Cancer. Osteoporosis. Osteopenia. The gift that keeps on giving!

Osteoporosis at 48. What am I doing about it?

3 days ago, I put my back out. Doing one of those silly, twisty moves you know you shouldn’t do. It’s the first time in my entire life I’ve hurt my back. For which I feel extremely lucky and grateful. And slightly more sympathetic to anyone with a bad back! When it happened, I heard something pop. And the first thing that went through my head was “Osteoporosis. I’ve broken my spine.”

Why?

I’m 48. Surely that shouldn’t be a thing, yet.

But it is.

Since being diagnosed with cancer, I’ve found out I have osteoporosis in my spine. And osteopenia - the precursor to osteoporosis - in my hip. Which frankly, scares the life out of me. Cancer really is the gift that keeps on giving.

My bone density is fast tracked to get worse because of the hormone therapy I’m on. It’s a known side effect. How long I stay on Anastrozole is likely to be a fine balance between the risk of cancer coming back and the risk of my bones falling apart. Ideally, I get to 10 years.

I don’t really want to take bone density medication as I don’t much like the list of side effects. And I also don’t want to be a bent over, frail old lady, at high risk of falls and breaks. But it seems I’m heading that way, unless I act fast.

So I’ve decided to do whatever I can to fight back.

It’s probably not reversable. But I’m doing my very best to stop it getting worse.

Out for a walk, whatever the weather

How?

Firstly, I take prescription supplements: calcium and vitamin D. Both of which help protect your bones.

Secondly, I am using exercise to keep my bones strong.

In what way?

Impact. I’m not running at the moment as I’m trying to fix my feet. But I still walk daily. Impact exercise is anything involving running, jumping and to some extent walking. It helps challenge your body to create more bone matter. Stressing the bones with impact stimulates additional calcium deposits and forces your bone-forming cells into action.

Weights. Yes, strength training again! Lifting weights makes your muscles work harder than they normally would. Contracting muscles move your bones around and if the force is higher, because of the additional weight, your body responds by increasing bone production. Hence weights leads to denser, stronger bones.

Balance. Since cancer and silly, sore feet (thanks to joint pain caused by hormone therapy) my balance is not as good as it used to be. So every time I go to the gym, I finish off with some balance work. Sometimes standing yoga poses. Sometimes with light weights. By improving my balance and reactions, I’m less likely to fall. And more likely to be able to react and catch myself if I do lose my balance. Less falls, less chance of a fracture.

I do one legged balance exercises with weights every time I go to the gym

Quitting! I have quit doing things I perceive as high risk. I no longer ski the way I used to. I’m less aggressive when I run on uneven ground. I don’t do sports I’m bad at, where the risk of falling is high - mountain biking and ice skating are top of my list. I’m a lot more cautious than I used to be. I have never wanted to get injured. But I used to take calculated risks. Now the consequences are just too high.

If you’d like some help navigating osteopenia and osteoporosis risk, drop me a line. I can help!