… CONTINUED FROM DIARY No 22 …
THURSDAY 25th JUNE
I got a letter this morning from Bristol confirming I have a face-to-face appointment with the NHS Kidney Man or Kidney Woman at my local North London hospital on Monday 6th July – about my ongoing high calcium level/low kidney function problems.
This afternoon, I got an email from Andy Dunlop, President of the World Egg-Throwing Federation who, like all sensible egg-throwers, follows my blog.
His email read:
President Andy Dunlop weighs the alternatives…
I have been following your tale of woe.
I noted your last visit to the Kidney Woman.
A friend of mine has a dog called Rigby. It is not well.
A vet’s visit confirmed too much calcium and he (Rigby) is off to a specialist vet to check the cause. Suspicion is placed upon a gland in the neck and a benign tumour.
Sod all to do with kidneys.
Andy drew my attention to the parathyroid glands, four small glands which regulate the calcium in humans’ – and dogs’ – bodies and how those glands control calcium levels.
They are located in the neck behind the thyroid where they continuously monitor and regulate blood calcium levels.
When one of the parathyroid glands goes bad, it makes too much hormone, the excess hormone goes to the bones and takes calcium out of the bones and puts it into your blood. It’s the high calcium in the blood that makes you feel bad.
The reason I was taken into hospital for a week was that an abnormally high calcium level resulted in a serious drop in my kidney function from 62 to 19.
Andy tells me that Mr Google is my friend.
I am a little wary of Mr Google’s opinions, but…
Apparently, everybody with a bad parathyroid gland is more likely to develop bad osteoporosis (which my mother got) unless the bad gland is removed.
The parathyroid glands (in yellow)
Not removing a parathyroid tumour and leaving the calcium high for a number of years will increase the chance of developing other cancers in your body (breast, colon, kidney, and prostate).
Symptoms of high calcium levels in the blood include excessive thirst and frequent peeing; lethargy and excessive fatigue; and depression. Yes to all of those.
Mr Google says there is only one way to treat parathyroid problems – surgery.
FRIDAY 26th JUNE
Yesterday morning, I got a letter from Bristol confirming I have an NHS face-to-face appointment in North London on Monday 6th July.
This morning I got a letter from North London confirming my NHS appointment is not face-to-face but via telephone.
I expect a third NHS letter any day soon…
I also received another email from Andy Dunlop:
Rigby the Dog leaves the vet’s happier than when he arrived
Rigby the Dog left the vet’s this afternoon. My friend reports that intravenous fluids and some drugs perked him up no end. Unlike you, Rigby has all his own teeth.
Rigby is seeing a specialist later. I will keep you posted on your canine twin’s progress.
Your doctors were treating the symptoms and not the cause.
Andy drew my attention to Hypercalcemia a condition in which the calcium level in your blood is above normal. It is usually a result of overactive parathyroid glands. Other causes of hypercalcemia include cancer, certain other medical disorders, some medications and taking too much of calcium and vitamin D supplements.
I am a little wary of Mr Google. but I identify with the last sentence in Andy’s email.
Your doctors were treating the symptoms and not the cause.
I am always wary of Western medicine.
Chinese medicine tries to cure the cause of a problem. Western medicine tries to treat the symptoms of a problem – very often by masking the symptoms with drugs. It seems like the problem has been cured but the fact is simply that the symptoms have been hidden.
If I could afford it (which I can’t) I would constantly get advice from a Chinese perspective in parallel with any Western medical advice. And I would tend to trust Chinese treatments more.
Chinese medical appointments also seem to be more reliable than NHS ones.
SATURDAY 27th JUNE
I slept until about 2.00pm this afternoon and went to bed about 9.00pm.
Neither my body nor my brain seemed to think this was unreasonable.
The thoughts and feelings of what remains of my soul… That is a different matter.
… CONTINUED HERE …
SO IT GOES - John Fleming's blog 