                                
Tampa
General Hospital was named one of America's Best
Hospitals for Head and Neck Surgery
by US News and World Reports, and one of America's
Best Hospitals in Endocrinology by
US News and World Reports
All our surgeons have been selected as one of
America's Top Surgeons
Drs Norman, Politz and Goodman are Fellows of
the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Norman is a Fellow of the American
College of Endocrinology.
Both Dr Norman and Dr Politz are members
of the American Association for Clinical Endocrinologists.
|
|
Parathyroid Surgery Made Easy.
 Parathyroid
surgery can be difficult and challenging. Because of the demand for
mini-parathyroid surgery, their expertise, and exceptional results, Drs
Norman and Politz perform 13 parathyroid surgeries per day (3 days per week). We perform an average of 39-41
parathyroid operations per week, about 1800 per year. This includes an
average of 25 parathyroid patients from outside the state of Florida each
week. We have developed a system which allows patients to be evaluated
for mini - parathyroid surgery prior to taking the trip to Tampa. Remember,
100% of our patients get mini-parathyroid surgery... Its all we do.
YES, if
your scan is negative you still get a mini surgery. We make
parathyroid surgery simple, safe, and successful. This page will tell you
how to have your operation with us.
The Norman Parathyroid Center is
by far the world's leading parathyroid treatment center with the world's
most experienced team dedicated to
parathyroid disease only. We perform parathyroid surgery within the new Parathyroid
Pavilion at
Tampa General Hospital, a new wing of this large hospital dedicated to the
treatment of parathyroid disease. Drs Norman, Politz, and Goodman are
the only surgeons in the world that limit their practice to parathyroid
surgery. We perform more than 15-20 times more parathyroid surgeries than
any other hospital. We don't do breast
biopsies, gallbladders, and obesity surgery--just parathyroids. Because of
our expertise, people from all over the US and many other countries travel
to Tampa to be cured of their parathyroid disease. This experience
gives Dr Norman and his team unparalleled results. Historically, over 99%
of all patients are cured at their very first visit with us--almost all via an
operation that takes between 14 and 21 minutes, going home in about 1-2 hours.
We strive for a cure rate over 99% because we simply can't allow patients
to go through the trouble of getting to Tampa and not being cured. Note: Don't let the fact that we
treat so many patients with hyperparathyroidism and perform so many parathyroid operations make you think that we don't treat our
patients well. We do! In fact, every parathyroid patient is given Dr Norman's and Dr
Politz's home
telephone numbers and cell phone numbers so they have access to them when
ever they need. We don't use an answering service. Importantly, we do not have students or
surgery residents perform any aspect of any parathyroid operation. There
simply is no way to perform mini-parathyroid surgery with the expertise we
provide while having a surgeon in training who hasn't even finished their
general surgery training being the person performing the operation. (Click Here to read more about Dr
Norman, Dr Politz, and Dr Goodman).
Our goal is to provide the safest and most successful
parathyroid operation available anywhere in the world. We will help
arrange all aspects of the trip except the travel. Typically a patient
can fly to Tampa, have parathyroid surgery, and return home in the same time that
he/she would be in the hospital if a standard parathyroid operation was performed.
Virtually 100% of all patients go home within 2.5 hours of the
operation (for our past 10,000+ parathyroid operations that didn't
require major thyroid surgery also). Click
Here to read what patients say about having surgery at the Norman
Parathyroid Center. Endocrinologists and family doctors all over the
US (and throughout the world) are always very happy to see the patient
postoperatively since there is little that can go wrong and the results
are very predictable (all you have to do is get your blood tested in a few
weeks--and we provide the pre-printed lab slip)--thus the trip to Tampa
should only be for one day (this is all discussed in detail at the bottom
of this page). Dr Norman, Politz, or Goodman will
communicate directly with your doctors who will be sent detailed
information about your parathyroid operation--and will have all your pertinent records
before you see them a few weeks after the operation. Your doctors will
also get a personal letter from Dr Norman describing what was done and
they will get a photo of the removed parathyroid tumor and detailed
measurements of your parathyroid hormone levels. The best part of course, is
that minimal parathyroid surgery performed by these surgeons has a cure
rate over 99%, the risk of complications is
extremely low (far less than one tenth of one percent risk), the incision
is very small (almost always one inch or less), does not require
full general anesthesia, and postoperative pain is
very little (or non-existent). THIS
IS NOT A BIG OPERATION. It is a safe and quick outpatient procedure. AND YES, EVERYBODY GETS A MINI OPERATION EVEN IF THEIR
PARATHYROID SCAN IS NEGATIVE. We do NOT decide on who gets a mini operation based upon
the scan results. Please read that again--it is what confuses the most
people. Everybody gets a mini operation here. We wish nobody got a
scan before coming here... it will not help and will not change what we
do.
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Norman Parathyroid Surgery Center
STATISTICS FOR OUR PAST 11,000 PARATHYROID OPERATIONS*
(UPDATED 11/12/2009
-- includes all of 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009) |
 | First parathyroid operation cure rate: 99.4%, Overall cure rate -
99.8% |
| Average Operative Time - 19.1 minutes (total time from
first cut to band-aid) |
| Average number of parathyroid operations performed every
day - 13. |
| Number of parathyroid operations performed annually -
about 1800 (15 times more than any hospital
in the world) |
| Number of parathyroid patients consulted on annually -
about 3500 (25 times more than any hospital
in the world) |
| Percent getting a "mini" parathyroid operation -
100% (Its all we do -- everybody
has a mini-operation) |
| Percent getting a "mini" parathyroid operation
if they have a negative scan - 100% IMPORTANT |
| Percent getting a "mini" parathyroid operation
if they have 4-bad glands - 100% |
| Percent of our patients who had NEGATIVE scan prior to
coming here: 79% please don't get a scan. |
| Percent that have their thyroid gland assessed
during the mini-parathyroid operation - 100% * |
| Hyp0parathyroidism Complications (removing
all the parathyroids-a terrible complication) - 0
(none). |
| Wound Problems (infection) - 0 (none). |
| Number of times that a voice box nerve was permanently
injured - 1 (once in 10,000+) |
| Percent spending night in hospital - 0.05% (this
is down to 0% in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) -only
ten in the past 8000+ * |
| Percent going home within 3.5 hours of the operation -
100% (in past 7500 operations) * |
| Average wound length (average for ALL
patients obese and skinny combined) - 1.0 inch |
| Average wound length if all 4 glands have to be
removed/biopsied - 1.0 inch--its the same! |
| Average wound length if a thyroid nodule has to be
removed also - 1.0 inch--no difference. |
| Average wound length for patients under 140 pounds - 1/2
to 3/4 inch. |
| Average amount of blood loss during the operation - less
than 3 cc's (essentially none). |
| How often we re-operate
because another surgeon was unsuccessful - almost every
day (usually 2 or 3 per day). |
| How often we operate on a doctor - almost every day
(usually 3-4 per week). |
| How often we operate on a nurse - at least 5 times
per week (usually several per day). |
| How often we use doctors in training (anesthesiology
residents) to help with your anesthesia - never. |
| How often we have doctors in training (surgery residents)
do part or all of your operation - never. |
| How often we operate on people over 80 years of age -
Average more than one every day. |
| Number of times Dr Norman has been sued - Never. |
| Number of times Dr Politz has been sued - Never. |
| Number of times Dr Goodman has been sued - Never. |
| How often we publish in major medical journals -
about every other month. |
| How often our patients send flowers and candy - almost
every day! (mostly to Kelly, Michelle, Jayme,
Lisa, Barbara, Diane, Shelly, and Angie!). |
| Number of States our patients come from every year - 50
(typically 8-9 from other states every day). |
| How often we operate on patients from other countries -
several times per week. |
| How often we operate on patients from Canada - average
about 1 per week (national health system? -
UGH!, note; this makes us the number one parathyroid
surgeons in Canada, as nobody in Canada does this many). |
|
We take almost all
Insurance Types for the Parathyroid Operation ... however, patients
living outside of the Tampa Bay area are required to pay a
"Consultation Fee"
There is a $750.00 Consultation Fee that is charged to all
Florida patients who don't live in the immediate Tampa area. This fee
covers the cost of organizing your medical information from all of
the various sources and entering your information into our huge
computer database of thousands of parathyroid patients so your
disease can be reviewed by Dr Norman, Dr Politz, or Dr Goodman--who
will then determine what your best course of action should be. One
of the experts will call you on the phone and consult with you about
your parathyroid disease, putting it in context with the many
thousands of other patients that they have seen and our computer has
analyzed. Almost all cases are reviewed by at least 2 of the
experts. IMPORTANT! Your insurance will not pay this consultation
fee and it will be your responsibility. This fee covers the
organization of your chart and the phone consultation with Dr
Norman, Dr Politz, or Dr Goodman. This fee is for your consultation
before you get to Tampa to determine if you have parathyroid
disease, how severe it is, and what your best means of treatment
would be. This fee is not dependant upon you having surgery with us.
Important--this saves you the costs of an office visit, a day of
travel to and from Tampa, and a night in a hotel.. and gets you the
opinion of the most experienced parathyroid doctors in the world.
However, this fee is NOT billable to your insurance company,
so don't ask them to pay it--they will not--it is not their
responsibility. If you cannot afford this fee we are sorry, but
don't ask for a consultation. Your insurance will not pay it.
Out of State Patients must pay a $1500 Consultation Fee. If
you don't live in Florida, this is you. We will obtain approvals
from your insurance company and take care of the billings to your
insurance company for the cost of the operation, however,
insurance companies will not pay this chart prep, data entry, chart
review, and phone consultation fee. Therefore, the fee for the
consultation is 100% the responsibility of the patient. This fee
includes assimilating your records from your various doctors into a
parathyroid-specific chart that Dr Norman, Dr Politz, or Dr Goodman
will review. It also includes entering all of your data into our
secure database that will compare your disease with many thousands
of others with this same uncommon problem so we can predict prior to
your operation what your best treatment is, how many parathyroid
glands are bad, and what symptoms may or may not improve. One of our
three expert doctors will then call you on the phone for a phone
consultation. This process typically saves you at least
one or two days of travel time, one office visit, and one night in a
hotel. And we won't spend your money on dumb, unnecessary x-rays!
This process works extremely well. The use of the computer database
is one reason why we have the highest cure rate and the lowest
complication rate in the world. There are no exceptions to this
$1500 Consultation Fee if you don't live in Florida, and this
fee is the patient's responsibility--the insurance company will not
pay this fee. The primary purpose of this fee is so you
can have your medical records reviewed by Dr Norman, Dr Politz, or
Dr Goodman and receive a phone consultation to discuss your
parathyroid disease and to develop a treatment plan. This fee is
NOT billable to your insurance company, so don't ask them to pay
it--they will not--it is not their responsibility. If
you cannot afford this fee, don't ask for a consultation. Your
insurance will not pay it. If you do not have surgery with
us, but go through the consultation process, then this fee is due.
This is not a surgery fee, this is a consultation fee to see if
you need surgery for hyperparathyroidism. Parathyroid Re-Operations:
If you require a second
surgery (or third, etc) for parathyroid disease because a previous
surgeon was unsuccessful then the "Consultation Fee" is
$2500. Your
insurance will not cover this consultation fee, so if you don't
come here for your first parathyroid surgery, you better pick a good
surgeon. The insurance WILL cover the cost of the operation. This
"complex" consultation fee is also applied to all patients
that require a parathyroid operation and have had THYROID surgery in
the past 20 years, but the fee will be $2000. This
"complex" fee will be applied to ALL patients needing
parathyroid surgery who have had a previous thyroid or parathyroid
operation regardless of what state they live in. This fee applies whether you have a phone consultation from
Canada or
you live down the street and consult with us in the office. This
type of surgery is much more complex than first-time neck operations
and there are few doctors in the US who do this type of operation
with any frequency. Your chart is much more complex. The disease is
more complex. The decisions preoperatively and intra-operatively are
much more complex. The decisions that need to be made prior to the
operation and the planning of the operation is much more complex.
Our computer database and experience with these patients is
unparalleled. The
preparation of these patients is significantly more difficult and
takes considerably more time for Dr Norman to review and study. Of
course, the extra time we put into your problem almost always means
we can find and remove the tumor that other surgeons could not. Our
success rate for re-operations when other surgeons were unsuccessful
is over 99%... and 99% of the past 1000 have gone home an hour or two
later. About 15% of our surgery schedule is re-do parathyroid
surgery... pick your surgeon wisely. We do between 1 and 3
re-operations every day because another surgeon couldn't find the
parathyroid tumor. The $2500 consultation fee is your responsibility and cannot
be submitted to insurance for reimbursement. It also takes longer to
put together the records for people who need a re-operation, so know
that it may take 2 (or rarely 3) weeks to have a consultation if
somebody else has already tried to cure your parathyroid disease.
Patients Seen in the Office: While
our practice is nationwide, we welcome those patients living in the
immediate area of our office (30.0 mile radius), at 2400 Cypress Glen Drive, Wesley Chapel, FL 33544, to come in for a traditional in-office
consultation. Since parathyroid disease is not very common, this
rule affects only a small portion of our total patient population.
Whether you can qualify for an office visit vs. consultation by
phone will be established by MapQuest
Maps. If you live within the 30
mile radius and come to our office for an office consultation then
the Chart Prep and Data Entry Fee is $150. This is an additional fee
that is NOT covered by your insurance, and is your responsibility.
This fee is in addition to your insurance co-pay and deductibles (if
any). This fee is payable prior to your office appointment or at the
time of your appointment. Your insurance WILL NOT PAY THIS FEE.
THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS FEE.
Waiting Lists - When Can You Have
Surgery by Drs Norman and Politz?
We see far more parathyroid patients than any other hospital,
clinic or doctor in the world (averaging more than 100 parathyroid
patients per week of which about half are new parathyroid
patients). Thus, we typically have a surgery waiting list of about 3
weeks from the time Dr Norman/Politz/Goodman reviews your chart. It
takes about 1-2 weeks for your chart to be completed and for Dr
Norman, Dr Politz, or Dr Goodman to review it. Thus, the entire
process from the time of submission of the online form to an
operation is usually about 3 to 4 weeks. The good news: We are good
at this because we do FAR more parathyroid operations than anybody
else in the world... and we'll get lots more experience before its
your turn. The bad news: there are other parathyroid patients in
front of you and you will need to wait until its your turn.
Remember, we'll do more parathyroid operations during the month you
have to wait for your surgery than almost any other surgeon will do
in several lifetimes. Also remember, this is NOT cancer, and you've
already had this disease for years... Yep, almost ALL patients have
been growing a tumor in their neck for at least 4-5 years before
somebody figures it out! There are some exceptions to getting in
sooner; we save a few spots on our schedule for patients with
calcium levels above 12 since this can be a dangerous situation.
IMPORTANT: Throughout this site we talk about Dr Norman,
Dr Politz, and Dr Goodman in the same sentence. This is because all
three surgeons take part in the care of almost all patients, although only
one of them will call you to discuss your case on the phone. You
will spend time with Dr Norman and Dr Politz at the hospital prior
to your operation. Both Dr Norman and Dr Politz perform the
parathyroid operations together. Thus patients get the benefit of
having two extremely experienced surgeons. We'd venture to say,
there is nothing in parathyroid disease that we have not
seen--several times! Some patients will have Dr Goodman call them on
the phone for their consultation, while others will have Dr Norman
or Dr Politz call them. However, both Dr Norman and Dr Politz will
spend time with you at the hospital, and both will perform your
operation. Yes, every patient gets Dr Norman as their surgeon. Final
clarification: The phone consultation is by one of three
doctors, but the surgery is performed by Dr Norman and Politz
together. Everybody spends time with Dr Politz and Dr Norman in
person, in private, prior to the operation.
Patients from Other Countries / and Patients Without
Insurance: We operate on several patients from Canada every
week, as well as patients from other countries almost weekly. The total
cost if you do not have insurance and must pay for the operation out
of pocket is $10,750. This covers all consultations,
chart prep, surgeon, anesthesia, anesthesiologist, x-ray, hospital,
laboratory, operating room, operating room team, and recovery room.
Everything except travel and hotel. This is CHEAP! |
Parathyroid surgery, parathyroid
surgery; parathyroid surgeon
Setting Up an Out of Town or Out of State Visit at the
Norman Parathyroid Center at Tampa General Hospital.
Drs.
Norman and Politz perform all operations with their dedicated surgical
team at the Parathyroid Pavilion at Tampa General Hospital, one of
"America's Best Hospitals" in seven different medical
specialties, including Head and Neck Surgery and Endocrinology
(our specialties). We operate in a dedicated wing of the hospital treating
parathyroid patients only. Tampa General Hospital provides us with a
tremendously talented team who is dedicated to parathyroid disease--thus
the repeated accolades and awards.
THIS IS HOW YOU BECOME A
PATIENT OF THE NORMAN PARATHYROID CENTER:
NOTE: WE PREFER EMAIL COMMUNICATION WHENEVER
POSSIBLE.
 BEST
Fill
out the two online forms. These forms are SECURE
and are encrypted for your safety (nobody can see your
information).
 Our Patient
History Form will ask you the most important questions about your
parathyroid disease. Just fill it out and hit the 'submit' button.
Our
Insurance
Form will give us all the information we need to check and
make sure your insurance will pay for the operation (not the
consultation). We take most insurance types for the operation; Barbara
and Michelle will know how much (if anything) you will have to pay out
of pocket for the operation. Remember, it will be your responsibility
for the consultation fee--which is not covered by insurance.
Jayme will contact you within a
day or two after we receive these forms and tell you what else is
needed. You must fill out these forms.
Note: We really love our patients who communicate via email. Read
further below to see just what will be needed, and who will be
contacting you during this process. Read more about your financial responsibilities on our
ABN form... you will be required to check
the box that says you read this when you fill out the online forms.
Parathyroid surgery at the Norman Parathyroid
surgery clinic.
Remember, we can't comment on your disease until we know what your labs are. IMPORTANT:
Please do not email Kelly with generic parathyroid questions. The most
common question we get is.. "Will I be able to have
mini-parathyroid surgery even if my scan is negative?" The
answer is YES, Drs Norman and Politz do mini-surgery on ALL
parathyroid patients. We do not do the old-fashioned 6-10 inch, 4-hour
operation! Our average operating time for ALL parathyroid
patients is about less than 20 minutes. YES, this includes everybody
with a negative scan, and this includes people who require the removal
of a thyroid nodule. If you have a generic question about coming to
Tampa email your question to Dr.
Norman, do not send it to other members of the team. Please note, if you are not interested
in coming to Tampa, we may or may not be able to help you. We cannot
give out advice to everybody who emails us--even if we could legally
do so.
Parathyroid.com
uses state of the art secure forms to keep all information 100%
private.
. - Call us on the phone. Do this only if absolutely
necessary, or you are a doctor's office. Our office hours for new
patients are 9:00 am to 4:00 pm EST Monday through Friday.
During all other hours you can leave a message and we will return your
call. Did we mention that we prefer email communication and if you
call we won't be able to help too much until we see your history form
and your labs? Please do not call us with a generic question about
parathyroid disease or to see if you can be a patient of ours.
If you have parathyroid disease, you can be a patient of ours! The
information below tells you what to do.
Office Phone Number: 813.972.0000
Office Fax Number: 813.972.0077
Every patient who has
to travel to Tampa for parathyroid surgery will get a phone call
from either Dr Norman, Dr Politz, or Dr Goodman and this call will
come after they can review all of your medical information
and before you have to make any travel arrangements. Thus, once
Jayme has put together a complete chart for you it will be given
to one of these three doctors who will review it and then call you
on the phone to discuss. A complete chart includes:
| A completed History
Form. This is a SECURE form. |
| A completed Insurance
Form. This is a SECURE form. |
| All labs received (via fax or mail) from your doctors. (fax
= 813-972-0077) |
| For those with x-rays, we want to see them also (send x-rays
separate from medical records). |
|
Address for sending X-Rays and other items via Federal Express
/ UPS / US Mail:
|
Norman Parathyroid Center
2400 Cypress Glen Drive
Wesley Chapel, FL 33544
Remember, the operations are performed at the new Parathyroid
Pavilion at Tampa General Hospital not at our office. Out of
town patients do not come to the office, but meet the doctors at
the hospital.
|
Don't forget to call your doctor's office and have them fax your records
to us, specifically your calcium levels, PTH levels, bone scans, office
notes, etc. Then, call the place where you had your x-rays
(sestamibi scan) done and tell them to send us a copy of the films (we
want the pieces of plastic or a CD-ROM, not just the typed report). Your
doctor does not have the x-rays, the place where you had the scans still
has it--you have to call them. If you haven't had any scans, please do
NOT get any!
| NOTE: If you have a question regarding your parathyroid
disease that you want to ask Dr Norman directly, before having
Jayme put a patient folder together for you, then feel free to do
so. However, please make the question clear, and give enough
information about your parathyroid problem (calcium and PTH
levels) so Dr Norman can provide a clear answer. Dr Norman answers email 7 days a week (when he's in town).
jnorman@parathyroid.com
.
|
NOTE:
Federal law requires that we make available our privacy
consent statement to you. You can read it by Clicking
Here. |
|
What We Need to Accomplish Prior to Your
Minimal Parathyroid Surgery
-
Remember, a Minimally Invasive Radioguided
Parathyroid operation (MIRP) can be
performed on ALL patients with parathyroid disease. If you have
had a Sestamibi scan already, let us know--Dr. Norman wants to see it
before your operation. If you have had a sestamibi scan... go get it
and have it mailed to Dr Norman for his review. Often radiologists
with less experience will miss the tumor on your scans. If you haven't
had a scan yet YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE ONE BEFORE COMING HERE FOR
SURGERY. If you want Dr. Norman, Politz, or Goodman to discuss your
case with your doctor, they will be happy to do this, so have them
call if you like. REMEMBER: If your scan is NOT positive YOU
WILL STILL BE ABLE TO HAVE MINIMAL PARATHYROID SURGERY. Do
not give up on mini-parathyroid surgery because you have a negative
scan. We are the only doctors in the world that do mini parathyroid
surgery on 100% of patients, and the only ones that do mini surgery
when your scan is negative. If your doctor says you can't
have mini-surgery because your scan is not positive, tell them they
are wrong. If they say you can't have mini parathyroid surgery because
you have thyroid nodules, tell them they are wrong. Many patients have
a scan performed in their home city prior to coming to Florida, but
some decide that they want Dr Norman to operate on them regardless of
the scan results so they get their first Sestamibi scan in Tampa the
morning of the operation. We do NOT require that you have a
scan before you come here. We prefer that you do NOT have a scan prior
to coming here. Most scans performed at places that don't do hundreds
of these scans per year are not very good, and many of them are simply
terrible quality and offer no good information. 93% of
the scans that are "negative" somewhere else become positive
when we do it...our team is that much better... Its all we do!
If you don't have a scan.. DO NOT GET ONE! YOU DON'T NEED IT! One
more note: if you had a "fusion" sestamibi scan that also
included a CAT scan, also called a 4-D Sestamibi scan--you can keep
it. Do not send it to us. It is worthless and we will not waste 2
minutes to look at it.
Use email whenever you can when communicating with Dr. Norman's
office.
-
Shelly, Jayme, and Angie:
Chart Preparation and Communication with Doctor's Offices.
Shelly, Jayme and Angie work together to organizing your
chart--including your History
Form, your Insurance
Form, and the records we get from your doctor(s). This chart
will also include a patient check list and disease profile for you. Our
online forms are secure forms that are extremely private
and cannot be seen by any hackers or prying eyes. We use an outside
security company to host these secure forms and the secure
"certificate" can be seen on these forms. Fill out these
forms with complete trust that your information will remain private
using the most modern technology available. Read more about your
financial responsibilities on our ABN form...
you will be required to check the box that says you read this when you
fill out the online forms.
Parathyroid Surgery does not have to be
complicated!
-
We require the History and Insurance forms to be
filled out for all patients, so as soon as you fill them out, Shelly
or Angie will email you to tell you that your forms have arrived and
she will remind you of the other information we need (x-rays, lab
reports, etc). Once all of your clinical information is put together,
Shelly, Angie, or Jayme will email you a second time and tell you that
the chart has been completed and was given to Dr Goodman, Politz, or
Norman. It will usually take a couple of days to one week for one of
our two expert doctors to review your chart (x-rays, etc) and go over
your case in detail and then call you on the phone to discuss your
parathyroid problem. They will tell you what they think the best
options are. Every patient who has to travel to get to Tampa will get
a personal phone call from one of our three experts. Make sure you
give us your correct phone numbers. Because of our volume, the doctors
call patients 7 days a week. They will make calls as early as 6:00 am
or as late as 10:30 pm -- only if you want them to. At the bottom of
the History form it will ask you if it is ok for them to call you
early in the am or late at night. If not, just say no and they will
call during regular hours.
Parathyroid surgery at the Norman Parathyroid
surgery clinic.
-
MICHELLE:
Verification of Insurance, Co-Pays and Deductibles; Keeper of the
Operating Room Schedule. When Jayme, Shelly, or Angie
gives your chart to either Dr Goodman, Politz or Norman, they will
also give your information to Michelle who will be working on your
insurance coverage during the time that one of the three doctors is
reviewing your chart. AFTER your phone call with the
doctor you will be instructed to get in touch with Michelle to
finalize your trip to Tampa and to work with you to pick a day for
your operation. You will contact Michelle via email E-mail
Michelle (preferred) or by direct phone call to the office
(813-972-0000). Michelle will help you choose a day for the operation
and help coordinate the entire visit once things have progressed to
this point. Do not call her to see what our schedule is.... I can
tell you right now, our schedule is always booked solid for about 2-3
weeks--always. (note... special cases and severe parathyroid disease
will always get moved to the front of the line... but these cases are
not very common).
-
Book
Your Hotel. We work with hotels in the area. The
one that treats our patients the best and the one we get the most
positive feedback from is the Hilton Garden Inn. Click
Here to see our Hotel Page.
Watch the Mini Parathyroid Movie...
-
Watch the Movie. The
movie of this operation is online and you should watch it. There is no
blood. It will help you understand where the incision is, and what
your Band-Aid looks like. You will see just how small and quick this
operation is. Dr Norman also gives a lecture for 15 minutes that
is very informative. Watch
the movie!
What we need from you.
In
order for us to confirm that you do have parathyroid disease
(hyperparathyroidism) and that an operation is in your best interest (very
high chance of cure + very low chance of complications = successful
surgery), then we need some of your medical records sent to us. This
shouldn't be too hard and usually can be done by you over the phone. Most
of this cannot legally be done by us.
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Send us a copy of all your lab work.
Specifically we want to see what your calcium level is currently and
what it was in the recent past (and distant past if available). The
more calcium levels we have the better! We also need to know what your
parathyroid hormone is currently and in the past, and again, the more
we have the better...(but we will settle for just two parathyroid
hormone levels if they show what is expected). Other labs will
be helpful as well, so send them as well...don't just send the
calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. We want a good, safe outcome,
so we need to know all of your important medical history. Also,
if we have recent labs, we will typically not have any labs done on
you while you are here. Getting your doctors to send your labs and
records to us is always the SLOWEST part of the
process... so bug them to send your stuff.
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Send us a copy of your doctor's notes.
The doctor (or doctors) which has been working up your parathyroid
problem will have "clinic notes" about you where he/she has
been noting the parathyroid problem and other problems you may have as
well. We want these notes and your lab reports. Simply ask them
to send them to us and they will do so. Use the fax or mail addresses
below. Again, its better to send us too much than to send us only part
of the picture. GETTING YOUR DOCTOR'S OFFICE TO
FAX YOUR RECORDS TO US IS ALWAYS THE SLOWEST PART OF THIS
PROCESS.
Parathyroid surgery at the Norman Parathyroid
surgery clinic.
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Send us a copy of your parathyroid sestamibi
scan. If you have had this test, Dr. Norman wants to see it.
To do this, go to (or call) the hospital or clinic where you had the scan, and
request that it be sent to us. It's that simple. Use the address
above for mailing or FedEx / UPS of your x-rays. If
you haven't had a scan yet, do not get one. It will be a waste of time
and will be repeated here 30 minutes before you go to the operating
room. If you have had a thyroid ultrasound test, please have
this sent also. However, if you don't have one, please do NOT get
one... it is not necessary to have these scans. Please, don't go
overboard with the shipping... the x-ray is just a piece of plastic;
don't treat it likes it's an invaluable family heirloom. Don't
over wrap it. Don't put tape all over it. Don't put it in some huge
box with Styrofoam peanuts. If you had a "4-D CT scan" or a
"fusion Sestamibi scan" then please don't bother sending it
to us. This is new technology that is worthless and we will not spend
even 2 minutes to look at it. Do not get one of these! Better
yet, don't get ANY scans!
Parathyroid surgery at the Norman Parathyroid
surgery clinic.
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Write a brief clinical history of yourself.
The is best done after you fill out the Secure History and
Insurance forms. Then simply send Shelly or Angie a brief introductory
email. Tell us your problems in your own words and correlate them to
what your doctor's have told you and the results of your lab tests.
Give us a picture of you're overall health as well as your parathyroid
problems. This can be emailed
to Shelly by clicking here.
Parathyroid surgery at the Norman Parathyroid
surgery clinic. calcium problem.
-
 Make
a list of your current medications. We will have you insert
this list into our online form. Its easy! Remember, our forms are
completely secure.
Parathyroid disease and parathyroid
problems treated by parathyroid s
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Insurance coverage will be addressed
by Michelle or Barbara. We take most types of insurance, including
Medicare. Since parathyroid surgery is essentially always an
outpatient procedure when performed by Dr Norman, most insurances
don't require pre-authorization. Medicare does not require
pre-authorization, nor does it require a referral from an
endocrinologist. Same for Aetna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Humana,
Cigna, and most others. If you have a rare insurance that we don't take, we
will write you a "Letter of Medical Necessity" that you can
submit to obtain 'out of network' coverage. We have a SECURE Online
Insurance Form that makes the insurance submission and
verification process easy. When you submit this form, Michelle will
receive it and confirm your eligibility with your insurance company.
Typically this is all you need to do. Insurance questions can
be addressed via email to michelle@parathyroid.com.
Please do not send insurance questions to Kelly, she is a nurse. Also,
do not email generic insurance questions to Michelle. Read more
about your financial responsibilities on our ABN
form... you will be required to check the box that says you
read this when you fill out the online forms. Also, remember that the
insurance will pay for the operation--it does not pay for the
consultation. The consultation will be your responsibility as
described above.
Parathyroid disease and parathyroid
problems treated by parathyroid s
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Pick a day for the procedure and then make
travel arrangements. Michelle will help you decide
which day will be best for you to come to Tampa and will book your
operation at that time. Drs Norman and Politz operate as a team on all
patients and typically perform 13 parathyroid operations every Monday,
Tuesday, and Thursday. You will need to arrive in Tampa the afternoon
before the operation and can leave the morning after (if you are
traveling by car you can go home immediately after leaving the
hospital). We have arrangements with several local
hotels where you can stay the night before and after. Usually it
is best if you get into town the afternoon or evening prior to the
operation. All pre-registration will take place over the telephone
and no pre-op testing is required.
You do not come by the clinic or the hospital ahead of time. You
will come to the hospital early in the morning of the operation. We
have our own center at the hospital where you will be surrounded by
people with the same problem as you. You
will get checked in, spend time with Dr Norman and Dr Politz
discussing your case, get a sestamibi scan, review the scan with Dr
Norman, meet the rest of the operating team, have the 16 - 20 minute
operation, go to the recovery room for about 1.5 hours and then go
home. That's it. If you are the first or second case of the
day, you can expect to be out of the hospital on your way home by
about 9:30 am. If you are the third or fourth case of the day, you can
expect to be out of the hospital on your way home by about 10:30 am.
Etc. We perform roughly 2 operations per hour.
.
oid disease and parathyroid problems treated by pa
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The morning of the procedure you will
get a high resolution parathyroid sestamibi
scan. We do far more of these scans than anyone in the world, and
we feel very confident in saying we are the best in the world at this
scan. This scan will provide a good 3-dimensional view of where your
parathyroid tumor is most likely located. It also makes the
parathyroid tumor radioactive for a few hours so we can use our probe
to find the darn thing! This scan only takes between 10 and 20 minutes
to complete (it doesn't take us several hours like it does at other
places), so you will have more time to discuss your case and have any
additional questions answered. Dr Norman will review your scan with
you and show you what it has revealed. Every patient will get to see
their own scan and see what it shows. NOTE: Dr
Norman and Dr Politz do the parathyroid operations together and we
never use residents who are learning to operate. Again, we don't have
residents doing the operations. We don't use resident
anesthesiologists either. There is nobody "learning" on
your operation. This is very important to you. Have you
watched the movie yet?
Parathyroid disease and parathyroid
problems treated by
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Staying in town after the procedure.
If you want to stay in a hotel the night of the procedure, that is ok
and is what almost everybody who lives outside Florida does (if they
don't have family or friends in the central Florida area). Important!
As discussed in #7 above, The Norman Parathyroid Center has special
deals with more than 8 local
hotels which are fairly close by and quite inexpensive. It is RARE
for anybody to spend more than one night in Tampa after the
operation... and virtually nobody spends the night IN the hospital
after a parathyroid operation--we haven't done that for over 10 years. (NOTE:
If you have not read the "Testimonial
Page" yet, please do so. Bottom line: People traveling by car
can make plans to get in the car about 1.5 hours after the operation
and head on home. People traveling by airplane should spend the night
of the operation in a Tampa (or Orlando area) hotel and fly home the
following day.
Parathyroid Surgery. Parathyroid operation.
Parathyroid surgery. Parathyroid operation.
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What if I have problems? Who do I call?
All of our patients get a detailed sheet of postoperative
instructions. All of our patients get a bottle of calcium pills that they
are take beginning the night of surgery. All patients get Dr Norman's
and Dr Politz's home phone number and their cell phone numbers--and
are instructed to call them directly if they have any problems. One of
our doctors will call every patient the evening of the operation to
make sure you understand what was found and to answer any more
questions that you may have. Your doctors will get a copy of the
operative report and the pathology report within several days. All of
your doctors will also get a personal letter from Drs Norman/Politz
describing what was found, what was done, and what will likely be your
calcium requirement for years to come (based on their experience with
thousands of similar patients and the results of your bone density
scans). All your doctors will get a photograph of your tumor with
stickers on it describing the amount of hormone being produced by the
tumor and the low amount of hormone in your blood prior to going home.
We are extremely organized and extremely good at communicating with
all of your doctors. The bottom line is this: We have done so many of these
operations that it has become a very simple out-patient procedure. We
have made the complex quite simple.
Parathyroid Surgery. Parathyroid operation.
Parathyroid surgery. Parathyroid operation.
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When can I drive or fly home? When can I go back to
work? Virtually all patients are sent home about 1 to 2
hours after their parathyroid operation. We have not had a parathyroid
patient spend the night in the hospital in several years (more than
9500 patients have gone home within 2.5 hours--it's that simple).
People who travel by car will usually travel home when they are
released (they should not drive for 24 hours, but they can be a
passenger). We prefer patients who are flying to wait until the
morning after the operation to travel by plane. As soon as you leave
the hospital you can eat anything you like... we encourage you to go
out to dinner and celebrate the first day of your new and improved
life! You will be given a bottle of calcium pills and instructions on how
often to take them. You will be taking Advil (Motrin, Ibuprofen) for
pain--that's it--so bring some with you if you like. You can go back
to work the day after the surgery, although some people take that day
off too. It is very rare for somebody to require more than 24 hours to
recover. The day after surgery you will have zero restrictions. Do
what you want. You may have a sore throat, but you can do
whatever you like (golf, exercise, etc).
Parathyroid surgery. expertise.
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Follow Up. You do not come back to
Tampa. You simply need to be seen by one of your regular doctors about
one month after the operation, primarily to get
your blood tested to measure your calcium and PTH levels. We provide
you with the blood slip that you use to get the blood testing done in
your home town; those results are forwarded to your doctor. You see
him/her about 1 week after you get your blood drawn. We will
communicate this with your physician at the time of your operation. This
visit with your doctor is simple since there are no stitches to remove
(you just peel off your bandaid in one week's time). All the stitches
we use dissolve in about 1 month's time. When you see your doctor,
he/she will have received everything from us weeks earlier, all
organized, photographed, and simple to interpret. Remember, a
small quick operation is not any good if we have problems...the number
one goal is SAFETY...nothing else is more important. You do not
have to worry about coming to Tampa for surgery and then having a
problem with nobody to take care of you. If this happened, we'd be out
of business years ago. You have all our doctor's home phone numbers
and cell phone numbers. We will be there for you.
 Click
here to read the stories of over 800 people who had parathyroid
surgery at the Norman Parathyroid Center.
It is also highly
recommended that you watch
the movie of a mini-parathyroid operation by Dr Norman, which includes
a short lecture so you can know more about what to expect from your
mini-parathyroid surgery with us.
Speed...
Why do we keep bringing up the quickness of our parathyroid operations? First of all... quick is dumb if it's not successful.
The most important issue is safety, so always look at a surgeon's
complication rates and success rates. If success rates are very high
and complication rates are very low, then speed is the next most
important factor. Speed is a function of repetition and competence.
Quick operations have less dissection which means less pain and less
bleeding. Less dissection decreases the potential for complications
and damage to other neck structures like nerves. Quick operations
require less anesthesia. People get much less sick and are able to
get on with their lives very quickly after a 16-20 minute operation.
Quick operations are tolerated by people very well. The best
surgeons are often the quickest... but not always! When choosing
your surgeon--regardless of who it is--you must always fall back on
what is most important... success rates and complication rates. You
will usually see that the best and most experienced surgeons have all three: Very High
Success Rates, Extremely Few Complications, and Speed.
Note, we can't operate on everybody
who has a parathyroid problem. But, if this was an easy operation to
perform we wouldn't do 12 times the amount of operations that Mayo
Clinic does in a year, or 17 times more than Duke University does in
a year, or more than 20 times more than Johns Hopkins and Harvard
does in a year--- you get the picture. That doesn't mean that there
aren't great surgeons at these institutions, it simply means that
you need to pick your surgeon wisely--one that performs parathyroid
surgery at least several times per week. If parathyroid surgery was
easy for every surgeon to perform, we wouldn't be in business
because nobody would have the need to travel across the country to
have us do their operation. If parathyroid surgery were easy, surgeons from dozens
of major universities from around the US wouldn't come here for us
to remove their tumor--or the tumor from their wife. Yet we operate
on a surgeon every week and a doctor several times per week.
However, parathyroid surgery is easy if you do it a dozen times every day.
Parathyroid surgery is NOT easy if you do it once every couple of
weeks. Dr Norman has done over 10,000 parathyroid operations, and Dr
Politz over 5,000. They work together so you have the two most
experienced parathyroid surgeons in the world. We can't do everybody's
operation, but please, be wise and pick a surgeon that does
parathyroid surgery at least once per week. When you talk to one of
our doctors, they will invariably tell you: "Don't make this
hard, it is not hard. This is easy!". It is easy for us. This
is all we do.
Thyroid Nodules. Often parathyroid patients will
need a part of their thyroid removed during their thyroid operation (about
22% of our past 10,000 patients had a thyroid problem that we addressed
with some form of thyroid nodule removal during their parathyroid
operation). Nearly 85% of patients with a parathyroid tumor will also have
a thyroid nodule--it is very common to have thyroid nodules (heck our
surgeons have thyroid nodules themselves!). Most thyroid nodules are ho-hum, benign,
normal lumps and bumps that we all get as we get older. Most thyroid
nodules should be left alone. We look at every patient's thyroid gland (Dr
Norman has seen more thyroid glands than any other person in the world--he
sees 13 of them every day).
If a thyroid nodule is worrisome in any way and needs to be removed, then
we remove it. It is NOT A BIG DEAL. Almost all patients that require the removal of a thyroid
nodule or even an entire thyroid lobe (one half of the thyroid) will go home within 2.5 hours.
Patients with thyroid problems in addition to parathyroid problems are not
treated differently from parathyroid patients who do not have thyroid
problems... same anesthesia, same incision, etc. We remove thyroid nodules
and thyroid masses 2-5 times per day in patients that have thyroid nodules in
addition to their parathyroid tumor. It usually adds about 2-5 minutes to
the operation. Thus, if you are told "you cannot have
mini-parathyroid surgery because you have a thyroid nodule", you can
tell that doctor: "nonsense!" We do this all day long, every
day. This simply depends on the skill and experience of the surgeon. Occasionally we will have a patient spend the night if we
have to remove a very large thyroid goiter during the parathyroid
operation (about 1 in 700 patients spends the night in the hospital). Patients over 250 pounds will
sometimes need an incision about 1.5 inches long. However, almost all
patients that have a thyroid nodule can have their thyroid nodule removed
at the time of their mini-parathyroid operation--still through a 1-inch
incision, still with a near 100% cure rate, still expecting to go home in
2 hours, and still without the need for general endotracheal anesthesia. The bottom line is
safety... not speed... and not statistics. All patients are treated as
individuals and get personalized care that is tailored to their specific
problem and their overall health. Nobody has seen more of this stuff than
us. Nobody has seen more thyroid nodules than us... we deal with thyroid
nodules all day long! One final note: we do not have a 100% cure rate, but
there is no question that our cure rate is the highest in the world.
Note:
Dr Norman performed a MIRP mini parathyroid operation LIVE on the Internet
for you to watch.
It was then shown on the TODAY show with Katie Couric as well as many
local TV programs.
Click
Here to watch this operation as it happened live June 14th 2005
We really like our patients to watch this movie... it
will answer a lot of questions. It is a bloodless operation. Simple,
clean, no blood, very small incision, lots of information.
| Read what our patients say about their
parathyroid surgery experience: Click Here |
| Local Hotels with Discount Rates: Click
Here |
This page was last updated: 11/12/2009
For driving directions to the Norman Parathyroid
Center at Tampa General Hospital click
here.
For a Map of how to get to the Norman Parathyroid Center at Tampa General
Hospital click
here.
|
