Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Osteoporosis...

"Old age is no place for sissies." --Bette Davis

I hate going to the Doctor lately.  I think everything in my system is running along quite smoothly, then I go to the Doctor, and find out that is not the case.  I have politely turned down bone density tests until this year, and I thought, "well, I guess I had better know where my bones stand."  They are not standing too well.  I just crossed into osteoporosis, and when I got the news, my doctor made me feel like I will fall apart and break at any moment.  Long story short, I had to do an osteoporosis panel, and was told to come in the next day for the lab tests.  When I checked in at the receptionist window, I was handed two gallon containers.  Oh, the dread that went through me.  Being someone who worked in a lab I knew what these container meant...a 24 hour urine sample.  Oh the pain and agony.  I thought, I am just not going to do it, but then thought I had better cooperate.  The bad part of the whole ordeal is that the sample must be refrigerated until the 24 hours is up.  This was a big pain in the middle of the night.

I received my results this week and they are terrible.  I am excreting rather than absorbing my calcium.  My calcium supplements are doing me no good, they are just going right on through me.  My condition is called hypercalciuria.  I see my physician  next week to figure out what to do with me.  In the meantime, Warren has done some research, and has put me on a hypercalciuria diet to see if I can start absorbing my calcium.  This diet is no fun, and if it works, it means I will have to stay on this for the rest of my life or my bones will break apart.  Here's what I cannot eat:  Sugar, grains, leafy vegetables, nuts, tea, coffee, cola, chocolate, peanut butter, carrots, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, salt, beans, no processed meats, and I can only eat 105 grams of protein/day.  That's pretty much everything I like.  Do you know what else this means?  I will have to do another 24 hour urine specimen to see if the diet is working!  Sigh.  I guess it could be worse.

4 comments:

Laurie said...

Rob,
So sorry to hear the news... and talk about bad timing, with Warren recovering from surgery right now! Sounds like you will certainly have to rule out lots of things from your diet! I can't imagine how hard that's going to be. No sugar? No chocolate? That's torture! Praying for God's strength for you through all this.

Rob said...

Thank you. Today, I was hungry for a snack and was trying to figure out what I could eat...let's see I can have asparagus, cabbage, and kale. Not too appealing. Warren was trying to cheer me up with ideas, but they really fell short. I hope this diet makes a difference and it is not all for not.

Laurie said...

Well, your bones may not be in the best condition, but at least your digestive system will be running smoothly! ;)

Luke said...

Hoping the diet is a miserable failure and there is a miracle pill cure instead. So it's you that gave me the crappy bones huh?

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