Kidney-stone experience worse than having surgery
I am a 69-year-old woman. In routine lab tests, I was found to have a high calcium level.
An endocrinologist and surgeon agreed that this was a problem with the parathyroid gland, but an ultrasound did not find any parathyroid problems, only two small nodules on the thyroid. I have had kidney stones, and each kidney now has a small stone in it. Is surgery necessary?
Surgery certainly is recommended for people with primary hyperparathyroidism and evidence of damage from it, such as kidney stones.
I expect that you had a parathyroid hormone level taken and that it was elevated, considering the level of calcium in the blood. With high calcium, parathyroid hormone should be low. If not, it strongly suggests that you have a parathyroid-secreting adenoma (a benign tumor).
When a parathyroid adenoma can’t be found before surgery, the surgeon will visually inspect the four parathyroid glands and remove the enlarged one (or, rarely, two). Sometimes, parathyroid blood levels are measured during surgery to be sure the responsible gland has been removed.
Naturally, the decision to proceed with surgery is yours, but even a single kidney stone attack is likely to be worse than the surgery.
My husband has precancerous cells in his prostate. Is there a danger to me performing oral sex? What other types of diseases can be transmitted through this activity? I’m very concerned for my own health and safety.
I think you are concerned about human papillomavirus. Some strains of this virus can cause several types of cancers, especially cervical cancer in women and some cancers of the mouth and pharynx in both women and men.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are about 9,000 cases of HPV-associated throat cancers, roughly 80 percent of which happen in men. It is thought that oral sex is the usual way that the virus is acquired.
Prostate cancers are not HPV-associated, so there is no increased risk to you due to your husband’s prostate cancer. It is unlikely, though still possible, for you to contract or have HPV, even if neither you nor your husband have had symptoms, such as genital warts, and if you have never had an abnormal Pap smear (associated with HPV infection).
The HPV vaccine is an anti-cancer vaccine. Incontrovertible evidence exists that it protects against cervical cancer, and most experts believe that the vaccine will protect against HPV-related throat cancers as well. The vaccine is indicated for all children and young adults up to age 26 and may be appropriate in certain circumstances for people even older.
— S.P. — Anon. Answer: