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Final meeting with surgeon before my revision

Posted by babette @babette, Sep 18, 2019

I'm so relieved! I was really dreading my revision, but I had a terrific consult with my surgeon today. I'd emailed him 12 questions and he responded to them with so much information, intelligence and by showing me examples on my X-rays of why things are bad and how he will fix them. I feel so much better going into this. One thing he said that struck me is that he cares less about PT and more about ongoing movement - walking, riding my stationary bike as soon as I feel up to it. It has been a hellish 14 months (and dh is "loaded for bear" re: suing surgeon #1) but can it be that I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?

Oh, and Dr. B. mentioned that my surgery will be on his birthday!

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Mentor
Chris Trout, Volunteer Mentor | @artscaping | Sep 20, 2019
In reply to @contentandwell "@babette. It was sort of strange. I had sciatica in my R leg and made the..." + (show)
@contentandwell

@babette. It was sort of strange. I had sciatica in my R leg and made the mistake of taking a very long ride (6 hours) and then had to sit for a 2 hours. This is not good for sciatica. The next morning I had incredibly intense pain, literally worse than childbirth, I suddenly felt very light headed from the pain and was heading from the kitchen to the family room to sit and had a Pre-syncope episode - just short of fainting, I did not totally lose consciousness. I did go down on the tile floor and had a “minimally displaced fracture of the greater trochanter of L femur”.
This led me to call my PCP to see if I should have a bone density test. Turns out that my last was in January 2014 and I had osteopenia then. I should have been having density tests every two years and when it got worse been put on one of the medications. No one ever told me that and my PCP dropped the ball. I had the test this week and sure enough, I have somewhat advanced osteoporosis. Frankly I am furious that this was not addressed when it should have been. It it had been and I had been taking bone strengthening medication the fracture may not have happened. I am fortunate that it was not worse.
I think my PCP is a short timer.
JK

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@contentandwell, @babette, Good afternoon ladies. I am also in the rabbit hole over bone density issues. Why, don't we as women have enough sense about us to know that post-menopause is time for bone density checks and other healthy human tests? I certainly had a huge gap in my self-advocacy for the 20 years I lived on the mountain. Now I am paying the price, literally.

I did not have a PCP because I had a PPO for insurance. Once I left the mountain and enrolled in an HMO program, I found an amazingly responsive PCP who rushed me in for a DEXA scan and learned that my numbers were sinking.

Easy...just take a monthly tablet, Boniva to maintain what you have. Ran into a serious reaction to bisphosphonates. That left me with Tymlos or Forteo and daily injections. With the help of an endocrinologist, I chose Tymlos and have tolerated it well. It is very expensive. Just how do drug companies justify failing to serve a market segment that needs their products.......by pricing their products beyond the means of so many?

I think I owe a lot to my support of Mayo Connect. Now I know so much more just by following members and mentors/moderators to learn from them. This is kind of a two-way street. So thank you @babette and @contentandwell. Please let me know how this program works for you. I will be an attentive student. May you find relief today from pain and suffering. Chris

REPLY
1 reply
JK | @contentandwell | Sep 20, 2019
In reply to @artscaping "@contentandwell, @babette, Good afternoon ladies. I am also in the rabbit hole over bone density issues...." + (show)
@artscaping

@contentandwell, @babette, Good afternoon ladies. I am also in the rabbit hole over bone density issues. Why, don't we as women have enough sense about us to know that post-menopause is time for bone density checks and other healthy human tests? I certainly had a huge gap in my self-advocacy for the 20 years I lived on the mountain. Now I am paying the price, literally.

I did not have a PCP because I had a PPO for insurance. Once I left the mountain and enrolled in an HMO program, I found an amazingly responsive PCP who rushed me in for a DEXA scan and learned that my numbers were sinking.

Easy...just take a monthly tablet, Boniva to maintain what you have. Ran into a serious reaction to bisphosphonates. That left me with Tymlos or Forteo and daily injections. With the help of an endocrinologist, I chose Tymlos and have tolerated it well. It is very expensive. Just how do drug companies justify failing to serve a market segment that needs their products.......by pricing their products beyond the means of so many?

I think I owe a lot to my support of Mayo Connect. Now I know so much more just by following members and mentors/moderators to learn from them. This is kind of a two-way street. So thank you @babette and @contentandwell. Please let me know how this program works for you. I will be an attentive student. May you find relief today from pain and suffering. Chris

Jump to this post

@artscaping I always stay on top of these things but when I had the bone density test in January 2014 no one told me that since I had osteopenia I should be having them every two years then. I believe from what I had learned that when my numbers got worse I would have been put on a bone saving drug, but of course that did not happen. To make matters worse I am on two drugs that have a negative effect on bone, plus lost a very significant amount of weight which also can affect your bones.
I have never paid attention to the discussions on these drugs but I guess I now have to go back and read them. From what I have read in my research it sounds as if most drugs only maintain your bones, not make them better, except for Fosomax. Do you know if that is true?
I have been told by a couple of people that this could actually be grounds for malpractice but I am not a litigious person, plus winning these cases is nearly impossible.
JK

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