" Hi, Ho!, Hi Ho! It's off to work we go! Her calcium is low!" apologies to Snow White, the Seven Dwarves, Walt Disney, etc.

i had my blood work done last week, and i got my results today. everything was fine except for my calcium level- it is pretty low. the following is a conversation that i imagined my remaining  two brave and loyal parathyroids having:
P #1: " Hey, man, i'm beat!"
P#2: " Yeah, man, me,too!"
P#1: " Who would have thought that we would be working so hard!?"
P#2:  " You know, when we signed up for this gig, there were four of us! those other two low-lifes just
            up and left!"
P#1 : " Yeah, i think that they went on vacation to Paraguay, or somewhere, and i don't think that they
          are coming back. "
P#2 : " We should have never signed up to work on a thyroid gland named the "Titanic"!
P#1:  "to make things even worse, she has decided to cut back on her dairy products! she thinks she eats
          too much of them and they  might make her fat. oh, brother!"
P#2  " Maybe we can get her to take a calcium supplement"
P#1  " Less work for us!"
P#2  " Yeah!"

i am probably the  only person who imagines their body parts talking to each other. otherwise, i am pretty normal.( whatever normal is, of course)

seriously, if you lost one or more of your parathyroids during your surgery, remind your doctor to keep checking your calcium level. Hypoparathyroidism ( (HPTH) is a serious condition that makes being hypothyroid look pretty good. HPTH can cause parethesias( a burning sensation that feels like bugs crawling on the lips- ugh!), twitching and tingling in the legs, hands,eyeballs, and occasionally seizures.i had intravenous calcium in the hospital, and took a drug called Rocaltrol( Calcitriol), while i was in the hospital and for two weeks after i got home.. it is a highly active form of vitamin D, which helps with calcium absorption. i also took a huge dose of calcium- 12,000( yes, that is 12,000!) mg in the form of tums, which is calcium carbonate. i have since found out that taking calcium citrate  is a much better choice. it is better absorbed by the body. of course, keep in mind that if you have a high level of calcium, that is not good either.

parathyroid hormones aid in the conversion of vitamin D to its active form, and also help the kidneys keep calcium from filtering out of the blood. if you have too much calcium in the bloodstream, you could have kidney stones and/or high levels of calcium in the urine.

no one has been following me for this problem. i do not think that i have full blown HPTH, but i need to monitor this, to say the least. i decided to ask one of my doctors to check my calcium level when i was going in for my thyroid  blood work. i am going to talk to my endocrinologist when i go to my appointment on September 30th. i need this level checked pretty often, until it gets to a normal value and stays there. here again is another example of taking charge of your own health care. unfortunately, you can not depend on your physician to do things for you. as good and well meaning as they are, you need to get as much information as you can and be responsible for your own good health.

you might say, Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work, we go!