Forteo?

The latest update from the endocrinologist -the specialist here in the Lower Mainland that handles all patients on Forteo has agreed to handle me…I still have to think about it.

My last bone scan at St Paul’s hospital showed a T score around -1.5. Lion’s Gate Hospital got their own machine finally and so the results cannot be compared. However the first scan from LGH showed a bone density of +3. Come on- no one can take that seriously. The lumbar spine had pretty collapsed on itself so it showed up as a nice piece of bone. They put me on Fosamax after the scan (2006) and I had a repeat done this Feb 09. It shows a 10% loss of bone mass in the lumbar spine. That’s the reason they want to put me on Forteo. However, the L spine is not even osteopenic. The hip and forearm are normal for my age…so how about the 3 back surgeries that took bone out of the lumbar area- wouldn’t you think that would show a bone loss. I had bilateral laminectomies at two levels. Microdiscectomies at three. 

It just seems logical that there would be less bone…Less is more in this case.

Update on Bone Scan

Hi Everyone

I know it’s been ages since I’ve posted. I’ve had a lot of trouble with pain management and everything seems to go okay for a time, then it’s definitely not okay…

I had a repeat bone scan and found out that have lost 10% bone mass. That is in spite of having been on Fosamax. Geez. So the Fosamax is not working.

Doing some blood work to check out what’s going on. There are rarely any answers. My hip and wrist are okay but my back is definitely not.

And the last MRI found anterior wedging at T5/6. That’s bad but thank heaven it was minor. However it means no more head off the mat and start to take some serious precautions. Wedging can lead to vertebral fractures…don’t want that.

So life is kind of like that. One of my best friends has lung cancer metastisized in the bone. That sucks. Besides that, it means I’m still doing okay. You gotta keep it relative.

Take care.
Darlene

What’s Safe and What’s Not- Osteoporosis and Pilates Matwork

http://www.inneridea.com/library/pilates-osteoporosis-pilates-exercises-osteoporosis-exercises

Modifying Pilates for Clients With Osteoporosis

by Sherri R. Betz, PT

I’ve snipped this out of the article. The above link is well worth clicking. This is the BEST article on Pilates and Osteoporosis that I have seen.

 

<<snip>> What’s Safe and What’s Not 

Safe Pilates Mat Exercises

Specialists, Specialists and More Specialists

Video of the Results

Results of the CT Scan, the visit to the hematologist and results from the Internal Medicine specialist.

It’s All Coming Together

Started New Year’s off with a positive, out of the box experience (for me) was a great idea. I really do feel better. Granted I have kept my dosage of MS Contin up but if that’s all I have to do to be able to get stronger, then so be it. I can actually feel my core for the first time in months. I went to my second yoga class since the last surgery and I felt strong enough to do the moves. I don’t hurt all over. I did an hour on the elliptical and actually – wait for it- sweat! That’s a first.

Up and Down, The Yo-Yo Syndrome

Woke up feeling pain in my leg and hip. I had trouble walking yesterday and Bill noticed it in the house. I’m not sure what is going on.

We got up at 4:45AM. I was having trouble sleeping because of my hip and Bill is still having trouble getting used to day shift instead of graveyards.

I went for my walk just after Bill left for work at 7AM. Very soon after starting both my hips starting giving me trouble. I ended up walking a short 20 minutes and that was too much. I was hoping to get all my walk in (an hour) because it’s going to start raining very hard in a little while.

I got home and took 2mg dilaudid but that didn’t help. I’m getting up and down a lot. Basically I’m doing some computer stuff and then going into the kitchen and doing stuff there. Making Bill’s lunch, preparing dinner. We’re having Shepherd’s Pie tonight if I can get all the carrots and potatoes peeled. Otherwise we’ll have roast chicken and I’ll finish the shepherd’s pie then.

That’s basically how the

More on the Hospital

Well, whatever happened with notifing the patient’s’ family is obviously not high on this doctor’s list. I had a couple of shots in PAR and had to wait to be released to make sure the pain was under control. The nurse told that because of my small fiber polyneuropathy I couldn’t expect my pain level to drop to a 1 or 2. That’s legit because that is my normal pain level. So just subtract that to be zero. By 3:45 they wheeled me up to the neurosurgery ward.

Third Opinion

First of all, let me say that there are definitely good and bad days. I can’t wait to have the L2/3 done and maybe I can get on with my live sans pain meds. I added one small exercise (the clam) to my workout and I paid for it yesterday. Didn’t sleep that night and had to resort to medication…

So yesterday, I was so annoyed (childish, eh?) that I just went out and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and my yoga. I’ve been weaning myself back on increasing 10% a week and I was up to 13minutes. Anyway, I didn’t suffer any worse the wear from the workout. Felt it in the buns though!