High calcium level?
I called my PCP to get a copy of my last blood tests from a few months ago and was told today that my calcium levels are high 10.5. I was told back then that all my previous tests were normal but I had them look back on earlier calcium levels and found there has been a rise. It went from 9's to 10.5 in a matter of months. I asked what that means and my nurse explained that it could indicate hyperparathyroid, hypercalcemia and could be indicative of metastatic breast cancer especially due to my personal past history of DCIS. I also have enlarged lymph nodes in the left outer quadrant of my breast and arm pit and a lump near the chest wall. My MRI is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I wasn't really scared until I found out about the high calcium in my blood. Now I'm freaking out.
Comments
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I had a bad parathyroid and had to have it removed. I had gotten to the point I could barely walk. When I woke up in the morning, I felt as if I had been beaten with a stick. If you do have parathyroid issues, it can cause major problems with your body so definately get it checked out.
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angelia50,
Thank you for your informative reply and sharing your history. I have an appointment scheduled with my PCP for next week to recheck all my levels. Should I have my onc do that since my PCP didn't catch it? I'm kinda miffed that my PCP didn't realize at the time that my levels were high. I'm not blaming him due to the fact that the lab most likely called it normal levels but I do think he should have noticed it.
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I have read that parathyroid issues are some of the most under diagnosed problems there are. I was feeling terrible, I told my doctor, I think something is wrong with me. I know I"m getting older and I know I'm overweight but this isn't right. I had a friend with low vitamin D and I asked if he would check that. He said he would and when that came back, he said it is fine but her is something that could be a problem,your calcium is high. He said we'll do another test of your parathyroid levels and see how they are and that will tell us if that is the problem. THey did and they were off. This was before I had breast cancer, although, in looking on these boards, a lot of people seem to have both and I sure wish somebody had told me that way back then and I could have watched it closer. I do wonder if my system being brought down so much with the parathyroid problem is what allowed cancer to start growing. Definately mention to your PCP maybe he could even order a parathyroid hormone level test and get the results at the same time.
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Thank you so much angelia50! Now I know what to ask for when I go in to my appointment. I am never depressed except for during the really long cold winters so I was dx with seasonal depression but not every year. I have been feeling depressed for a long time now, have upper back pain that doesn't go away with applied heat/stretching or exercise, always physically and mentally exhausted, loss of appetite and have been withdrawn. I read that those thing are possible symptoms of hyperparathyroidism so I really want to get checked. I also read that parathyroidism/hypercalcemia patients are at higher risk for breast cancer and most times get dx along with breast cancer. I was very interested in the correlations between bc and parathyroidism and hypercalcemia. I feel that the better informed I am, the better I will handle any news I may get.
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I did mention that to my oncologist but she didn't seem too interested but it sure seems a lot of ladies on here had both. I had the parathyroid removed in 2008 and was diagnosed with the IDC in 2014. BUT, I admit, I had not had a mammogram in probably 20 years. I actually had two tumors, both were small but were low grade and they said to have reached that size, being a slow growing cancer, they probably had been growing 8-10 years, so that would have been about the time that my body was all messed up from the parathyroid problem. Unfortunately, I had no loss of appetite but I was literally sore, just sore, as if I had exercised a lot but I hadn't done anything and so sleepy. When I would get out of the car, I had to hold on and could barely get out. I would feel exhausted to just walk from my car to the grocery entrance just to get the cart to lean on. The good news is the surgery is simple and withing hours, I felt totally different. I could feel myself getting stronger every day. That is, until this cancer came up and this Arimidex is making me stiff all over again.
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I too feel tired and sore all the time. I have been trying to keep active but it seems the more activity I do, the worse I feel. I dread errands or even having to step out of my house for the short walk down the path to my car. I am only 35 but feel like I'm 90. I had a full hysterectomy in 2010 so I was attributing everything to that all this time. I read that after the surgery, people start feeling the difference almost instantly. I've been feeling like this for so long (almost a year) that I almost don't remember the "old happy and active me". I was sitting here worrying about my MRI tomorrow and I opened a Sobe lifewater to see the cap had writing on it. It says, "Brave, Original, Strong". It's like I picked just the right bottle at just the right time!
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AlwaysSunny, for sure get it checked out and I was one of those that felt it within hours. I had my surgery about 8 a.m and was home by probably 2. I live about an hour and a half away from where i had the surgery and that night, it felt so different. I realized then it was almost as if my muscles had been tensed up all the time and they felt like they finally relaxed. That weekend, my husband and I went for a ride and when I got out of the car, I was so excited. I said hey, look at me, getting out of the car. I just got right out, not held the door and moaned and groaned for seemed like five minutes, just opened the door and got out. You can't even see on my neck where they did the surgery, simple, no big deal at all.
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That's great news! I found a website that had a list of questions to ask the doc and I wrote them down to take with me. I will post results after the appointment. Thank you so much for enlightening me and sharing your story!
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