My Health

This page is for the curious, my fellow MSers and friends with Osteoporosis. My hope is that somebody might see this page and help me. This page is not intended for sympathy. I just want to be helped or help somebody else.


{For easier reading I will organize this the best that I can.}

June 18, 2008
{This picture was taken hours before the accident.}

• It was a Friday morning, at about 2:00 when Monkey woke up. I went to pick him up out of bed. I leaned over and felt a terrible pain in my back. I knew I wouldn't be able to carry him or hold him so I moved him to the changing table. My plan was to call for my husband over the baby monitor but I passed out from the pain before I could call for help. He came upstairs to take care of Monkey. I managed to get downstairs. He did not go to work on Friday. Instead he took care of Monkey all weekend so I could take it easy. {I also knew that something was really wrong. Luckily we were blessed to have a former student as a next door neighbor. She could run the country. She was nice enough to stay with Monkey and I all week while I healed from whatever it was. I was unable to do anything without pain. It was excruciating to even lift Monkey's legs to change his diaper.
  

June 24, 2008- Orthopedic Surgeon {no.1}

• 
  Still in pain, I went to a local orthopedic surgeon. He told me to bend over and touch my toes. I couldn't. He diagnosed me with a pulled muscle and prescribed 3 months of muscle relaxers. I argued with him that it was not a muscle and he blew me off. It was a 5 minute office visit.
  
  

 June 26, 2008-Neurologist {no.1}

• I woke up at 7:00a.m. completely paralyzed. I was terrified. My husband called a neurologist that he knew and he wanted me to come in to see him. After about 30 minutes the paralysis wore off but I was numb. The doctor was very thorough. He did not find any neuro problems but wanted to see if I had nerve problems. He ordered 3 MRI's of my back. He called as soon as he had the reports back and gave my husband the news that I had "old bones" and no nerve damage. He did not make a suggestion about what we were to do from there. He gave his diagnosis.
  

July 3, 2008- Orthopedic {no.2}

• Still in tremendous pain and at the suggestion of family and our family friend Phil, I made an appointment at "THE" place to go for Orthopedics. It is in Houston and it is a practice made up of prestigious Orthopedics. He diagnosed me with spinal compression fractures at L3 and T12, and had degenerative discs. I asked if I needed a bone density test because I felt the compression fractures shouldn’t have happened. He laughed and said I was way too young. To recover I was essentially put on bed rest for 6 weeks. We were blessed to know 1 high school student who would be able to drive over at 7:00a.m. and leave at 4:30p.m. everyday to take care of Monkey and me while BBD went to work.
  

 August 1, 2008- Primary Physician

• I was in pain still. I made an appointment with my family practice doctor and I told him to order me a bone density test. He also ordered a bone scan. He checked my vitamin levels and thyroid for precaution. His nurse called me a few days later and told me I had Osteoporosis, my blood and thyroid were good. They left a sample of Boniva at the front counter. I picked up the medicine but I did not take it. I was not satisfied with the diagnosis and at the urging of my sister D, I made an appointment with my OB/Gyn. D told me that something was not right. She said I had secondary Osteoporosis, which means that I had another condition that was causing the Osteoporosis. I listened to her.
  

August 21, 2008- OB/Gyn 

• As much as she wanted, she couldn’t help me and sent me to "the best" Endocrinologist who could help me.

August 26,2008-Endocrinologist  

• My appointment was originally scheduled for October. When I told the receptionist my health history and diagnosis they saw me 4 days after I made the original appointment. The Dr. ran blood work to check thyroid, calcium and confirmed that I was negative for Celiac disease. A DXA study and VFA were performed. My L1-L4 was -2.8 and left hip was -1.4. My FSH, LH and prolactic were all normal. Because the evaluation for secondary causes of osteoporosis was unremarkable he treated me for a possible case of pregnancy associated bone loss which is very rare. (I started to take Actonel monthly in September. It caused major GI issues so I discontinued Actonel in November. I let the Endo's nurse know. She confirmed that this was the best decision because if I was vomiting I could very well break a rib.) 

{In the meantime, our babysitter started her senior year in August. I managed to take care of Monkey but had to make adjustments. I was not able to go upstairs because of the pain. I set up a pack and play in our master bedroom. I was still unable to ride in a car because of the pain. Everybody continued with their lives. We had to put our home on the market because I was not able to take care of Monkey by myself in a two story home. I was also not able to bathe him. My family helped us out every time we needed them. I also had developed pain in my hip that caused me to walk slowly. It was obvious to anybody that I was having difficulties walking. I consulted with my endocrinologist and I even questioned if my hip was broken.}

 {During this time Monkey continues to grow.}

December 8, 2008 Rheumotologist

• This was the day the movers moved our stuff in to our new home. My mom gave me the name of this doctor and heard he was good. I went because I was walking slowly and it was very painful to sit or walk. Just like all the previous doctors, I explained my symptoms. I told him that I was numb, dizzy, my hip and back were hurting.He was concerned that there was a possible malignancy that might be causing osteoporosis and was disappointed that this had not been considered up to this point. He ordered the blood work which showed I was negative for any malignancies. Dr. said I had a bursa and he gave me a steroid shot to see if it would help my hip. He also told me it may or may not work and he could only do 1 shot because the steroid would soften my bones, which is no good for osteoporosis. He was very concerned that I had so much numbness and tingling. He gave me Lyrica for the numbness, Mobic for the arthritic feelings and Tramadol for the pain. The Lyrica did not help me at 200mg/day.The Tramadol and Mobic also did not help. However, the VERY NEXT DAY I COULD WALK! I woke up and cried I was so happy. I called my family crying and they cried with me. Everybody stopped by our home to see the "miracle."

January, 2009-Follow up with the Rheumatologist

• Told him that my symptoms had not changed. I also told him about an incident in which I went to check on Monkey and I saw a black mass instead of my 9 month old baby. There was also an incident where I went to get Monkey out of bed and it was as if I had never held him before. I just sat there until I could think of what to do with him. This experience only lasted a few minutes. My husband also wanted me to tell him about some cognitive issues he thought I was having and that I woke up with that paralysis I had first experienced in June. {All of these situations happened in our new home/in one month.} He ordered me to have an EMG and EEG done as well as an MRI of the brain. This was in response to all of my symptoms.

He decided that no bisphosphonates would work if they made me nauseous. My daily Yasmin would provide the estrogen I needed to improve my bone density.  I told him I was in pain in my hip, tailbone and back. This concerned him because osteoporosis did not cause pain. He referred me to an Orthopedic Specialist who specializes in Osteoporosis at Baylor.
January 2009 Follow up with Endocrinologist

•  

January 27, 2008 Neurologist {no.1}

•  He conducted the EEG and EMG which were both "normal." I sat there and told him he was wrong because I was numb and I had tingling. The doctor mentioned that other factors such as Multiple Sclerosis or a brain tumor could cause such symptoms but did not order an MRI. I called back the next day and told the nurse that I wanted to go ahead and do the MRI. She called back and said he "didn't consider me a patient with a tumor or MS." Frustrating.
• I wanted the neuro to order the MRI so he would be able to read the results. When he said no, I went ahead with the MRI prescription from the rheumatologist.

February 11, 2009 

• 
  
  The rheumatologist called with my results from the MRI. He said everything was fine but he suggested that I needed another neuro consult. He felt something neurologically was wrong. By this time I had researched MS and began to diagnose myself. I asked if he thought MS was a possibility based on my symptoms and he said he definitely would see a different neurologist to eliminate that possibility.

 February 13, 2008-Orthopedic surgeon {no.3)

• He was concerned with my symptoms but was not sure what could be going on. When he looked at my MRI from June he noticed that my T12 was a Schmoral’s Node fracture which was puzzling to him because it was inconsistent with my age, my osteoporosis and the way I fractured my back. He and my endocrinologist discussed my case and decided that I needed a bone biopsy to rule out osteomalacia, metabolic bone disorders and diseases that could contribute to accelerated bone loss.

February 2009- Neurosurgeon {no.1}

 {This page still under construction.}