I just had an annual physical and they wanted to do a colonoscopy- yuck! I wouldn't mind if all my plumbing was still in the right place. But after the accident I was in, everything is a little off from where it should be. So I decided to have a virtual colonoscopy- where they only put 8 inches of tubing up your ass and not 18 inches.
Medicare would pay for it so I signed up at an out patient facility that my Dr. recommended. I dutifully took all the gunk to clean you out 2 days prior. I walked into the pleasant facility early in the morning and was seen right away. My tech looked like my brother only with light brown hair. His demeanor was calm and friendly and he mistakenly thought that I was nervous. I was- but not for the reasons that he thought.
In my mind I was trying to figure out a way to gently let him know about the gross disfiguration under the thin patient robe that he was about to see. He went about explaining the procedure as if to put my mind at ease. I finally blurted out-"Well, I was in a bad car accident and I have been in 4 hospitals over 4 months and had over 20 surgeries."
"Oh, so you are familar with all of this." he said as if relieved of the burden.
"Oh, yes, I am okay with this". Then I lifted up my gown for the show and tell tour.
As I lay still on the table, he preceded with the predictable solace-"when I was 18, I was on the football team and got tackled by a 300 pound teenager that hit me so hard ithat my entire shoulder had to be reconstructed."
"Wow", I said wondering why people always want to share some of their own personal medical history with me as if to say they've been there, too. I know that we ALL have been there. And if you haven't ---well, prepare yourself.
My colonoscopy came back negative but it did show thinnng of the bones. So a month later, I had a dexa-scan which is a fancy bone mineral density test. That test came back with the diagnosis of osteporosis -or thinning of the bones. That diagnosis came with a prescription of Fosamax which I am not taking.
I have been able to be drug free for a long time and wish to remain that way as long as I can. Maybe my time is ending. I am still researching this Fosamax thing and I don't like what I am reading. I would appreciate any comments on what you all know about this drug.
Check this out on why I am opposed to Fosamax-http://www.womentowomen.com/bonehealth/bonemineraldensitytests.aspx
Posted by Fern at May 18, 2008 11:23 AM | TrackBackThanks Susanna, and thanks to all of you who wrote. My t-score was 2.3% and I believe below 2.5% is an osteoporosis diagnosis. Since I am borderline and as you say, a lot of the machines are not calibrated well, I will try to manage this myself and retake the test in a year. I am taking Calcium and magnesium supplements and I work on with heavy weights twice a week. Hopefully that will do the trick. I hope you and your family are doing well!
Posted by: Fern at May 31, 2008 9:24 PMThanks Susanna, and thanks to all of you who wrote. My t-score was 2.3% and I believe below 2.5% is an osteoporosis diagnosis. Since I am borderline and as you say, a lot of the machines are not calibrated well, I will try to manage this myself and retake the test in a year. I am taking Calcium and magnesium supplements and I work on with heavy weights twice a week. Hopefully that will do the trick. I hope you and your family are doing well!
Posted by: Fern at May 31, 2008 9:24 PMThanks Susanna, and thanks to all of you who wrote. My t-score was 2.3% and I believe below 2.5% is an osteoporosis diagnosis. Since I am borderline and as you say, a lot of the machines are not calibrated well, I will try to manage this myself and retake the test in a year. I am taking Calcium and magnesium supplements and I work on with heavy weights twice a week. Hopefully that will do the trick.
I hope you and your family are doing well!
Posted by: Fern at May 21, 2008 8:34 AMI don't have personal experience with Fosamax but my friend who is a nurse and breast cancer survivor has been taking it for five years and she has experienced more bone loss this year. She is now taking a Vitamin D / Calcium supplement and doing weight /resistance training. I would do as much research as possible on alternatives to improve bone density and maybe get another test. Many machines and devices in hospitals no longer go through a preventative planned maintenance program, my blood pressure registered very high, I have never had high blood pressure, so I requested another cuff, and guess what that cuff was broken.
When I went back six months later, it happened again, the doctor's office was still using that cuff!!! I was outraged. Check out Paul Pitchford's book on Healing with Whole Foods and he uses Chinese herbs, etc. He may have something you can do. Good Luck!