The aftermath …. blah blah
08 Jun 2010 6 Comments
in Me
As a result of my thyroidectomy, I have either lost my parathyroids, or they have been damaged, we are still not sure which. The surgeon seems to think that they should recover in a few months and I hope , please pray that he is right. The Parathyroids control amongst other things, your calcium levels. Now at this stage if I don’t drink calcium 3 – 4 times a day I get the most terrible pins and needles, my eyeballs jump up and down, and i get facial twitches that would be fun if I were at a rave, but not fun at the moment. So what’s so hard about taking calcium meds you ask? Well it is – they are these huge big fizzy tablets that I have to dissolve in water and they are horrendous to ingest – the first few days were bad, but after 3 weeks of drinking them, i actually have to build up the courage to do so. And then for about an hour afterwards I feel yugh, quite nauseous, it’s just horrible!!
I went to the specialist physician today to ask him to take control of my medicine situation. At the moment I feel a bit confused about who is actually caring for me. I have a surgeon, a physician and an oncologist. The surgeon sounds like he wants to cry when I phone him and just wants me to go away now. The oncologist is a really cool person but looks like she should be on holiday in Cape Town, she is that chilled, and the physician is all stern and stuff but knows his shiz when it comes to meds. So Matt and I decided that only one of them should be in charge instead of me phoning around every time I have a query re: my meds.
The tests show that my calcium is still far too low (same as it was when I was hospitalised a few weeks back) so he has given me another tablet to take as well. I also have to take a horrendously expensive Vitamin D tablet every day because the caliciferol was not working and my VIT D is too low for the calcium to absorb properly.
Sigh, so hopefully in a few months time my parathyroid glands will have recovered, this seems like a huge burden to bear for the rest of my life – not fun 
Jun 08, 2010 @ 16:23:40
According to Carte Blanche, sitting in the sun for about 30 minutes a day, gives the body a good boost of vitamin D…so maybe you need to fit in 30 minutes of your private time outside in your lovely garden
Jun 08, 2010 @ 17:05:43
ok long story about the VIT D. You get active and inactive (this is how I understand it) and the one I need is the active VIT D, the one that I get from a tablet. The inactive is supplied by the sun and the caliciferol. The sun will help in the long run, but not at this time when i need it to help absorb the calcium.
Jun 08, 2010 @ 16:26:03
Colleen there is a lady in Cape Town called Sally Creed. She is a clinical nutritionist and did wonders when helping Keith to recover from his surgery and thereafter the chemo and radiation. If his lungs weren’t screwed over by the radiation he’d still be alive today. She has awesome advice on right eating supplements etc so that you absorb everything you take. If you are interested drop me a mail and I’ll send you her number.
Jun 08, 2010 @ 16:29:04
going to mail you now
Jun 09, 2010 @ 10:35:33
Oh I really hope they recover. Good luck girl.
Jun 10, 2010 @ 10:48:37
You’re breaking my heart Col, but thank you for remaining one of the most amazing spirits I know and thank you for sharing.