by Trayt, Mission Viejo, CA
Dr. Norman and his exemplary team at Norman Parathyroid Center are without peer. For more than three years my calcium readings had been higher than 10, but just above the "acceptable range." My vitamin D was at the low end of the acceptable range, but would not improve. Based on my research, I felt I had hyperparathyroidism but my local doctors disagreed. Instead, they felt that my readings were just barely out of the normal range and could not be the cause of my symptoms. I deferred to those doctors until mid 2016. By then my health had further deteriorated. After a battery of tests my medical professionals had no answers and no solutions. When I restarted my research into high calcium and low vitamin D, I found the Calcium Pro app on Parathyoid.com. The app confirmed and substantiated that my high calcium readings and resultant symptoms were caused by hyperparathyroidism, which could be cured only by surgery. I immediately contacted Norman Parathyroid Center in Tampa, Florida and arranged for the complex, but quick, parathyroid surgery. Within 3 1⁄2 hours of its start on August 2, 2016, my surgery was complete, I was through recovery and I was released. Immediately after surgery, the severe pain in my feet and legs was gone. I understand that it will take several weeks for my body to properly function with the normal calcium levels. The decision to fly 3,000 miles to enable Norman Parathyroid Center to resolve my health issues was a home run. After my extensive research there was not even a close runner-up to perform my parathyroid surgery. The reality of my experience at Norman Parathyroid Center was at least as good as the promises implied. Thank you Norman Parathyroid Center for your expertise, your care, your professionalism, your Calcium Pro app and, last not least, your amazingly informative web site at Parathyoid.com.

Submitted Aug. 11, 2016

I had my surgery August 2, 2016 by Dr Norman. I was referred to his center after 3 surgeries. He evaluate my case and in the surgery he take out my tumor after been 6 years causing a lot of problems and a bad pain.
Thanks to his experienced and team. They made me feel comfortable and relax. My last surgery was very bad, 6 hours and a lot of complications.
Thanks Dr Norman, I'm have my life back and I can enjoy my family. I'm cured and we all celebrate the good news.
Thanks....... From Puerto Rico

Submitted Aug. 8, 2016

Had surgery on 6-3-2016 results immediate & spectacular,& I'm in my 80th year & have stage 5 kidney failure! If you want to just have this operation once you better to Norman clinic! I came from Oregon & it was well worth the effort!

Submitted June 14, 2016

Dr. Norman and his staff are highly knowledgeable and professional. He found and removed my bad parathyroid after I had already had a 4 1/2 hr surgery by my local surgeon. My family and I will be forever grateful for his expertise! Thank you Dr. Norman!

Submitted June 2, 2016

I never thought that I would select a surgeon via the Internet, but I did and it was the correct decision. Upon being diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, I immediately sought to educate myself on the condition and I found Dr. James Norman's site, parathyroid.com. Dr. Norman did my surgery and I believe that I would have lost my voice permanently if I had not had a highly experienced parathyroid surgeon like Dr. Norman perform the procedure. In Dr. Norman's words, I had "one of the largest, if not the largest parathyroid tumors" they had seen there. They had to manipulate the nerves to my larnyx from the tumor and according to Dr. Norman "they don't like that." My voice was reduced to a whisper for about two months. Dr. Norman called me every Friday to check on me until my voice suddenly returned, just as he predicted. I am convinced that a less experienced surgeon would have cut or permanently damaged my vocal chord nerves.

Dr. Norman has not got the memo that states that doctors don't criticize other doctors. He is very frank, but refreshingly to the point. He does not lack conficence.

The process for arranging services at The Norman Parathryoid Center is routine and easy. The Norman Center is spotless, modern, and well-kept, The staff is first-class and the equipment and furnishings are well maintained. Upon checking in, I waited approximately five minutes and there were no further waits. The process is well organized, prompt, and efficient. I was in and out in four hours. I had no pain, minor soreness; we went out to dinner that night.

If one has been diagnosed with hyperparathyroidism, I would strongly advise a visit to parathyroid. com to start. The site is easy for a layman to understand. I belive that I know more than the (local) doctors about the disease because of the information there.

Submitted May 9, 2016

Parathyroid issue - do not confuse. book appointment with Norman. I got my parathyroid gland removed by Dr.Politz. I was cured in 20 minutes. I see people comment about post surgery service, Norman and his doctors are very prompt in responding to any queries post surgery. Very professionally run and doctors & staffs great.

Submitted April 20, 2016

I encourage anyone with high blood calcium to work with the Norman Parathyroid Center. They are top notch. I traveled from MD to FL for treatment, and it is the best money I have ever spent. They solved my problem in a 20 minute procedure. Terrific bedside manner, skill, and follow up

Submitted April 17, 2016

superb surgeon. world expert on parathyroid surgery. he and his staff devoted to solving patient problems. i am a retired surgeon and i came from California to see him and Dr Politz

Submitted Feb. 18, 2016

My husband Robert Burns, had surgery one week ago today and we are both so grateful to Drs. Norman, Boone and Lopez. For 11.5 years he suffered from chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure and hypercalcemia. His nephrologist diagnosed his high calcium and PTH as secondary and then tertiary hyperparathyroidism due to his kidney disease telling us nothing could be done about it but take medication (sensipar among others) to try to control the high calcium. His blood pressure was difficult to control and Bob was at the time of surgery on five different drugs just to control his bp. By 2011 he developed prostate cancer and a heart valve problem. In July, 2015 I was researching information on when Sensipar (very expensive drug) would be available as a generic since the drug was draining us financially and his doctor wanted to increase the dose (even more costly) since it was not working effectively to lower his calcium. Not only was Sensipar very expensive even with insurance paying part of the cost, but Bob was nauseated all the time taking it. It was during this search about Sensipar that I stumbled onto the website, parathyroid.com and the more I read on this very informative website, the more convinced I was that my husband had primary hyperparathyroidism and indeed could possibly be cured with surgery done by these surgeons who developed a techinique to inspect all four glands (and remove any adenomas) through a small incision quickly under light anesthesia. We took the information back to his nephrologist and he was not impressed and stood by his tertiary hyperparathyroidism diagnosis. We were then left with the stressful decision to stand with the nephrologist or refer Bob for surgery on our own. This was a difficult and stressful decision for us to make. We made a spread sheet of all his lab studies since 2004 and it seemed obvious to us that according to the detailed information on the website Bob had primary hyperparathyroidism and therefore had one or more adenomas causing the high calcium that was affecting his kidneys, heart and may indeed have even caused the prostate cancer. But the nagging fear that even with all the information on the website, this knowledge did not make me a doctor and therefore maybe we were not understanding the effect chronic kidney disease had on the parathyroid causing high calcium and parathyroid hormone. We decided to refer Bob for evaluation and surgery at the parathyroid center ourselves. Before surgery Dr. Norman told us Bob had primary hyperparathroidism and knew he would find one or more tumors, not hyperplasia of all four glands. And that is what they found, one adenoma and three normal sleeping glands. Bob did very well with the surgery and had nothing more than a sore throat that did not even require tylenol for pain. We stayed at a hotel the night of surgery and Bob felt well enough to eat a normal evening meal and go for a long walk outside that evening. We drove the 500 miles home the next day. Bob took the calcium pills as instructed and had no symptoms of low calcium after surgery. Two days after surgery Bob's blood pressure dropped 20 points and he was taken off one of his blood pressure medications. His heart rate that before surgery ran in the 50's, something his doctor tried in vain with medication to get above 60 immediately after surgery jumped into the 70's. Dr Norman told us his BP may get better and it did immediately and we believe it may continue to improve over time and possibly eliminate even more drugs. Five days after surgery Bob had a previously scheduled routine appointment with his nephrologist. Standing order for lab work done included CA and PTH. His calcium was done to 9.6 and PTH was 33. His nephrologist was impressed and said he was referring more patients after seeing such improvement in Bob. A week after surgery and Bob is back to all normal activity and feels well. While his chronic kidney disease and heart valve disease will probably not improve after all the years of untreated high calcium, Dr. Norman believes progression of the disease will stop. We cannot thank the doctors and everyone at the parathyroid center enough for the surgery and care Bob received from this team. In addition we want to thank the doctors for taking the time to put all the educational material on their website, parathyroid.com. If they had not done this work, we would never have known about this center and how much they could help us.

Submitted Sept. 10, 2015

I just completed surgery at the Norman Parathyroid Center. It was just as described on their informative website, www.parathyroid.com. The personal attention, clear communications, and caring treatment I received far exceeded my experiences with other doctors.

Living in San Diego with its plentiful medical facilities, I never expected I would need to go elsewhere for medical treatment.

When my parathyroid disease was diagnosed, I visited one of the city’s top endocrinologists. He referred me to a local surgeon as well as noted (when I asked) that he knew of Dr Norman's Center and spoke highly of it. But he left it to me to choose.

I visited the local surgeon and his approach, after some more testing, was as Dr. Norman described might occur: Wait until he could identify which gland was diseased and be prepared for a much more invasive operation. (An 8" incision vs a 1/2 inch incision, a much longer operation vs 20 minutes, and full anethesia vs. twilight with no breathing tube required.)

That made little sense to me, based on Dr. Norman's explanation on his website, and just common sense. For the first time, I realized that I needed to take responsibility for my own healthcare decisions and not blindly follow another’s recommendations. I read every detail on the website, and it seemed too good to believe. My first reaction, due to my cautiousness and skepticism (as a degreed engineer and physicist) was to question whether the site was more of an infomercial. But as I dug further it was clear that Dr. Norman was trying to convey as much information as possible in as clear a fashion as possible. He was being passionate about what they do.

The surgery was conducted by Dr. Boone, with assistance from Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Lopez. Each stopped by before the surgery to introduce themselves and Dr Boone followed up after the surgery and called in the evening to check on me. Each of the doctor's gave me their cellphone numbers. Every ask your physician for his/her cellphone number?

It's now 5 days after the surgery and I'm like new. Just need to take calcium pills while the other dormant glands wake up and take over.

Submitted Aug. 31, 2015