During the past few days I have been posting about my illness, Hyperparathyroidism. Not many people know about it and it often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. You can read my previous posts, “What Is Wrong With Me?“, “Hyperparathyroidism – What is it?”,  “Parathyroidectomy and My Missing Gland”  and  “Post Op and What You Need To Know” by clicking on the links.

My recovery has been going well.  You can see by the picture my scar is healing nicely.  I visited the surgeon last Thursday and at this point I am to start massaging the scar on a daily basis with Vitamin E and in a year it will be barely noticeable.  I am taking two Ultra Tums per day.  One in the AM and one in the PM for calcium.   I take 2000 mg of Vitamin D per day to try and build up my bone strength.   It may take a year till we can build them back to where they should be after the parathyroid leached all the calcium out.

How am I feeling?  Much, much better.  I’m not completely recovered yet, but WOW, what a difference!   No heart palpatations, my blood pressure is back to normal, I can walk much better, my joints still have some pain, but nothing like before. (I may indeed have a touch of arthritis), the bone pain in my shin is almost completely gone, every once in a while I get a pain, but not constant like before.   I’m going up steps so much better.   Still having some problems going down, but every day I see improvement.   I’m not forgetting as much….in fact I think I am remembering too many things!   I am able to focus and concentrate so much better.

I have noticed an improvement in some things I didn’t even know were affected till after the surgery.   For instance I don’t have to go to the bathroom near as often, my digestive system seems to be working better too and my skin isn’t as dry.

I asked my husband if he noticed any difference and he said, “Oh my gosh,  YES!  You are moving around so much better, you are not wincing in pain, and you just seem to feel a lot better!”   Being the nice guy that he is, he didn’t say it, but I’m sure he could have added, “You are not as grouchy either!”

I just feel so much better, mentally and physically.  It is hard to describe.  Of course I am not back to work yet, and once I can’t sleep in, have to go to work and juggle a schedule again, I might not be as chipper.   Time will tell.   But I am so happy I had this surgery.  It has made a huge difference for me.

Parathyroidectomy Recovery Reflections  – Robin Smith

My Medical Team

Quite a few people have asked about my medical team, and I wanted to share with you who my doctors are.

My Family Doctor – Dr. Ernesto DelasAlas MD  in Bedford.
My Endocrinologist – Dr. Heleh Haerian-Ardakani, MD in Altoona
My Endocrine Surgeon – Dr. Kelly McCoy, MD at UPMC Pittsburgh

I am so thankful for them and their expertise in identifying my problem and going above and beyond to remove the parathyroid.

We have come to the end of my story.   I will probably write another post in about six months to let everyone know how I am doing and if all the symptoms have disappeared.   I just want to thank you for taking the time to read about this and I hope you found it helpful and interesting.

If there is one thing I have learned from this whole experience, it is “Don’t take your health for granted.”  We all do it, but once you start to lose your health you appreciate it so much more.

If this has made a difference for you or you learned something new, please comment below.

During the past few days I have been posting about my illness, Hyperparathyroidism. Not many people know about it and it often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. You can read my previous posts, “What Is Wrong With Me?“, “Hyperparathyroidism – What is it?”, and “Parathyroidectomy and My Missing Gland” by clicking on the links.

My surgeon says it will take time for my wound to heal and for me to regain my strength. My body needs to readjust to my calcium level changes. The other three parathyroid glands need to awaken from a long sleep and start working. All this takes time. My symptoms should start to disappear. Some things I noticed instantly, other things will take up to six months to be back to normal. I have ups and downs. I feel energetic and do something then I’m very tired. I have a tendency to push myself when I need to just rest. I’m not used to taking it easy and that is an adjustment I am trying to make to improve my healing.

What YOU need to know is 1 in 1,000 people are afflicted with Hyperparathyroidism. Many doctors miss the diagnosis or are unaware of the problem. Many treat the symptoms but never get to the root cause.

Check out the possible symptoms.

If you have 4 – 6 or more of these symptoms, please ask your doctor to run a calcium level and a PTH level blood test on you. If both are borderline or higher ask to be referred to a endocrinologist. If it is determined you have Hyperparathyroidism and need surgery, ask to be referred to an endocrine surgeon that does these operations everyday. Someone who is only doing them twice a year is not an expert and can cause you a larger scar, more neck trauma, and other problems.

I was very fortunate, my family doctor picked up something that many miss. Both the Endocrinologist and the Endocrine Surgeon praised him for finding this and sending me on.Some endocrinologists even miss this one. Many live in pain and misery for years and then develop secondary illnesses that eventually kill them because they were never diagnosed and treated.

I have included a video that I recorded about 12 hours after my surgery. I look awful, no makeup and my hair is a mess, but I wanted to share it with you. I’m sharing my story to help educate others so they know about this disease and maybe can save them or someone they love a lot of pain and suffering. Looking back, we feel I had symptoms at least 8 years ago. No one, including myself connected them together to my Parathyroids.

Robin Smith – 14 hours after surgery

If you have any questions, please comment. I will be happy to try and answer them for you or find the right expert who knows the answer.

Tomorrow I will discuss my recovery and show you updated pictures and reflections of this experience.