Bridgett's Story

Sage In The Wind River

HypoPARA & The Wind

Bridget Garrity

June 1st World Awareness Day, 2026

I was born without parathyroid glands, the four small glands located behind the thyroid. I was diagnosed with HypoPARA at about 10 weeks old after I stopped breathing at 8 weeks old. According to my medical records, I stopped breathing 4–5 times the same night I was hospitalized. My body was not actively making calcium or active vitamin D. It took two weeks before I officially received the diagnosis of HypoPARA.

Growing up in Riverton Wyoming, the Wind River Mountains were always visible on the horizon and are my favorite mountains. They are nestled near Lander. Sage was abundant throughout the area where I lived. My favorite place to photograph is along the Wind River Mountain Range, especially from Fort Washakie, on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

We often talk about the wind in Wyoming. Whether it is winter, spring, summer, or fall, the wind is always present. It might be 25 mph or even 50–80 mph, depending on the location in Wyoming.

HypoPARA is a lot like the wind. It rarely stays in homeostasis. I often show my lab trends through graphs. When you see those dips or increases, I can feel every ounce of those changes. Seeing it visually on a graph, even as someone who has always experienced the fluctuations, puts it into a new perspective.

One of the hardest parts of HypoPARA is having symptoms that do not match your lab results. Through experience, I have found that symptoms sometimes lag behind. It may take a week or two before the changes appear in lab work.

I am fortunate to have an excellent endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He understands this disease quite well.

There were several years when I did not have good ongoing specialists. At times, even my primary doctor struggled to help navigate this disease or did not know how to manage it. Often, providers were not willing to learn from me as a patient.

It is hard being both a patient and an advocate for a rare disease that so few people understand.

In order to keep my calcium balanced and maintain homeostasis, I have to be proactive. This means frequent doctor visits and staying ahead of my other conditions, especially my severe asthma.

As my endocrinologist has said, frequent visits are necessary because health can change quickly and often without warning.

The wind is unpredictable, and you cannot make it go away. HypoPARA is much the same. The best thing I can do as a patient is stay proactive. One way I do this is by having standing lab orders. My endocrinologist keeps them open, meaning I can go to the hospital lab anytime it is open. He often responds within an hour or so and gives me instructions. While this does not cure me, it helps keep me out of the Emergency Room.

I once asked him what could be done about calcium deposits, which can happen because of the medications we need to take without parathyroid glands. His response was simple: “Cure HypoPARA.”

Like the wind, we keep going. Doctor visits have always been a part of my life, and that will not change anytime soon.
I make do with what I was born with.