I am a 54-year-old male retired firefighter from Ventura CA. I was having hand pain and numbness in November 2015. My hand ortho referred me to his spinal surgeon partner for an MRI of my neck. It was during this MRI that a nodule was noticed on my thyroid, which had nothing to do with any of my hand/neck issues, just discovered by chance. I saw my personal physician who ordered an ultrasound, which showed nodules in both lobes of the thyroid. Due to the sizes of the nodules, she ordered biopsies to be taken. The biopsies came back positive for papillary thyroid cancer even though my blood work came back normal. I was referred to Dr. Harari at UCLA. The pre-op appointment went well. I was immediately impressed with Dr. Harari, her staff and the UCLA facility. Dr. Harari conducted another ultrasound herself and found suspicious lymph nodes near my clavicle. I was sent to UCLA Santa Monica to see Dr. Katrina Beckett for biopsy. I was again impressed at the facility, Dr. Beckett and staff. My surgery was on January 7, 2016 with Dr. Harari at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. The pre-op staff was wonderful. I met with the anesthesiologist, Dr. Harari’s interns and Dr. Harari before surgery. Prior to surgery she planned to remove the total thyroid, lymph nodes below and to the side resulting in a 5-hour surgery. During surgery, 3 suspicious lymph nodes were biopsied, which all came back clear of cancer. This shortened the surgery to 3 hours. Dr Harari believes all the cancer was contained to the thyroid (now removed). I made it through recovery with no issues and spent the night in the hospital. The night staff was great, and I have never been in such a quiet hospital. I spent a very comfortable night and was discharged the following morning. I started taking 200 mcg levrothyroxine the first morning post op. I had a 2 week follow up with Dr. Harari. At this point, my scar had healed to a point where it is barely visible – amazing. I am scheduled for radioactive iodine therapy (RAI) next week. Overall, this has been quite an experience and learning process dealing with an unexpected curve ball in life. My main challenges were due to being thrown some unexpected news – cancer – and then trying learn as much about thyroid cancer and outcomes. Online support groups and the internet is good, but can be overwhelming and even misleading. I fell back to trust in my medical team and their treatment plan. I did not give this trust freely, they each earned my trust by their demeanor, history and actions. I feel very blessed and fortunate to have an excellent medical team from my primary physician, endocrinologist (Dr Westhoff-Pankratz) and Dr Harari. I give UCLA a 10 out of 10.

I kept feeling tired, unable to concentrate, and depressed. I had originally been diagnosed with osteopenia and took Fossamax. Dr. Vikram Kamdar, who is a first-rate endocrinologist, kept close watch on my calcium, and PTH levels, both of which were elevated over several months. It often takes a long period of monitoring before the endocrine anomaly can be identified.

Even if you have a calcium level that’s between 10.0-10.5 (which is “normal”), double check and make sure you don’t have hyperparathyroidism. It’s so easy to miss, and I never would have know had it not been for Dr. Kamdar’s knowledge and insight. He ruled out early onset of osteoporosis and, after he noted high PTH levels, Dr. Kamdar authorized a Sestemibi scan. He subsequently diagnosed me with hyperparathyrodism and referred me to Dr. Harari,for consult.

Dr Harari performed my parathyroidectomy 10 July 2012. I wanted to add my surgical experience because I didn’t see any comments about her talent and vast knowledge about the endocrine system. I couldn’t have been more confident in a surgeon: my confidence was well-placed. She is personable, provides a succinct overview of the surgery process, recovery, and possible complications. Her comments were clear, concise, and easily understandable. She is absolutely brilliant, and I learned a lot from her about this under-diagnosed condition. Dr. Harari discovered one enlarged parathyroid prior to surgery.

During surgery, she noted that I had growths on all four parathyroids and removed 3-1/2. She made a minor incision that, only two months later, is invisible. No one knows I had surgery unless I point it out to them. Post-surgery, I had a sore throat for only two days.

The parathyroid glands control calcium levels, so make sure you have a lot of calcium citrate (not calcium carbonate, such as Tums: the body doesn’t digest that form of calcium well). If you have a parathyroidectomy. I usually take about 7 grams per day, but check with your doctor first so you will know the appropriate doses for you: everyone’s different. I also take calcitrol to balance my vitamin D level. I also take renegel to lower my phosphorous levels which became quite high after surgery.

A note of caution: you may feel some tingling in your extremities after surgery, which means you have low calcium after the surgery, I felt pins and needles throughout my body: the feeling was similar to having “pins-and-needles” in your feet. If this happens to you after surgery, go to your doctor or ER right away. Your calcium levels may have dropped too low. This condition depends on your own body chemistry and not everyone has this experience. Also, your phosphorous level may increase significantly, so expect to have a blood test very soon after surgery.

I will have to take calcium–and perhaps renegel and calcitrol–for the rest of my life: it’s a small price to pay in exchange for how great I feel now. I’ve taken a lot of supplements all my life, so I hardly notice taking a few extra calcium pills every day.

If you’re looking for an excellent endocrinologist and endocrine surgeon, Dr. Kamdar and Dr. Harari are a dynamic team who take excellent care of their patients. I will never be able to thank them enough for all of their careful attention and how much better I feel because of them.

I am a teacher in Los Angeles and I just had parathyroid surgery removing two parathyrod. I also have nodules on my thyroids. During last year’s annual physical, the calcium level was high and my physician was suspicious that my parathyroid was out of whack. She always knew I had nodules on my thyroids for years and it was always a borderline in my blood tests. I was sent to my endocrinologist, I had to have a scan, nuclear imaging, and biopsy. Then I was referred to a surgeon, where I met Dr. Harari. She’s a wonderful doctor, she is very caring and I liked her the instant I met her. After a while and more tests, I had to go into surgery. I never doubted, or was scared or nervous, I always had the feeling I would get healthier. I had fantatic care at the UCLA Santa Monica Hospital. After surgery, I had a sore throat for a couple days, I went back to school after 5 days and went to Hawaii two weeks later. It’s been about a month later, my voice is back stronger, a faint scar is there on my throat, eventually wrinkles will cover it. I love the care I received from the doctors and nurses at the hospital. It was a great experience!

I’m a 53 year old female who had a trauma accident 5 years ago. A couple months after accident I started shaking and had major anxiety. Labs were run and my calcium came back at 11.3. My drs never addressed it and was told that they did not know what was wrong with me and put me on a therapeutic dose of Xanax. Spent the next year going through Xanax hell and tapering off of it. Every year from there on out my calcium would come back in the mid 10’s. Again no dr. Would address why it was high even though I questioned it. I continued to not feel right. Had UTI’s gained weight, fatigued, heart palpitations, blurry vision, thirst, depression and anxiety. Drs. Kept blaming my accident. I was also diagnosed with osteopenia. That brings me to June of 21012. Labs done and calcium was in the 10’s still and vit D was 23. Was told to start on vitamin D for the osteopenia and the low D levels. Fist month on 2000iu I felt good. As I continued the next month I started to get nauseated and fatigued. Peeing constantly and so thirsty, became anorexic and pretty much non functional, anxiety was through the roof and was having racing heart and pounding heart.. Found a new GP and he tested me and finally said my calcium was high 10.9. He tested my PTH and came back 67. He told me I had parathryoid disease and would probably need surgery. I searched and found Dr. Harari at UCLA. My prayers were answered and they scheduled everything. I had the sestambi scan which showed the adenoma and then saw Dr. Harari same day and had an ultrasound which again confirmed the scan. We scheduled surgery and within a month later had a adenoma removed on Oct. 23 2012. Dr. Harari and the UCLA staff and team where wonderful. I stayed the night since I had traveled 3 hours. I had the best care! They monitored me and were on top of it. once released my calcium had dropped and I had moments that I needed to talk to Dr. Harari. I was very impressed that she would call me and go over my issues. She even called me one night late when I had talked to the oncall dr. She was concerned and wanted to know what was going on. I highly recommend her and UCLA for this surgery. She did a great job and my incision is hardly noticeable. I am 10 weeks since surgery and am doing great. This was a life changing surgery for me. It didn’t happen overbite but after about 3 weeks I had considerable improvement and I continue to get better everyday. Thank You Dr. Harari and UCLA!

I was diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism about 14 years ago. My internist’s recommendation was to continue to monitor the blood calcium levels and watch for symptoms. Overt symptoms did not appear, with the exception of what I believed was an episode of kidney stones. As the calcium level increased I was referred to an endocrinologist who recommended continued monitoring. I got bone density scans periodically with normal results until about two years ago when the bone density dropped into the osteopenia range. My doctors felt this was consistent with readings for a woman my age—73, and were not alarmed. In August of 2011, my endocrinologist ordered a CT scan of the neck, but said he didn’t see anything unusual. He recommended continued monitoring. In the spring of 2012, I began experiencing bouts of general malaise and fatigue with increasing arthritis pain. By June, my joint pain had increased and I was having bone pain in my legs resembling shin splints. Finally in August I went to see my internist who ordered blood tests. She called me the next day to say that my calcium level was higher than it had ever been at 11.4 and could be the cause of my pain. She recommended that I increase fluid intake to decrease the symptoms and to see my endocrinologist right away. I made the appointment, got the blood tests required for my visit, but the appointment had to be postponed for several weeks due to an emergency in the doctor’s family. When I inquired about the results of the blood tests I was told the calcium level wasn’t too high and that I shouldn’t worry about it.

Frustrated, I began researching my condition on the Internet. I found that the symptoms can be subtle, easily mistaken for other illnesses, and realized that I had been having many of these symptoms for some time. I was impressed with the web site of UCLA’s endocrinology team and especially impressed with their research on hyperparathyroidism, which suggested that surgery is just as helpful in mild cases as it is in severe ones. I wasted no time in making an appointment with Dr. Avital Harari.

Dr. Harari’s exam was very thorough and included a multi stage CT scan as well as an ultrasound. She was able to detect an enlarged parathyroid gland and recommended surgery to remove it. My surgery went very well. Dr. Harari was careful to utilize safeguards to prevent damage to the vocal cords and within days many of my painful symptoms had started to subside. My experience with Dr. Harari and her team couldn’t have been more satisfactory. She was very responsive, encouraging email correspondence and responding quickly with the information and help I needed. The hospital staff was professional and very caring. I am recovering nicely.

But that’s not the whole story! During the initial exam, Dr. Harari discovered two nodules on my thyroid gland. She ordered a biopsy, which proved to be inconclusive, but she determined my risk of thyroid cancer to be about 50%. I opted to have the thyroid removed. Both surgeries were done at the same time. I have had hypothyroidism and have taken thyroid hormone supplement for nearly 40 years so taking additional hormone is not a burden. The incision scar is almost gone now—seven weeks out of surgery. I’m feeling better than I have felt for a long, long time. The pathology report on the thyroid indicated that one of the nodules was cancerous, but it was very small and encapsulated. An ultrasound of the lymph nodes in my neck showed them to be clear and no further treatment is recommended. I am very, very grateful for Dr. Harari’s skill and thoroughness. I believe she saved me from a much more serious illness by her careful examination and care. She’s my hero!

Mollie Vanderzyl, Retired School Administrator
Riverside, California

Well, just got back from my consultation with Dr. Harari and all I can say is that I was quite impressed! What took month and months to figure out, she figured my PTH and a game plan in a matter of minutes. She had all the right answers. I am happy to have an expert in this surgery especially when there are very incompetent surgeons out there. This is a very different type of medical problem and not everybody has the experience necessary so do your homework!

It is the day after my parathyroid surgery performed by Dr. Harari. less than 24 hours after my surgery I am feeling great! I have not had the need for any pain medicine since I left the recovery room yesterday, and have been up and about without any problems. I have been looking forward to the removal of the bad parathyroid since it was diagnosed months ago. Dr. Harari took every step to ensure what and where the problem was located and did so successfully.
Thanks guys for guiding me through the process

Hi, I’m a 71 year old male who just wasn’t feeling right. I made this comment to my internist and he did my usual 3 month blood, I’m type II diabetic. He found my calcium level was 13. I was retested and confirmed. Now the problem, I had my Thyroid removed 38 years ago and have a LOT of scar tissue. Dr. Harari and others made sure I had every test possible to locate the bad parathyroid, including a test to be sure I had 2 vocal cords. The result was unbelievable, surgery at noon, lunch at 4 and wanting to be released at 5pm. I spent the night to be sure my calcium level was constant and was released the next day went home for lunch and on to work. No pain, no discomfort, no scar, I was glued, and at UCLA Santa Monica I felt I was in a hotel not a hospital. Everyone was great!!!!!

1st let me say, that Dr. Avital Harari has saved my life, in so many different ways. I went in to be evaluated for the parathyroid issues I knew I had (blood calcium levels 11.8 with PTH levels of 84) and the CT scan of my throat barely caught something disturbing in my upper right lung. It was hardly on the scan. And it turned out to be a false alarm in the long run, but Dr. Harari ordered a CT scan of my lung to be sure, and there it was, on the opposite side and farther down….. I had lung cancer! No symptoms or indication of anything wrong with me at all. Lung functioning at 88% (and for a 68 year old who didn’t exercise much this wasn’t bad) and no cough or other indicative issues. So I was referred to Dr. Robert Cameron at UCLA and I now have 2 beloved Dr’s there. I had lung surgery to remove the upper lobe of my left lung on May 21st of 2015, followed by Parathyroid surgery on August 11th, 2015. We caught cancer in time (Phase 1) and I expect a full recovery. Now for the parathyroid issue….

To back track, there I was, dealing with the end of life illnesses and death of 2 beloved parents from 2007 to 2012. I was tired and achy and depressed and my blood pressure had started to go sky high, and I thought all of it was related to what I was personally going through. It was only in late 2013 that I started to try and deal with my own health issues. It wasn’t until 2014 that I really got a handle on anything. My Dr.s were moving very slowly.

I had had one of my 4 parathyroid glands removed in 2006 and knew what had happened to me then, but this time around everything was much worse, possibly because it was the 2nd time around for me, happening in very different ways. I had not had the depression or the extreme lethargy before. Nothing was good for me now, any more, and I couldn’t find the energy to even go to the Dr. and complain about anything. The 1st time around, I had had tiredness and aches in my joints, but nothing like this 2nd go-round. (During surgery, Dr. Harari discovered that the 2nd offending gland had actually been “clipped” by the 1st surgeon – who was not an expert at this surgery.) In other words, the gland removed the 2nd time around had a clip attached to it by the 1st Dr.!

It was made worse because of my ignoring the high blood calcium levels – originally slightly above 10 – and the failure of my wonderful GP to actually realize that this was the sure sign I had had parathyroidism return. We both thought it was my personal life’s experiences playing out on my body. So to go through the maneuvers of the health system here, I 1st needed to get an in-house referral to an endocriminologist. This done, the Dr. wanted to deal with me as an entire entity and not as a parathyroid case. She was concerned (rightly so) with my high cholesterol and other factors having to do with her speciality, but when I mentioned I would rather not have surgery again if it could possibly be avoided, I didn’t know it would delay my eventual surgery by more than 1 year. She never did tell me that I would eventually need surgery, so I had better face up to it once again. If that had ever been said, I would have moved far more quickly to a surgery.

I started by having the 24 hour urine calcium collection test followed by scans of my internal organs for kidney stones etc. Lots of calcium being eliminated but no kidney stones. Good start but bad bones it turned out. Then it was to try me on SENSIPAR, a hateful drug used normally only for secondary parathyroidism. It took months to get approval to take it and then my reaction was so adverse that I eventually took only 6 pills after all was said and done. I have since found out that this drug affects more than 1/2 of the people who take it adversely, and that it should never be used on primary hyperparathyroidism.

Eventually, when I declared I could not take this medicine because it was more like a poison than anything good for me, I was referred to 2 different groups of surgeons. The 1st was the normal one she had been using for many years near my home and the 2nd was the group at UCLA, because I BROUGHT THE GROUP TO HER ATTENTION. Interestingly, I had researched this UCLA group the year earlier as I thought surgery was going to happen once again. At that time, I thought Dr. Harari and a minimally invasive form of surgery might be a good match with me. I turned out to be correct. Certainly it was better than my original long and nasty looking scar and the 2 day stay in the hospital with attendant IV’s and tubes.

Surgery was easy, considering, and I needed no pain medication at all. I drove to the hospital, had the surgery and drove myself back home the next day! A nurse said she had never before heard of this happening. The facility in Santa Monica was great and I can’t speak highly enough of the care I received. Surgery is scary, but don’t delay it. Compared to lung cancer surgery, this is a breeze.

I didn’t heal easily from cancer surgery until I had the 2nd parathyroid surgery. The difference is unparalleled. It is only 6 weeks from this last surgery and I am doing very well, finally. I am back to exercise and trying to learn to breath again. Sometimes a struggle, I am grateful that at UCLA and in this endocrine practice, there are people who are complete PEOPLE and Doctors. Dr. Avital Harari is a delightful person and a more than brilliant Doctor. I think the scar she left me with this time around (over my last one and much smaller) is worthy of her being called a cosmetic plastic surgeon. Her work is delicate and precise.

Any questions anyone might have, please feel free to ask. I have been through this twice. I am told there is only a 3% chance that it will ever happen again, compared to a 30% chance of it happening a 2nd time. Just so you all know……