By Timothy J. O’Brien, M.S.

*** 6 Year Update! – One FAQ Answered as P.S. ***

I had my surgery performed by Dr. Norman on 2/21/2006 – today, 2/21/2012 – is my 6 year anniversary of the surgery.

Since I first published the article below in my Knight Ridder Tribune News Service column, many people have written to ask “how are you doing now?” 

To every person who wrote – and to you reading the article for the first time:

I’m doing great – I got my energy back almost immediately, the emotionality went away completely, I stopped losing hair (haven’t grown any back either .

My wife says I’m still ornery, but I had that well before any PTH symptoms

I’m very energetic again, I’m back to my full 5 times per week workout schedule – there are no negatives to report. My “enthusiasm” often annoys many people much younger than I am – I’ll be 63 the end of April.

I wish you luck with your condition – I found Dr. Norman’s Clinic by doing a Google Search at first, then asking my brother, who is a surgeon in Dallas – who does the same surgery as Dr. Norman, and then talking with Dr. Norman’s office and Dr. Politz who is in with him.

I had nothing but a positive and successful experience with both Tampa General where the surgery was performed and with Dr. Norman and his office. I hope it goes as well for you.

*** P.S. I am often asked “what about your scar from the surgery.” If they are asking me in person, I say “look for yourself,” as I point to the base of my throat. They look, they move closer, often squint, and then, invariably say, “WOW, can’t hardly see it, is that it?” Exactly!

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The Original Article:

“The tumor was the size of a walnut and probably 10 years old,” Dr. Jim Norman told me as I awoke after surgery. “Everything went very well. It took about nine minutes. You will feel much better in just a couple days.” Here is an unusual personal story about high serum calcium levels and an obscure disease, which I didn’t know I even had! It might relate to you.

Hyperparathyroidism: Have you ever heard of it? I hadn’t. Even with all the reading and study I have done, I must admit I didn’t even know I had a parathyroid gland, actually four of them. Where are they? They are in our neck. What do they do? Their sole purpose is to regulate calcium levels in our bodies. What happened to me? One of my four parathyroid glands grew a tumor. It grew from the normal size of a grain of rice into a tumor more than an inch long, 3/4 of an inch thick, and 3/4 of an inch wide.

What were my symptoms? How did I find out about it? How did I find Dr. Norman, the world’s foremost authority on hyperparathyroidism, to do my surgery? Do you have it? How would you know? Here is a short course on hyperparathyroidism.

1) In November 2005, I’d had enough of feeling listless for the first time in my life. I was 56 years old, and my blood pressure had risen to a point where I could not control it naturally. I made an appointment with my physician. I had a physical. I had blood work done. As I learned later, almost all patients with Hyperparathyroidism have symptoms. According to Dr. Norman: “Sometimes the symptoms are real obvious, like kidney stones, frequent headaches, and depression. Sometimes the symptoms are not so obvious, like high blood pressure and the inability to concentrate.”

2) My physician called with the results of my blood work. I had a high serum calcium level. He looked back and I’d had the same high reading since 2001. He’d always thought it was just a slight lab error. This time, he looked up causes of high calcium in one of his medical books. “The book said that high calcium could indicate a problem with the parathyroid gland.”

3) He gave me a prescription to get my parathyroid hormone (PTH) level checked. I did. It was 179. Normal is between 10 and 65. It appeared I had a problem.

4) While waiting on the results of the PTH test, I went onto the Internet and searched under “parathyroid gland.” The number one web site from the search was www.parathyroid.com. I went there and read for more than an hour. What I read convinced me that I did indeed have a problem and it was probably a tumor on one of my four glands. The disease strikes at the average age of 56, that was me. It affects women two to three times as often as men. That wasn’t me, but most of the other symptoms sounded like what I felt like. I also learned that these parathyroid tumors were almost never cancerous. That was good news. However, left untreated, these tumors can lead to serious health problems including high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and kidney stones.

5) I sent my physician the link to www.parathyroid.com and asked him to look at it. He did. When my PTH level came back so high he felt this confirmed that I did have hyperparathyroidism.

6) I asked him if he knew of anywhere or anyone to go to for the surgery. I also asked my physician brother. They both confirmed what I had read and concluded myself. Dr. James Norman, of the Norman Endocrine Clinic in Tampa, Florida is the top surgeon in the world for the procedure I needed. The fact that he was in Tampa, an area I am very familiar with, and, he had some of his training and was on the staff for several years at the University of South Florida, where I graduated, gave me an initial comfort level. After I read about him and his minimally invasive radio guided procedure (MIRP) he had developed, I was sure I wanted him to do the procedure.

7) After I completed my file with the Norman Clinic, I received a call from Dr. Douglas Politz M.D. He is Dr. Norman’s partner. He asked me to get two new blood tests and a bone density scan to confirm that I did have hyperparathyroid disease. I had the tests. They all confirmed that I had the disease.

8 ) Tampa General Hospital called me to go over insurance and admitting information. And, they set the date for my surgery.

9) February 21, 2006 at 6:00 a.m. I entered Tampa General Hospital. At 8:58 a.m. I walked out of the hospital, procedure completed. During those three hours the staff injected me with a radioactive solution, and then performed a sestamibi scan. That scan clearly pinpointed the location of the tumor: on the lower left side of my neck. I met Dr. Norman and his team. They explained the process and procedure. The anesthesiologist injected a solution into the intravenous line in my arm. The next thing I remember is Dr. Norman telling me how well the surgery had gone. And, all I had as a reminder of the surgery was a 1.5 inch incision at the base of my neck.

Within three days of the surgery, I felt much better. My energy levels soared to levels I hadn’t felt in several years. I slept better and woke up fresher. I required less sleep. My mental clarity, which I always felt was good, became much better.

What does any of this have to do with you? If you, or anyone you know, have a high serum calcium level show up, ask to have a parathyroid hormone level test. “There is never a reason for high blood calcium in the body,” says Dr. Norman. “It is never normal.” I also suggest that you go to www.parathyroid.com just for the educational experience it offers. You might not ever have the disease; however, you might hear someone mention high calcium levels, or exhibits some of the symptoms of Hyperparathyroidism. This short visit to the web site might save you or a friend from years of discomfort.

There is one final step to see if the surgery healed me. Exactly two weeks after the surgery, I went to have my calcium and PTH levels checked. I just got them back. They are both in the normal range. I’m cured! Thank you Dr. Norman and your staff.

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Timothy J. O’Brien, M.S. is the Director of The Institute for Stress Management & Performance Improvement, in Tallahassee, Florida. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Stress and a Life Member of the International Society for Performance Improvement.

For 14 years, Tim wrote a column for Knight Ridder Tribune News Service and has published more than 400 print articles. He gives presentations on grief, compassion fatigue, stress management and performance improvement.

With a focus on business, Tim co-authored the 2010 Amazon.com #1 Bestseller in the Work-Life Balance category: If You Have Employees, You Really Need This Book.  

He has also produced Achieving the Dynamic Balance, a systematic, action-oriented 2 CD audio program designed to help listeners regain control of their lives and improve their performance.

He has two Grief Support Programs, one for Human-loss and one for Pet-loss.

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