A short note

Dear scorchin hot guy who whistled at me as I was walking out of Rite Aid this morning,
You made my life better, at least for today. Bless you.
I sincerely hope to see you again.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

Buy it.

Read it.

Laugh.

If there was any lingering question…

My life? Not all it’s cracked up to be.

Pun completely intended.

At the age of 41, I have been diagnosed with osteopenia (early thinning of the bone), a condition I am, by most accounts, too young to have…and it is apparently severe. I have watched the horror of my mother literally breaking her back from trying to open a window on a too-warm day, and I now live in fear of that being me, far earlier than at her age of 72.

This, is apparently my near future.

I got a taste of that future last year when doing jumping jacks spiderweb-fractured my heel (if you look in the archives for September 2014, you will see my broken and casted foot). My orthopedic surgeon said the fracture was consistent with a jump from a 3 story building. From jumping jacks, on padded hardwood floors and nice, comfy Nike shoes.

Imagine my breakdown when I realized that my bi-weekly trips to the chiropractor have most likely caused microfractures in my back, weakening the overall stability of the center of my body, setting it up for future catastrophe. Remember a few sentences ago when I told you about my mom’s back?

Shit.

Being a life-long learner, and a teacher, I immediately began to research my condition to learn all I can. The news is NOT disheartening! YAY! and THANK GOD! However, the information that I have found is frightening at best. The pharmaceuticals that are on the market today are actually causing more damage to bones…making them fracture MORE EASILY!!!! My mother is living proof. After being on Fosamax (the number one prescribed osteo drug) for YEARS, her condition has deteriorated beyond comprehension. Why is this shit on the market at all? One thing it can cause is frickin’ ONJ, Osteonecrosis of the Jaw. Let’s have a little English lesson: Osteo=bone, Necrosis= DEATH. Death of the jaw bone. Golly gee, sign me up! And that is only one of many serious effects of taking this drug and others like it.

Am I surprised by this diagnosis? Not even a little bit; it just came much earlier than I thought it would. I was told in my 20s when I was pregnant with the twins that carrying them would leave my body depleted of its nutrients. Given my genetic history, I am a prime candidate. So no, not surprised, but devastated all the same.

So. Here I am. What do I do? I do what I always do. I buy a book (or several) about the subject, and educate myself. What I have found is a book that has high ratings, is recent  (a HUGE deal in research!), is thus far, giving me hope!

I am reading and taking notes like crazy, and I am realizing that this can not only be halted, but reversed. I had read that in my research, but this book lists specific things I can do: exercises, diet, vitamins, etc., to move me off the path of physical destruction. I know, I know…dramatic much? Maybe. But until you or someone you love has this and you live and see it in action, daily, in all you do, I’d really think twice before being flippant about it.