Will the fun ever stop...

My adventures in Health Care continue... I know you all love hearing about my health so let me explain...I thought about not telling you, but we have all been through so much already, it just didn't seem right not to tell you. 

In the past few weeks, I have had one chest CT, one Thyroid/parathyroid ultrasound and one bone density scan. I have had blood work done and have done a 24 hour urine sample for testing. Yes, that is exactly what it sounds like!

I have been to see a MD in the pulmonary medicine department and an endocrinologist.

I have sent one panicked and unnecessary email to my cardiologist and one follow up "please ignore my previous email" email. 

On May 4, I will have another CT, this time of my neck, a parathyroid scan and a visit with a surgeon.

So what does all of this mean... Well, I have some really tiny nodules in my lungs. They were first seen during the aneurysm work up. They have not changed during the past 5 months. The pulmonary MD is so unconcerned about them that at one point during the appointment he said, "Enough about the nodules, I want to hear about this aneurysm." I'll have another CT in about 6 months and then in a year and then a year after that. If there is no change in the nodules during that time, essentially the MD and I shrug our shoulders and stop the follow up. 

There is about twice the normal amount of parathyroid hormone in my blood, my blood calcium is high and I have really low vitamin D. All the scans show that I have a parathyroid adenoma which is causing the high hormone level. Again, the nodule was first seen during the work up for the aneurysm.

I'm taking a supplement to get my vitamin D levels up. Apparently, low vitamin D levels are not uncommon here in Seattle... something about the lack of sun and perhaps the angle at which the sunlight hits us...

Now, guess how parathyroid adenomas are treated... I'll wait... (musical interlude)... if you guessed surgery you are correct. Now, now, now, I just heard a few choice words from the audience. This is a minor surgery compared to what I have been through already. The surgery takes 15 minutes to an hour, there probably won't be a hospital stay, no long recovery, and it is minimally invasive. Am I happy about this, no. Do I want my bones to stay nice and strong and dense and avoid kidney stones, why yes I do. As the endocrinologist said, we know I can make it through surgery! And trust me, this surgery isn't even in the same ballpark as open heart surgery. 

I continue to be grateful for all of the fabulous medical people I have talked to and for their kindness and compassion.

I don't know what all of this means for upcoming concerts and dreams of travel in June...  

*sigh*