Waiting on PTH

  A couple weeks ago I had a meeting to choose Mark's post transplant immunosuppression regimen.  This is the series of medication mark will take to prevent rejection after transplant.  There are two protocols that can be chosen.  Basically the team educates you about your options and then you are left to make a choice!  This meeting has to be held prior to being activated on the transplant list.  After this meeting that was held on June 9th we were looking forward to being activated.  Well that is not how it all worked out.
Mark had a spike in his parathyroid (PTH) level.  This level needs to be at a 500 or less to be activated.  Around that time the level had come back at about 1100 or so.  We then waited a couple days to redo this level, and at the point it had come down to 836!  So we were moving in the right direction.
 What is the parathyroid....

The parathyroid glands, embedded in the thyroid gland in the neck, but separate from the thyroid in function, control calcium metabolism in the body. The parathyroid glands produce parathyroid hormone (PTH). PTH regulates the level of calcium in the blood.

Calcium is critical to cellular metabolism, as well as being the main component of bones. If too much PTH is secreted, the bones release calcium into the bloodstream. Over time, the bones become brittle and more likely to break. A person with levels of calcium in the blood that are too high feels tired, run down, irritable, and has difficulty sleeping. Additional signs of too much calcium in the blood are nausea and vomiting, frequent urination, kidney stones and bone pain.

**Found on the anesthesia dictionary online***

When we had received our labs back late last week the level had spiked again...Now we were over 2000.  At this point we thought it was a mistake...so the lab was done again...it came back even higher later that day.  It was not a mistake.  Now he is being treated with an IV medication to try to lower level.  We also had a ultrasound on Monday and we will have a nuclear med study done next week.  That study involves going under anesthesia for 4 hours.  They will be taking a series of pictures to see if the parathyroid is over active.  This may result in the removal of a portion of the parathyroid.  If they do not see anything in this scan then the level will be treated with medication to try to lower level.  As of today the ultrasound came back normal...with no sign of scaring or damage.  They still will move forward with the Nuc Med study.  It has now just turned into a waiting game.  This is awful..each day that goes by is another day we are not closer to the finish line!  I'm learning to be a bit more spontaneous these days...working when I can, and doing special things with Mark when were are not in Boston.  Once we are activated we will have to be ready to go at any moment.  With knowing that I guess I am trying to make the best out of the time we have now!