The diagnosis

I have lost count of how many times people have told me how lucky I am over the past few months. I cerainly didn't feel very lucky when I knew I was facing surgery where they were going to cut across my throat. Still, the truth is I have been incredibly lucky to have had this picked up. I have been asked a lot about my symptoms and how this was discovered, but the truth is I had none at all and this was discovered almost completely by accident. My GP decided to do some blood tests because I had been feeling depressed - but then my dad had just died, so it wasn't really any surprise - and they showed an elevated calcium level. At first the GP didn't seem to think it was anything, but I had a 2nd blood test done and then a 3rd. Then they asked for a 24 hour urine sample - which was fun - followed by yet more blood tests. At this point I was starting to wonder a little at what was going on. This was the point at which I was referred to the specialist at the hospital and the word surgery was frist mentioned. Apparently, a normal clacium level is between 0 - 2.6 and mine was at 16.3, but all the time I kept expecting someone to say they had made a mistake, it has gone back to normal, take a tablet and it will be fine. Within 3 months, however, I had seen the surgeon and booked a date - this really was the point of no return.