Parathyroid Gland

[mom_in_training]

I posted recently about my daughters upcoming surgery on Feb 15th. I have been doing allot of reading up on the thyroid. My daughters Dr wants to remove her whole thyroid. When she saw this surgeon he was saying that its very necessary to make sure that she gets plenty of calcium following surgery because its common that once the thyroid is removed that your body does not produce enough calcium. This is where the cofusion comes in, I read about the Parathyroid Gland last night. The following is what I read.

"The sole purpose of the parathyroid glands is to control calcium within the blood in a very tight range between 8.5 and 10.5. In doing so, parathyroid glands also control how much calcium is in the bones, and therefore, how strong and dense the bones are. Although the parathyroid glands are intimately related to the thyroid gland anatomically, they have no related function. The thyroid gland regulates the body’s metabolism and has no effect on calcium levels while parathyroid glands regulate calcium levels and have no effect on metabolism."

My daughter does have a large (9 CM) on her thyroid with some Nodules. I question why the Dr would speak of calcium deficiency if the thyroid has nothing to do with the production of it. I wonder if the Parathyroid Gland is free from any growths at all then why would he remove the thyroid and possibly the Parathyroid Gland if its unscathed. Does anybody here know if its common practice to remove the Parathyroid Gland when they remove the thyroid?

[deekay]

greetings... I just got home from the hospital today after having a TT on Monday morning. Mine was due to "inconclusive" nodules and Hashimoto's.  I learned very quickly that even though my parathyroids were found and safely left untouched the need for calcuim is due to the fact that the thyroid gland is what binds the calcium ions so you need to supplement to make sure that there is enough until the parathyroids adjust accordingly.  Just when I though I could go home the 2nd. day, my calcium crashed to below 7- and that was with taking it already twice a day.  Had to move to a monitored unit and receive calcium gluconate IV which raised it to 7.6 and could finally go home this morning.  I am going to be very stringent with taking my calcuim tabs as well as my Tums.  I am sure that your doctor is being prudent with telling you to ensure she has plenty of calcium in order to keep her at a good level.  And, they would generally not remove the parathyroids unless there was conditions present that you would already know about, or, something weird with the anatomy as utah momma described.  I wish you all the best of luck with your daughter and her surgery.  The best advice I could offer is to get her one of those long neck roll type pillows... it will make her much more comfortable than a traditional pillow.  Deekay

[utahmomma]

The problem is that parathyroid glands are often removed (accidentally) or damaged during thyroid surgery.  They can be so touchy that sometimes they act up even if they *aren't* damaged or removed - they are finicky little things.

Surgeons don't want to remove them - just sometimes they can't find them or they are too close to a malignant structure to leave them.

I lost 2 during my surgery with a very, very skilled surgeon.  One she couldn't find (it was buried in a weird place in my tissue) and the other one was stuck in the tissue and she couldn't pry it loose in the OR.