Which means a week from Wednesday, my ENT is surgically removing the misbehaving glands of my parathyroid, or at least removing that portion of it. Which he’s been doing for other patients. For 30 years. For patients who share a similar list of symptoms. I’m anxious to be rid of the nasty culprit. That has flipped my life in topsy turvy fashion, only to hide itself from being a team player and resist showing its entire self in medical photos. Even the best radiology center could not obtain pictures that revealed, nor was their biopsy conclusive of what was going on. However, the ENT continued to view and review a few particular images of the one gland he could see out of 4 parathyroid glands, which told him to do nuclear testing which made my parathyroid light up. No, I was not lit up like a Christmas tree. But, what my ENT saw as it was plainly bright, was enough to order several more tests to confirm his suspicions and order surgery following obtaining those additional tests to be completed as soon as possible.

The right parathyroid gland had a sizable dark spot that proved to be an adenoma. Although benign, my ENT said tumors still cause disruptions in patient’s lives because where there is 1 adenoma, there are often 2 so doctors check for another in all the glands when they do surgery. Disruptions like a patient’s gate change and hobbling around instead of walking normally, like testing positive for osteoporosis at a younger than typical age for diagnosis because her body decided to leak calcium, like the bone density scan additionally proved that because of the calcium loss, that my bones are losing density and could potentially become so brittle that tripping once more on the stairs could cause a broken bone or a few plus another few fractures.

My Endocrinologist understandably prescribed a calcium replacement drug that I started taking in June, but my ENT, whom I initially saw in early October, because of adverse side effects, wants me to stop taking the drug asap. When I was given the prescription, I did research and despite the risk to lose teeth and calcium, while also gaining calcium and bone density, I filled the prescription because there are other drugs out there that offer positive effects, but they also yield comparable negative effects. Six to one, half dozen the other…

That said, I am keeping December’s appointment to remove some of, if not all the parathyroid.