Parathyroid

[stella5349]

The "thyroid" is the major gland....... right?  I want to understand the parathyroids. I understand there are 4 of them and are very vital.

How can we protect them from any damage.  What is there function?  Help me fit the puzzle together. please.

[Thypatient]

Wikipedia is inaccurate:  The parathyroid glands are separate from the thryoid gland.  They got their name because they sit behind or outside (para means outside) the thyroid gland.  It is possible to remove the thyroid completely and not involve the parathryoids.  They only come into the picture during a thyroid surgery when they get nicked or damaged during that surgery.

I had one parathyroid gland go hyper and it had to be surgically removed.  I also had my enlarged thyroid gland removed at the same time. Those were considered two separate surgeries, done at the same time.  One or more of my remaining parathyroid glands did get nicked but is now healing.

[Trica]

That makes perfect since.  I can tell that everyone is pretty close here. Don't get me wrong everything is very informative and I have learned alot, I just didn't put it together I guess.  Or think about all the drop outs.  It is scary but at the same time helps to know that there are other things to expect other than perfection.  

When I was preg. with my 3 year old my husband would get so mad because I would watch the Special deliveries on TV Discovery channel.  He said I was adding unnecc. fear.  However, it happened to be the worst experience of my life and had I not watched those shows it would have scared the $h:+ out of me.. Having seen what other had gone through and  seeing how things were handle when a prob arose helped me stay calm when people started coming out of the woodwork, ripping things off of me and taking me to the or.  

So though I am scared, I'm listening and learning.

Thanks for responding, I know I am a bit sensitive right now but, I was beginning to feel like an outcast here.

Hope your headache gets better soon!!!!!!!

[utahmomma]

Stella, Here's a pretty good basic site that tells you a bunch about your endocrine system:
http://www.endocrineweb.com/

Trica,  the reason there are so many on this site who have had problems, cancer, etc. is because "normal" people don't tend to stick around on this forum long.  So here you see the worst of the worst - not the people but the problems.  Yeah, it scares a lot of new comers which is sad but those of us who continue to struggle or have been through unexpected problems tend to need to share here.

Hopefully that made sense, I'm on day #6 of a migraine/stress headache.  :-(

[Trica]

I am not sure how they survive but I do know the doctor tries to preserve them because they help with they way our body absorbs calcium.  I am guessing that is why some have very low calcium after surgery if thay are affected by cancer, etc.  My doctor said if they were damaged or had to be remove with my thyroid I would also have to take a calcium supplement for the rest of my life.  

This may sound crazy but, I thought about this all night. With everything that I have read and heard thyroid cancer is extremely rare and most nodule are benign.  Why does it seem the odds are so high in the forum?  ?????

I am getting so nervous!!!!

[AR-10]

Here is Wikipedia's explanation of the parathyroids.
Remember, Wikipedia is not always completely factual, but this seems like a pretty good "beginner's" explanation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parathyroid_gland

It says we all have between 4 and 8 of them, and the location can vary a bit from person to person.

I believe a person can get along with only two. Something I read somewhere.

When a person has a Total Thyroidectomy, the surgeon tries to salvage all the parathyroid glands, which means there really isn't such a thing as a TOTAL thyroidectomy.

How the parathyroids survive perched on a dead thyroid after RAI has always been a mystery to me, but they do, apparently.

Someone posted on this board a week or so back that they knew someone who had a parathyroid gland moved during a TT and implanted into her wrist. Weird, but possible, I guess.

How to maintain healthy parathyroids or avoid damaging them is not discussed in the link I provided.

I hope someone comes along and explains things in more detail, because I'm too lazy to google until I understand how they continue to function attached to an ablated thyroid.