Reading through my blog it might be easy to think I had an obsession with the old bones. Quite understandably…there is the surprise factor at suddenly sighting a new bone on my body, the moan of the tail bone, the banging of bones, real bones and metaphysical bones and of course the osteoporosis /malabsorption issues.
So to further the bone talk, here is the latest on my bone health.
A few days ago I saw Beth & Mr Patel and had a lookover my last labs. The fantastic news is everything is in perfect order. I’m very pleased because it underlines my daily commitment to a good nutrition program and the supplements I take and makes my efforts well worthwhile.
The strange thing was the calcium/PTH & Vit all were normal as well. I don’t trust just a calcium lab, I know this can be misleading but I do put more faith in the trio. And yet - there is the evidence on my dexa scan of deterioration of bone mass. In the light of this scan I had changed my regular formula and had begun increasing my Vit D and calcium intake to around 3500mg’s of citrate a day. But it seems this is not the problem.
It might well be genetic. That’s my current hunch, though this might change too. In which case it might be worth me taking something like fosomax…though this still needs to mulled over and I will see what my bone scans present this week. It could also be oestrogen related. A good friend of mine has this issue of early menopause on top of her DS. She wrote me a very interesting e-mail just the other day. I am so pleased us DSers have this quality of hanging out together because from each other we push the boundaries of knowledge.
It brings home to me that sometimes we will need to look outside the DS box. Deficiencies might have other causes.
I’m also still very keen on DSers getting dexa’s. Given normal lab results I might well have whistled along thinking all was fine…until one of those nasty fractures.
I still believe prevention is better than cure though I think the years have mellowed me. I can see how easy it is for life to zip along with all it’s challenges sometimes making it very hard to adopt this attitude. It’s such a nice idea that things be set in stone, but the fact is life is a constant changing and without a doubt it can shake one’s comfortable idea’s and sometimes very suddenly too. And best intentions can & do fall apart.
But I always say to myself and others - the beauty is that everyday brings a fresh possibility for change.
So there we are. Where we go from here will be sorted out over the next few months.
I’m weighing in on Mr P’s dreaded scales at 55kg’s. It’s a bit on the low side as my optimal weight is around 58-60 kilo’s. We discussed small doses of creon if need be. I’m thinking on it and it’s great to know I have some recourse if I do lose anymore weight.
I kind of battle with eating a great deal nowadays. Some days I can pack in a lot of food and I do, but most days I eat to mental satiation, not my actual capacity. I find if I start to push the envelope I feel a tad squeamish of late. I manage my protein very well & a selection of veggies at a meal but often leave some of the veggie portion. I will try to push my self a little more. I sound like a purist but part of it is that I prefer to eat tasty things rather than cardboardy carbs. Give me chicken satay dips or cheesey ham hotties over crisps anyday. I do like sugar but when I look at how much my tea drinking habit consumes, I always think it unneccesary to add more to my diet. I might go back to a small daily chocolate though. I have to laugh - who’d have thought I would be baulking at a daily chocolate!
I feel that it is very related to my smaller body saying it needs less. Never mind my DS!
In a way though this is sometimes a little fight between DS & body…I think it is actually quite a good thing. It shows a body that tries bless it, to be normal…even if it is not!
I think it also goes some way to debunking the myth that DSers are scoffers. That’s simply not true. Maybe we are inherent foodies, I know I am at the heart of me. I’m not in the least miserable about my current eating. I just know I have to watch that my weight doesn’t go too low. But I am always nicely full after eating and I still really enjoy the fact that my capacity (if not my head) allows me a great deal of license in the WLS world. I can eat liberally if I please. I don’t ever feel cheated of food. I think that alone has made it of lesser significance to me…the choice is mine. My body is not a dictator to me. My diet is at it’s healthiest ever as my natural leaning for simple tasty foods has grown over the years.
I think back to the days of greasy spoon take outs, multiple chocolates daily, bags of crisps and coke, huge pasta based meals and frequent bread eating. It’s a world away. I know these foods were required by my body then as it was frankly a deeply confused and ill body always craving high calories to try to reach a point of satietian…but also trying to sustain itself. But it is a long way away - back there in the nightmare days.
I’m glad that in my first two years I allowed myself the pleasure of eating a lot. I really went for volume because my thinking was that firstly enough nutrition would provide compensation in the absorption process. Secondly I wanted to end my DS window with some possibility for trade offs. I knew I could give up the chocolate and extra fruit if need be to push further loss. Thirdly I feel a good metabolism must be fed well and fed decent foods. And I wanted a chance at that new metabolism very badly.
I also worked a lot with myself to understand the different types of satiation signals. I focussed on the one in my head and tummy rather than relied on my DS restriction.
Looking back I think this has stood me in good stead.
On the homefront it is frenetic. I have bitten off a huge chunk of things to do and worked in my usually disorderly piecemeal fashion. The net result is that I shuttle between home & garden and the myriad other things in a rather disjointed way. Still I am persevering.
Petal has grown so much, she is very funny and fills my day with laughter at her ridiculous antics.
The mouse called ‘Dave’ had 15 babies yesterday! As you can tell it was a mistake but mice are very difficult to sex. I think it’s how nature hoodwinks us humans into a false sense of complacency so it can silently spring it’s reproductive secrets on us. I was I confess… shocked. But there is something about life in any form, even if it is a mass of pink blind hairless mice, that still touches me.
The other babies are delightful but the petshop is beckoning now. I still can’t believe how fast we went from four little mice to 26!!! I will be cage cleaning madly on top of everything else!
