Hyperpara-what?

So, I am home this week recovering from surgery. I know! After I had the baby last year, I was feeling really under the weather. I had headaches all the time, I was tired, my stomach hurt all the time, I was achy, depressed and generally just blah-ish (medically speaking). I also developed hypertension - out of nowhere! For awhile I just chalked it up to adjusting to being a mom of two. In fact, almost everyone I spoke to agreed that it was normal. Finally after weeks of spending most of my days lying in bed, I called my mom and asked her to come stay with us for awhile while I figured out what was going on with me. I believe my exact words were "Something just doesn't feel right." Anyway, I saw my primary care physician, who is wonderful and she's also a mom (our sons are in daycare together) and she decided to send me for blood tests. She also sent me for a sonogram of my thyroid because she thought it felt a little large.

Totally to my shock - the sonogram revealed I had a fairly large mass on or behind my thyroid. I was referred to an endocrinologist and told I had to have a fine needle biopsy to determine if it was benign. After weeks of waiting and trying not to think the worse, we found out the mass was a) benign (whew!) and b) not on my thyroid at all - it was behind my thyroid on a gland called my parathyroid. Blood tests confirmed that I had a condition called hyperparathyroidism. In short, a tumor had formed on one of my four parathyroid glands. Our parathyroid glands control the calcium in our body and mine had gone bananas and it caused the calcium in my body to go out of control. The high levels of calcium were beginning to negatively affect almost all my systems including most importantly, my kidneys and my blood pressure. It was the condition behind almost all my symptoms.

So now what? I was told my condition could be cured by having the tumor removed. After tons of research, I found Dr. Alan Dackiw at Johns Hopkins. It is important that I put that information out there because this condition is rare but with the right surgeon the surgery is an outpatient procedure and you can be totally cured. With the wrong surgeon, there is a great deal of risk involved. Dr. Dackiw specializes in thyroid and parathyroid issues and does 200-300 surgeries a year. He has a wonderful reputation and great bedside manner. I met with him in December and he sent me for a Sestambi Scan to confirm the location of the tumor and extensive testing to confirm my diagnosis.

So here I am - by the grace of God, through prayer and preparation, I am about a week post-op and doing really well. Just to give you an idea of how high the calcium in my body was - I went from having a calcium level of 90 to 11 almost instantly after the tumor was removed. I have read people feel better instantly but quite honestly, I am still too doped up on pain meds to know the difference lol. This blog has seen me through so much! So, if your google search of hyparathyroidism or Dr. Dackiw led you to this site feel free to leave me a comment with your email address or get my contact info from the contact page if you want any more information.

In light of my clean bill of health, I have decided to commit to a new goal for 2011: Health and Fitness. I am not obese, but I am overweight (most of it I mask with my height). I will be 30 years old on July 12 and here is my big goal...

I want to lose 30 lbs by my 30th Birthday!!

Corny... I know.

Here's the thing. I want to inspire my husband and children to be health conscious and take the best care of their bodies. I have always wanted the best for my spirit and to have a meaningful life - especially after my brother passed - but I have been neglectful of the body that's carrying that spirit around. The day I sat in the doctor's office and got my diagnosis I was so aware of how much worse it could have been. I know my body is temporary and I know life is fickle. Before I found out what was going on with me, I told my doctor how nervous I was. I was so nervous. She said to me, "Tiara, take deep breaths and say the serenity prayer." Remember?

God... grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change... courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

I am still here...

I can make a change. I am hoping you guys can help hold me accountable?

Stay tuned for Thursday - if I don't lose my cohones, I will be posting a "before" picture! Yikes...

In the meantime, check out my amazing company....