My Israeli Wanderer

Well woke up refreshed after a 12 hour sleep, however as I am writing this I feel that familiar jetlag lull creep over my body and it is only 7:05pm. We started our day with a huge Israeli breakfast which offers all the usual eggs, pastries ,bagels anbut all kinds of salads,cheeses of all kinds, fish, homemade yogurts etc.Then off to Acco , a coastal village which is known as an important crusader port with secret tunnels and large parts of a Crusader castle are the major sites of the old city. it was really beautiful, I felt like a crusader making my way through all the underground tunnels which lead into large beautiful stone rooms with arched vaulted ceilings where crusaders once hung out waiting for. Their shipment of spice or silk. Then up north, almost to the tip of the country to see some remarkable sea caves , We took a cable car down to the caves. We then went on to Haifa walked around the city and went into a few shops. Rebecca's Hebrew is unreal,she was translating like a native for us everywhere we went. We. had dinner in a local restaurant,I had lentil bean patties ...great! Then off to an Internet cafe, joined some local Israelis with Rebeccas language skills and we called it a night.



Crusader castle





Tight tunnel











To the caves








Always listening!











Learning how to eat a krembo

Location:Haifa

The Childrens Journey....Part 2-My Israeli wanderer

Well we arrived in the land of milk and honey yesterday morning to a warm, enthusiastic welcome at the airport by Rebecca! What a sight for sore eyes, my adorable independent wanderer! She was all smiles and waves as we came through the custom doors. Lots of his and kisses later we met our guide Roy, and packed the SUV and headed north for Carmel, which was ravaged by out of control forest fires several weeks ago killing 44 prison guards. We headed for the Carmel Winery which was a tour of the famous winery followed by a wonderful wine tasting with 4 diiferent wines.Much of Carmel has been destroyed,including the Carmel Hotel and Spa which we were going to stay in. Instead we had to change plans and stay at the Dan Carmel in Haifa...a big disspointment. We then walked around the Rothschild Gardens . Jeff and I were very tired and jetlagged, head bobbing much of the day. That was until we got to the ATV's which we took into the Carmel forests and despite the desruction we had a true adventure that put the pounce in our step at least temporarily . We drove those things over boulders,in mud and through some of the bumpiest terrain I ever drove through.Our adrenaline now totally pumped up, we got dropped off at our hotel in Haifa, the Dan Carmel.It was a big dissapointment for a 5 star hotel....it was old, musty and not up to what I considered to be a 4 or 5 star hotel which I was paying for. SO , of course I complained to the hotel management,the tour company and they finally changed us to a suite....still old and musty, but at least more room.I would never recommend this hotel and I hope I don't run into the same problem with all the other hotels we booked.I was tired, jet lagged,hungry....that was just the straw that broke the israeli camels back. I must have been a raging lunatic because Rebecca and Jeff were totally embarrased. Anyway,they went out for dinner, I was just too exhausted and figured I was going to be really bad company , so I crashed and woke up 12 hours later...ready to go!


Rebecca and I at the Winery





Peek-a-boo!


Wine tasting room








Rothchild Gardens




ATVing...Jeff hanging on for dear life.

The Children's Journey....Part 1- The Prince of Greenwich Village

Well the first part of our journey to visit our kids,one in New York and one in Israel , is over. We arrived in New York Friday afternoon to a frigid day....and a wind that went right to my old bones that were much happier in Florida.We went directly to the hotel in Soho....a cute new Marriot courtyard, but in the Soho tradition small and trendy rooms....Jeff said it was a closet. I thought it was cute.Off we went to the Apple store to see our son ,Eric,in action as an "Apple Specialist"....at least that is what it says on his business cards.We walked in the busy Apple store and tried to locate him in the sea of red fleece specialists. Finally,I spotted him....unshaven ,beanie covering his head,baggy jeans helping a New Yorker with many questions about what to buy.Of course my son provided all the answers and dazzled the woman with his knowledge and charm."I will be with you in a minute" he matter of factly told his parents who just came 1000 miles to see him. We just looked at each other puzzled and began to peruse the store noting how my son fit in so perfectly to this array of ...well....computer geeks. I mean that in admirable way.He finally finished with his customer and greeted us like we were patrons of the store.It wasn't cool to have family looming about. But just to look at him, even from a distance was my urge fulfilled. My itch was scratched. I have not seen my son since August. This job at Apple prevented him fro coming home for the Jewish holidays, Thanksgiving and winter break. This, in combination with Rebecca in Israel for 10 months was enough to drive a mother crazy .....my empty nest was unbearable without the typical visitations from my kids. So Jeff and I decided to take the bull by the horns and visit them .....thus the childrens journey has begun.
The weekend was really a big eating extravaganza, including an actual 3 hour walking food tour of Greenwich village where we sampled foods from Cuban to Italian and everything in-between finishing for desert at " once upon a tart". We shopped in SoHo and on 5th ave with all the beautiful holiday window displays. We even went in to Cartiers as we have a 25th wedding anniversary next month and I tried on a beautiful "trinity" ring. Took in a broadway show, Driving Miss Daisy, with James Earl Jones. Jeff and I liked it but it was a little too slow for our future film director. Seems TRON is more along his genre of choice. I watch him buzz around the city and he really fits in so well...loving the pace,the excitement,the variety. Something new around each corner.I am so proud of him...he has blossomed into a young man full of life, love and adventure.Watch out New York there is a new prince in town


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Arriving on a frigid day in new York



Finally , I get to see my baby! On the subway...


Food tour of Greenwich village


Ymmmmo


Sampling foods of the village


Juniors famous cheesecake





The Rockefeller Christmas tree


Walking the streets oh SoHo



Jeff and the prince


More


One last slice before we leave New York


The prince of Greenwich village

Location:Radar Rd,Newark,United States

My Parathroidectomy

Apparently mine was abnormal for the past 10-12 years causing all sorts of damage to my body, I just didn't know it. I am talking about my parathyroid gland,a gland about the size of a grain of rice in it's normal state. We have 4 of these little glands and they sit doing their thing on the backside of the thyroid gland in our lower neck. What these little grains of rice do, is crucial to calcium regulation in our body and going through this process with Dr Norman in Tampa was worth a blog since I learned more about calcium and parathyroid disease than I ever learned in medical school, 25 years of being a doctor, or from books, endocrinologists or other sources of medical information. Even though I am an Oncologist,and don't specialize in endocrine disorders, I guarantee that I will be looking at calcium in a whole new light after I realize how silent hyperparathyroidism can damage you bones and more. When I first spoke to Dr Norman on the phone he told me this seemingly benign disorder can kill you ! And after what I have learned, I believe him.....just some basic physiology first...( I am writing this to educate about calcium prland parathyroid disease so what has happened to my body doesn't happen to you! And I am a doctor , I feel guilty I should have put it all together earlier....but the warning signs can be attributed to other reasons for your symptoms.)The major function of the parathyroid glands is to maintain calcium regulation within a very narrow range so the nervous and muscular systems can function properly.It does this by releasing a hormone called PTH( parathyroid hormone) and elevated levels of this hormone causes bone destruction and subsequent release of calcium into the bloodstream leading to elevated blood calcium levels or hypercalcemia Common symptoms include osteoporosis ,kidney stones,weakness,fatigue,bone pain,muscle soreness,nausea,constipation,changes in mental awareness( brain fog), excessive thirst and urination. Or you may notice none if these symptoms . In my case I had severe osteoporosis as far back as about 40 . I was told it was probably genetic since my mother has it too. I have had constipation and even went through several colonoscopies to find out why. My mother has this too,.Fatigue I noticed more recently.,despite yoga daily or biking. So eventually my claim level in the mid 10-11 range got noticed and I ordered a PTH on myself, the one came back in high normal range ( still can be hyperparathyroidism) An endocrinology ref feral followed and my medications changed , all calcium supplements stopped etc. My next PTH was high! And the diagnosis was made. I wanted minimally invasive surgery, something I felt a surgeon who only took out parathyroids could do.But did such a surgeon exist? So where did I go to get my referral ? The Internet. I found Dr Norman in Tampa and yesterday I had my parathyroidectomy. The
Parathyroid center at Tampa General Hospital was a well oiled machine, efficient yet friendly fro registration to transporter.The nurses were outstanding both professionally and had a way of treating each patient as their only patient,with all the caring and compassion one could ask for. They were more than accommodating to my husband who sat with me the whole time except when I was in surgery. I sat back in my bed watching the process of the clinic and was so impressed from a doctors standpoint. The level of care was remarkable . But it gets better, The doctors, whom I had never met before and had only spoken to them on the phone had an unbelievable knack for putting me at ease,explaining the procedure over and over,and their relaxed confident but humble personalities left me in a total state of confidence that I was exactly were I should be.And from 5:30am until about 10:30 am I was totally taken care of by Dr's Norman and Politz,leaving with their cell phone and home numbers ,all my post-op information in overwhelming detail and even pictures of my parathyroid they removed and a thyroid nodule they incidentally found and removed. Below is a little pictorial of my morning there...





Dinner with friends the night before











Went to Tampa the day before surgery





The Vinoy , about a half hour from the hospital but worth it.





Getting my neck ready for the operation





My neck , line less and scarless the morning of the surgery.





Getting ready...no makeup allowed...sorry!





One of the great staff...they were really all superb!





I am back! Was gone for 2 hours but surgery itself only took 17 minutes.don't remember a thing! Great Anesthesia!





Left for OR at 8am





My parathyroid adenoma . It should be the size of a rice grain. They test how much PTH this gland was making in the operating room. It was making 435. Normal is 30-80. They test all four glands but clearly this was the big bad one!





Incidental thyroid nodule they found. They saved me from a second surgery in a few years.





That's the bandage I left with.





Got to take 4 of these a day or my blood calcium levels will get too low( a whole new bunch of symptoms) They give you this bottle to start taking on your way home as soon as you register!t





The next morning...I am swollen and sore,hoarse and can't swallow without pain, buy it should be getting better daily. What is going to really get better now are my bones! Dr Norman says in 5-10 years all the damage should be reversed as long as I keep exercising and taking calcium. by the way, if you have osteoporosis based on hyperparathyroidism, the biphosphonates I have been taking all these years don't work!

Location:Tampa General Hospital Parathyroid Center