr Yeh's nurse, Jennifer. Yasmin is also someone who can
connect you with him. This is a very frustrating and exhausting process, but you seem to be on the right track. Hang in there and good luck to you! Gabriel

I really appreciate the advice. I have a call in to Dr Chen and I will call Dr Yeh as well. Thank you for including the nurses name and information. I just feel so crummy. I feel for everyone going through this! Were you able to find a DR? Thank you, Leslie

Leslie… Glad I could help! After my first surgery (performed by a respected head and neck surgeon) failed…calcium remained high,etc. I researched some more and decided to contact Dr Yeh who performed a 4D scan (think it's unique to his practice) which was negative, then an Ultrasound which showed what looked like an adenoma. The first surgeon also did an Ultrasound but didn't find it. It was inside my Thyroid. I am 7 months post surgery now…on a small dose of Synthroid because I only have one lobe. Happy to say I am feeling well after a miserable few years. My endo didn't think I had persistent Hyperparathyroid Disease and the first surgeon was baffled as well. Of course I knew how I was feeling and the labs weren't ''normal." Dr Yeh is really good! He's busy and is getting busier, but he is worth pursuing. This disease doesn't always ''act'' logically. You really have to follow your heart and persist on getting answers. Wishing you well, G.

After a year are you feeling any better? My Mom is stuck getting the parathyroid surgery in Washington as it is the only place her insurance covers. Her surgery is suppose to be done with Dr. Stickney, but I am not totally confident based on my experience with them so far.

By far the best surgeon in country is Dr Michael Yeh at UCLA. NEXT TO HIM WOUKD BE Dr Sheh at UCSF. 

I couldn't agree more! Dr Yeh is the man!!!

I am looking for a parathyroid surgeon for my Mom who has severe osteoporosis, her T Score is -4.6 and she was just diagnosed last week with having hyperparathyroidism and that she needs the growths removed. We have been researching online and of course the Norman center is all over the internet and while the information is good, it's a very very hard sell and they use scare tactics if you are considering going somewhere else, plus the consultation fee. I am in LA and we as a family are scraping together what we have to pay for what she needs, but she has Medicare and if anyone can suggest possibly great doctors on the West Coast that would be much appreciated! She has also had 9+ spinal fusions and lots of metal in her spine and has been through so much so the post operative care is really important too. Thank you so very much for your help, our whole family is struggling to figure heads or tails of where to go! xoxo

UCLA and Dr Michael Yeh are my recommendations! Wishing you and your family well. Your Mom is lucky to have all of you! Sounds like she has been through a lot of pain and Dr Yeh is a really wonderful surgeon with a great staff! Good luck…xoxo

I am really surprised to hear your comment in regards to Dr Larian. It's not that I do not believe you, but this is the first negative thing I have EVER read about him. On the other hand, I have read negative comments about both Dr Yeh AND Dr Norman, but never Dr Larian. I guess no one is perfect, but DARN!, I was really hoping not to ever find anything "negative" on Dr Larian as I am considering having a consultation there. (I live in Texas.) Am wondering if there are many others out there who have experienced any surgical issues from him. I hope all is still well with you since your re-do.

Dr Larian could not find the ''bad'' gland. He was in agreement with the Endocrinologist after speaking with her on the phone. Neither one thought that I still had a problem even though my labs and symptoms showed otherwise. He told me to get another opinion (meaning another endo dr) but I knew that there was something very wrong. Dr Yeh did a 4D scan (showed nothing) and an ultrasound in his office which showed a ''suspicious'' something inside my Thyroid and he was right on. Dr Larian did an ultrasound as well and he missed it. What can I say? You are right about no one being perfect, but this was not a good thing. I trusted Dr Larian, his quiet demeanor and his impressive credentials. I had thoroughly researched Dr Norman and decided not to go that route. I am feeling fine. It has been a rough few years and I am very grateful to Dr Yeh. The surgery with Dr Larian was uneventful. The scar healed well and I really thought I was on my way to good health. He did follow up on the persistent high calcium, and said things like ''some people have this and it doesn't mean that there is a bad gland causing it." Well…he was wrong. He did have his nurse call me to arrange for a 3D scan which I didn't really want to do (don't like scans) but it would not have shown the gland inside my Thyroid anyway. Going down to L.A. once again was not something I wanted to do, but it was the right choice for me. To this day, Dr Larian does not know that I had to have ''redo'' surgery. I never heard from him or his office again. Not a good thing, but that's my story. Good luck to you unmaking your decision. My case was not the ''norm'' and I realize that, but it happened. Hope this helps.

HI! I am also from Canada (Saskatchewan) and need parathyroid surgery, and was wondering what you found out? Thanks