Thank you so much for responding. You went to Dr. Norman in Tampa? How was that? I am considering that but I'm trying to justify the $1,750 consultation fee. Any information you can provide to me on how your experience was with Dr. Norman will be so helpful to me. Thank you!
Hi. I'm not sure if my previous reply went through, so I will send this duplicate response.
Did you see Dr. Norman and did he do your surgery? I'm considering going to him as well, but I'm trying to justify the $1,750 consultation fee. Any information you can give me on how your experience was, etc. would be so helpful to me. If you'd like to email or phone me, please respond and I'll let you know how I can be contacted. Thank you!!!
I am looking for a minimally invasive parathyroid surgeon as well. Can you give me Dr. Cohen's location/information?
Interesting reply! I've known him for almost thirteen years. Four surgeries, the latest--and I hope the last!--this past March. Two surgeries for thyroid cancer in 2001; then a combination of elevated calcium and PTH in early '03, without symptoms typically associated with PHPT, led to a sestamibi (a nuclear medicine scan to localize a parathyroid tumor) followed by surgery to remove a supernumerary, ectopic parathyroid; in other words, I was born with at least one too many parathyroids (most of us have four). Later my PTH started on a steady climb, and last fall I had another sestamibi. I didn't realize that I was having almost all the symptoms of PHPT until shortly before this latest surgery. He's done all four. Because of the parathyroids' location, it's difficult to remove the thyroid without damaging or removing any of them; my parathyroids weren't touched during either of the thyroid surgeries, and while my neck muscles still feel the effects of the last surgery--it was, after all, my fourth, and I admit that I went back to work (most of which involves talking) and singing too soon afterwards--my remaining parathyroids are working fine (and, should you wonder, my thyroid is totally gone, with no recurrences of cancer). In other words, Doug Fraker is good. Neck surgery is tricky and more delicate than some people think; there are some very important muscles and other structures in there, including the recurrent laryngeal nerve; great care must be taken to minimize the risk of damage, and you want a surgeon who is not only very experienced but also aware of your concerns as a person. Singing has long been one of my great passions; I'm not a professional singer, but I have been in many vocal groups, including the same chorus for several decades. The prospect of having difficulty singing, let alone losing my ability to do so, was terrifying before the first surgery and something I occasionally worried about before the last one. What happened? After the first one I noticed vocal improvement almost immediately, and after this recent one, I'm amazed. I don't think I've ever sounded this good.
If you can get to Philadelphia, and it's an easy city to get to and from, I'd advise doing so. I only know one surgical endocrinologist so I can't compare them, but in 2001 this one listened to some of what I now know were unfounded fears with the utmost respect. He'll never say he has The Answers if there's the slightest doubt, and won't operate unless the results of all appropriate tests and scans tell him it's time to do so (I know: after my first parathyroidectomy, I spent more than a decade sharing results with him before he said that). Penn's medical students have given him the annual best-teacher award at least once in recent years, and I'm not at all surprised. I'd suggest you go to their website, click Find a Doctor, and, under Find a Doctor or Practice, go to the drop-down menu under Specialty, and click Endocrine and Oncologic Surgery, where a number of surgeons are listed. You might want to contact more than one of them, but you can also type Douglas Fraker in the search box under Provider Name.
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Douglas Fraker is more than "supposed" to be very good, he is very good. I've had four neck surgeries (two thyroid in '01, then a parathyroid in '03, then another parathyroid this year); he's done them all. He treats everyone with the utmost respect and consideration, listens to questions, offers information...and has won Penn's med students' best teacher of the year award at least once in recent years. He also has a splendid sense of humor, so if you're looking for someone who likes to toot his own horn, you'll have to look elsewhere. I'm a passionate amateur singer and in the same chorus for several decades, so it's very important to me to have a surgeon who understands how much being able to sing means to me. Not only has he not damaged my voice in any way, he's somehow improved it for me. I know how it's sounded over the years and I know how it sounds now: the voice I always wanted. As for scarring concerns: his nurse-practitioner suggested to me, just after my first thyroid surgery, that I buy vitamin E geltabs, punture them (one at a time!) at the score,squeeze out the oil, and rub it on my scar. On the day of the most recent surgery the good doctor grumbled to me, "I can't see your scar," to which I grumbled back, "Well, you put it there!" Less than three months post-op I encounter many people who can barely see the latest one. The recovery process has been quite arduous, partly because it was my fourth surgery, partly because I'm 11 years older than I was the last time, partly because I went back to singing and to work (in a job that involves constant talking) much too soon, but I'm getting progressively better.
Please let me know what hospital Dr Cohen works at. My e-mail is pmjb@ptd.net
I live in Pittsburgh as well and have just seen Dr. Siperstein after your recommendation. I haven't had surgery yet, but was very impressed with the doctor and his staff. Thank you for your post!
Michele S.