Lisa,
I am glad to hear that they have finally figured things out for you. I had my thyroid and parathyroid removed somewhere around 5 years ago. I was very fortunate, I had a wonderful endo and surgeon who monitored all levels and I have been running good for years. Time to time my calcium levels will just drop and I have to double up on a drug called Rocatrol used for calcium absorption. I take Rocatrol and calcium everyday, and will have to for the rest of my life.
I can tell you first hand, low calcium can be very dangerous... please stay on top of your blood work. After my surgery I was hospitalized for an extra week because my calcium levels were extremely low 2.5 and 3. Once they got me pumped up with enough calcium it was upstream.
There is a nifty little trick for checking low calcium.. my endo taught me this... lower your bottom jaw so your mouth is slightly opened and relaxed, then use one finger and tap right where your jaw bone meets, right next to your ear. If your face twitches, eyes, lip, or nose, etc... that means your calcium is low. If your entire side of your face twitches then your calcium is really low. Whatever side of your face that you are tapping with finger will be the side that could twitch. It sounds crazy but this is medically practiced to detect low calcium.
Good luck and take good care of yourself! You are your best patient advocate.
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Lisa,
I am glad to hear that they have finally figured things out for you. I had my thyroid and parathyroid removed somewhere around 5 years ago. I was very fortunate, I had a wonderful endo and surgeon who monitored all levels and I have been running good for years. Time to time my calcium levels will just drop and I have to double up on a drug called Rocatrol used for calcium absorption. I take Rocatrol and calcium everyday, and will have to for the rest of my life.
I can tell you first hand, low calcium can be very dangerous... please stay on top of your blood work. After my surgery I was hospitalized for an extra week because my calcium levels were extremely low 2.5 and 3. Once they got me pumped up with enough calcium it was upstream.
There is a nifty little trick for checking low calcium.. my endo taught me this... lower your bottom jaw so your mouth is slightly opened and relaxed, then use one finger and tap right where your jaw bone meets, right next to your ear. If your face twitches, eyes, lip, or nose, etc... that means your calcium is low. If your entire side of your face twitches then your calcium is really low. Whatever side of your face that you are tapping with finger will be the side that could twitch. It sounds crazy but this is medically practiced to detect low calcium.
Good luck and take good care of yourself! You are your best patient advocate.
August 20, 2008 - 1:46pmThis Comment
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