Joyce's Story

Joyce: The trouble is when you're going to turn 81, you don't know whether you're just getting old or if you have an issue. Basically, I've always been a rather low energy level person, but a high mental person and so I think about doing a whole lot more than what my body will do. I was doctoring mostly to be able to sustain the ideas and the things that I wanted to do.

About 3 or 4 years ago, my calcium count got high and that was what my family doctor saw and was encouraging me then to have this parathyroid taken care of. I just turned 81 and I really did not want to think about any kind of surgery and so I was reluctant to even be a part of the conversation, but I was so ill from the first of the year. Until about March that finally my husband says, "I'm going to the doctor with you." That day, we went to the doctor and I left the doctors office and went in for all the testing.

At the point, I met Dr. Adam.

Dr. Adam: We were able to isolate it with the nuclear imaging study and we've given her workup by a knowledgeable primary care physician who had suspicions that something was going on and he did some labs and was able to find out that she had primary hyperparathyroidism. Once we were able to isolate it, it does do end up being very simple and kind of a slam dunk type of cases.

Joyce: I didn't go in with any apprehensions about him being able to do the job well and he did. After the surgery was over, I only remained in the hospital until the next day and I was amazed that I did not have any bandages to change or anything. I mean, I've just got a tiny little scar right in my throat and he fixed it in with one of the wrinkles, so it doesn't show at all. Like I said, 2 days later, when I was home, I just felt like I was 60 again. I just knew that it was over.

Dr. Adam: It's a very nice thing to see if the patient with such a simple procedure and something that can be easily taken cared of and just to see what a big impact that has and how it's given her a new energy, it's helped her memory, it's helped just a huge quality of life things. I told her, "You know, hopefully we're going to give you great quality of life for the next 20 years until you're a hundred."

Joyce: When I was sick, the days were long and now I look forward to every day and I look forward to the fact that I can be busy day after day and I could not be busy day after day before.