What's wrong with this picture? (click to enlarge if you need to.)As a result of listening to Pandora (baroque choral) I'm learning about the music of Henry Purcell. He's a bit prissy looking but he wrote some great music. I'd heard of/about him but hearing more of his music lead me to read the Wikipedia article on him. Interesting fellow. But is it pronounced PURcell or purCELL? I've heard it both ways.
The four-week sermon series to go along with our direct mail effort is "LIFE - Big Questions, Biblical Answers." The first question is, "Who Am I?" So I'm preaching on Imago Dei, the image of God in every human. That got me to thinking this afternoon about PETA. I think the core problem with that group is not so much that they elevate animals but that they denigrate humanity. The logical extension of their position is that we are no different from a cow or a salmon or a flatworm. We're all mere biological organisms. If, as they posit, we should treat all living things with the same dignity and respect with which we treat humans...
"If God meant us to be vegetarians he wouldn't have made animals out of meat."
What do you know about the endocrine system? If you're like me, not much.
Some of you may remember that last December 10th I passed out on a flight from here to Seattle. The plane put down in Las Vegas and I spent several hours in an ER there. The next few months were spent figuring out what happened, and after a lot of tests they decided it was vasovagal syncope caused by dehydration and related to the blood pressure meds I was taking. No big deal.
But in the process of the tests they discovered my blood calcium levels were too high. Hmmm. "Let's do a second round to make sure it wasn't a false reading." Same thing. "OK, let's take you off the diuretic, since that can cause it." Nope, still there.
This turns out to be potentially serious because 90% of all high calcium readings are caused by cancer in the body. But they ruled that out, which left only one cause - hyperparathyroidism.
You have four parathyroid glands, two attached to the back side of each thyroid gland. Hence the name. No connection in function; if they were located elsewhere they might be called the parakidney glands, for example. Their sole function is to regulate the amount of calcium in your body. When your body needs more calcium the parathyroid glands send out a message to your system which goes hunting for more. Basically that means pulling it out of the calcium-rich foods you eat. When your levels are up to snuff the gland says, "OK, we're cool. You can relax now."
When one or more of those parathyroid glands goes on the fritz (gets little benign tumors) it keeps yelling, "MORE CALCIUM!! WE NEED MORE CALCIUM!" Hence, hyperparathyroidism. Thing is, your body doesn't really need more, it's just that whacked-out gland. Doesn't matter; it has to obey the wacko gland and grab more, and more, and more. Hence, elevated calcium levels in the blood. Still not satisfied, the body goes looking for yet more calcium and finds it in....can you guess?....the bones! When this goes on for any length of time the result is osteoporosis. (That's Sally Fields in the back, waving her hand.) The only way to diagnose osteoporosis is with a bone density scan, also called a Dexa Scan. I had one, and sure enough, I've got osteoporosis. Working backwards, that confirms the diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism. (I've learned a lot through all of this, including the term "differential diagnosis.") Then a regular ultrasound of my throat showed something that shouldn't be there. "Yep, there's the problem."
The solution is simple. Go yank out the offending gland, or glands if it turns out there's more than one with the little benign tumors. And they determine that with a very special kind of ultra sound that uses a tracer. I think I get injected with Plutonium 405 or something like that. So after an appointment with an endocrinologist yesterday, I'm now going to have that special ultrasound and then see a surgeon. No big deal; either out-patient or an overnight stay. They make a slit in my neck, go right to the offending gland(s) and remove them. Then I have follow-up treatment to repair problems like the osteoporosis that have developed since this started. ("Yes, Sally, it might be Boniva. Please sit down, now.")
OK, here's the reason for going through all of this - besides the fact I find it kind of fascinating.
If I had not had the incident on the plane this might not have been discovered until I broke a bone for no apparent reason. So, T'ank you, Fadder, for that unpleasant experience.
But wait, there's more!
Osteoporosis is the symptom that can be objectively diagnosed with a medical procedure. However, there are several other symptoms that can occurr with hyperparathyroidism. Some people have no other symptoms, some people have some off the list, and those that do can have them to varying degrees.
When my doctor first said, "Looks like hyperparathyroidism" I went and did some reading, including a list of symptoms, and had an "aha!" moment. See, I thought it was just life. These came on so gradually, and are, for the most part, so ambiguous that I never would have attributed them to a medical cause. Yet there they were in the list of potential symptoms of this condition.
So yesterday, when the Endocrinologist asked me, "Do you____?" it was...I don't know how to describe it. He was confirming my conclusions from my reading. (Are you still reading this?) A partial list includes:
Am I eager to have the surgery? YES!! But I have to wait - wait for this special ultrasound and for the surgeon to go through his routine. Could be weeks, maybe months out. But at least I know it's coming. The end is in sight.
ASCENDING SOAP BOX: (the real reason for going into all of this)
David said that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Amen! The endocrine system alone is mind boggling, and the doc said we still don't understand a lot of it. But throw one little thing like calcium levels off by just a little bit and all kinds of things can go wrong. Sometimes those things include what we call "emotional problems." But you simply must understand that very, very often these problems have a physiological cause. The body's chemical balance is so delicate that it takes very little to cause problems, sometimes serious problems. That's why some people need psychotropic drugs - to help bring their brain chemistry back into balance. It is NO different than the diabetic who takes insulin. It carries NO moral overtones and represents NO failure on their part. Those meds don't always work as well as we'd like, and nobody wants them to work more than the patient. So even on meds they can be dysfunctional to some degree. They deserve the same compassion and respect as the diabetic. (Back to Imago Dei!)
My problems, physiological and psychological, will be solved by a simple surgery. The Endocrinologist said that after the surgery patients say, "I didn't realize how bad I felt." I think I know, and I'm looking forward to the cure! My heart goes out to those who will never have a cure, but who have to live a lifetime of struggling with psychological problems. Hopefully their meds give them some relief. But please, if you have contact with someone whose body isn't working right, and who is experiencing psychological problems as a result, give them compassion, not impatience.
Note: chances are you do know someone like this, just aren't aware of it. See, they figure you'll judge them, or consider them somehow less than "right" if you knew about their struggle.
Hey, I debated whether to write all of this. I fear that some will read it and look at me differently. But I'm fortunate; mine is temporary and will be 100% solved by the surgery. And if I can be a small part of encouraging anyone toward understanding and compassion toward those who don't have a light at the end of their tunnel it's a risk I willingly take.
DESCENDING SOAP BOX
Whew! This was a long post!
The four-week sermon series to go along with our direct mail effort is "LIFE - Big Questions, Biblical Answers." The first question is, "Who Am I?" So I'm preaching on Imago Dei, the image of God in every human. That got me to thinking this afternoon about PETA. I think the core problem with that group is not so much that they elevate animals but that they denigrate humanity. The logical extension of their position is that we are no different from a cow or a salmon or a flatworm. We're all mere biological organisms. If, as they posit, we should treat all living things with the same dignity and respect with which we treat humans...
"If God meant us to be vegetarians he wouldn't have made animals out of meat."
What do you know about the endocrine system? If you're like me, not much.
Some of you may remember that last December 10th I passed out on a flight from here to Seattle. The plane put down in Las Vegas and I spent several hours in an ER there. The next few months were spent figuring out what happened, and after a lot of tests they decided it was vasovagal syncope caused by dehydration and related to the blood pressure meds I was taking. No big deal.
But in the process of the tests they discovered my blood calcium levels were too high. Hmmm. "Let's do a second round to make sure it wasn't a false reading." Same thing. "OK, let's take you off the diuretic, since that can cause it." Nope, still there.
This turns out to be potentially serious because 90% of all high calcium readings are caused by cancer in the body. But they ruled that out, which left only one cause - hyperparathyroidism.
You have four parathyroid glands, two attached to the back side of each thyroid gland. Hence the name. No connection in function; if they were located elsewhere they might be called the parakidney glands, for example. Their sole function is to regulate the amount of calcium in your body. When your body needs more calcium the parathyroid glands send out a message to your system which goes hunting for more. Basically that means pulling it out of the calcium-rich foods you eat. When your levels are up to snuff the gland says, "OK, we're cool. You can relax now."
When one or more of those parathyroid glands goes on the fritz (gets little benign tumors) it keeps yelling, "MORE CALCIUM!! WE NEED MORE CALCIUM!" Hence, hyperparathyroidism. Thing is, your body doesn't really need more, it's just that whacked-out gland. Doesn't matter; it has to obey the wacko gland and grab more, and more, and more. Hence, elevated calcium levels in the blood. Still not satisfied, the body goes looking for yet more calcium and finds it in....can you guess?....the bones! When this goes on for any length of time the result is osteoporosis. (That's Sally Fields in the back, waving her hand.) The only way to diagnose osteoporosis is with a bone density scan, also called a Dexa Scan. I had one, and sure enough, I've got osteoporosis. Working backwards, that confirms the diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism. (I've learned a lot through all of this, including the term "differential diagnosis.") Then a regular ultrasound of my throat showed something that shouldn't be there. "Yep, there's the problem."
The solution is simple. Go yank out the offending gland, or glands if it turns out there's more than one with the little benign tumors. And they determine that with a very special kind of ultra sound that uses a tracer. I think I get injected with Plutonium 405 or something like that. So after an appointment with an endocrinologist yesterday, I'm now going to have that special ultrasound and then see a surgeon. No big deal; either out-patient or an overnight stay. They make a slit in my neck, go right to the offending gland(s) and remove them. Then I have follow-up treatment to repair problems like the osteoporosis that have developed since this started. ("Yes, Sally, it might be Boniva. Please sit down, now.")
OK, here's the reason for going through all of this - besides the fact I find it kind of fascinating.
If I had not had the incident on the plane this might not have been discovered until I broke a bone for no apparent reason. So, T'ank you, Fadder, for that unpleasant experience.
But wait, there's more!
Osteoporosis is the symptom that can be objectively diagnosed with a medical procedure. However, there are several other symptoms that can occurr with hyperparathyroidism. Some people have no other symptoms, some people have some off the list, and those that do can have them to varying degrees.
When my doctor first said, "Looks like hyperparathyroidism" I went and did some reading, including a list of symptoms, and had an "aha!" moment. See, I thought it was just life. These came on so gradually, and are, for the most part, so ambiguous that I never would have attributed them to a medical cause. Yet there they were in the list of potential symptoms of this condition.
So yesterday, when the Endocrinologist asked me, "Do you____?" it was...I don't know how to describe it. He was confirming my conclusions from my reading. (Are you still reading this?) A partial list includes:
- Difficulty sleeping. I haven't had a full night's sleep in so long I can't remember the last time. I sleep for an hour or two at a time and then lay awake for an hour or so.
- Acid reflux. Sometimes that alone keeps me awake.
- Fatigue. Pam will tell you I've always been very active. Don't sit still well at all. But now I have to talk myself into action. My daily workouts are a battle of the will.
- Sadness. Yep. For some people it's full-blown clinical depression. (Thankfully, not for me.) Turns out proper calcium levels are essential to metablolising Vitamin D, which we get from the sun. That's why people who live in places like Michigan get Seasonal Affective Disorder. (I sure did!) We'd go literally weeks in the winter without seeing the sun. People get depressed, and it's from a lack of Vitamin D. Well, we've got lots of sun here in AZ, but my body can't process it. They've done some studies and found that a small percentage of people who suffer from clinical depression and don't respond to the appropriate meds have hyperparathyroidism!
Am I eager to have the surgery? YES!! But I have to wait - wait for this special ultrasound and for the surgeon to go through his routine. Could be weeks, maybe months out. But at least I know it's coming. The end is in sight.
ASCENDING SOAP BOX: (the real reason for going into all of this)
David said that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Amen! The endocrine system alone is mind boggling, and the doc said we still don't understand a lot of it. But throw one little thing like calcium levels off by just a little bit and all kinds of things can go wrong. Sometimes those things include what we call "emotional problems." But you simply must understand that very, very often these problems have a physiological cause. The body's chemical balance is so delicate that it takes very little to cause problems, sometimes serious problems. That's why some people need psychotropic drugs - to help bring their brain chemistry back into balance. It is NO different than the diabetic who takes insulin. It carries NO moral overtones and represents NO failure on their part. Those meds don't always work as well as we'd like, and nobody wants them to work more than the patient. So even on meds they can be dysfunctional to some degree. They deserve the same compassion and respect as the diabetic. (Back to Imago Dei!)
My problems, physiological and psychological, will be solved by a simple surgery. The Endocrinologist said that after the surgery patients say, "I didn't realize how bad I felt." I think I know, and I'm looking forward to the cure! My heart goes out to those who will never have a cure, but who have to live a lifetime of struggling with psychological problems. Hopefully their meds give them some relief. But please, if you have contact with someone whose body isn't working right, and who is experiencing psychological problems as a result, give them compassion, not impatience.
Note: chances are you do know someone like this, just aren't aware of it. See, they figure you'll judge them, or consider them somehow less than "right" if you knew about their struggle.
Hey, I debated whether to write all of this. I fear that some will read it and look at me differently. But I'm fortunate; mine is temporary and will be 100% solved by the surgery. And if I can be a small part of encouraging anyone toward understanding and compassion toward those who don't have a light at the end of their tunnel it's a risk I willingly take.
DESCENDING SOAP BOX
Whew! This was a long post!
3 comments:
What a sense of relief you must be feeling! I'm glad that they were able to diagnose and there's such a simple (still a little scary though!) solution. I can relate on the lack of sleep level and know that that alone can wreak havoc on one's system.
Thanks for sharing!! Kenny G & I are both on 2 different medications each to help w/depression caused by YEARS of chronic pain. You are so right, many people don't understand when in casual conversation the word "anti-depressant" is mentioned. Some people just don't get it. We also are glad the symptoms you have been experiencing can be taken care of. By the way, nights when you can't sleep, call Kenny G!!! He's up until 2 or 3AM!!!!
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