Bone Density check - bits of info Midnight Special

The other day reporting to a hospital for a chest x-ray (for allergies, big cough) I remembered I will be getting the two-year bone density scan that Medicare allows to find out if the Prolia I take actually works.

I kind of remembered the entry area and felt it's the same place I got my original density scan.  (Can't resist telling people that only my hips were scanned because there's lumbar fusion metal in my spine.)

Seems like the very same day I decided this was the place, I also ran into an online recommendation that we do go to the same place for a second scan.  This makes perfect sense to me - same room, probably same apparatus, same method and so on.  Most important to me:  May be the same Radiologic Tech as before!

The original scan of my right hip (the one thus diagnosed with osteoporosis) was a very uncomfortable process.  I just lay there and took it til it was over, then the Tech had no idea why I felt so uncomfortable.  I want more info on why that happened.  Especially if it hurts this next time.

As I've mentioned, I have a funny hip the won't do everything limber people do.

I want my next (maybe final) Prolia before the scan.  Let Prolia give its best shot to this hip; then we'll see.

PROLIA and other questions pt 2 MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

Saw the doctor yesterday.  He told me that Prolia is a two-year program.  I decided not to worry about it.  Then he said since I had osteoporosis when I started, I might need Prolia more than this two years.  Then I DID decide to worry about it..  But so far, so good.  

 But is it working?  He will send me for a 2nd year scan.  He had no definite answer on why the first scan was so uncomfortable.  I do know I have a funny hip....will ask tech during next scan.

I told him I had no effects from the fall to my knees when the kid in the pickup was crowding me up against the sidewalk a couple of weeks ago.      I need the scan anyway.

The very weird discoloration after getting overheated, last week and the "full-body warm flashes" also seem to him normal (not sure if that's for my age instead of Tamox.)

I'll check with his office next week to see if I'm to get the bone scan before this 4th Prolia, or after. It may not matter either way.  Am kind interested to see if that right hip is significantly better.

I wish you health.

BONES - Care and feeding of

Tomorrow is my oncologist apptmt. (I really like him.)   Prolia is bound to enter the conversation. Two days ago I gave billing office entire Medicare deductible for year for Jan. Prolia inj.

I hate the things I don't know about Prolia.

   I don't know if the people referred to my dentist for ONJ were taking Prolia or the pills
   I don't know if Prolia is even strengthening my bones, since I haven't had another scan
   I don't know if science has learned more about possible effects on the rest of my body
   I don't know if there's more research since the 2012 NCBI article I've saved
   Have enough women been saved from fracture?

  I don't know whether to have the next Prolia injection.  I'm sure Dr. will want me to.  He doesn't want me to fall and break a bone.

Speaking of falls:  Mayo Clinic has put out much info on balance problems. They focus a lot on inner ear problems, and their balance team.  Physical therapy has done me much good without a team.
Balance problems can make me fall, and Prolia may/may not keep a bone from breaking.

OTHER THINGS MAKE ME FALL and RISK BONES

Culprits:
Muscle relaxant pills and strong pain pills
Dehydration fainting.  911 tech made me drink a bottle of water
Bad sandals with soles that's won't let me turn on smooth floors - almost fell
Bad shoes poorly made - my feet slide around in them or out of them
A little vertigo getting out of bed or off exam table at times (but I haven't fallen)
Mild vertigo but I haven't fallen if I suddenly look left and down.
Careless motorists (some but not all young) backing up without looking
Sudden changes in sidewalk or street or hallway floor level.
Sitting way too long and getting up stiff

Solutions:
A cane hooked on the nightstand for night walking
A chair near bed holds my flashlight
Some neat sox with extra padding if shoes seem too loose some days
Giving up wearing heels.
Remembering to pick up my feet since I need  a "throw" rug in kitchen door
Using the railing on stairs
Not using stairs when a heavy bag unbalances me
Shout if necessary, bang on fender when careless motorist backs toward  you
Walk as PTh told me - weight on f'wd heel, feet not too close together


A very smart lady lawyer  once said in an article on falling:

The worst cause of falls may be the FEAR of falling!

I'm sure that's true, because physical therapy had to cure my fear of going down stairs.

I wish you health.

PREDICTIONS - WHAT TO TEST,, WHAT NOT

Thank Heaven my primary has a clue to this

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/880535?src=soc_tw_170528_mscpedt_news_mdscp_mdscp_lee

CANCER BREAKTHROUGH DRUG - and a clear look at exceptions

"In Bold Move, FDA Approves Cancer Drug For Any Advanced Tumor With Genetic Changes"  Forbes  Elaine Schattner 

I almost gave up on this article (which was on Twitter this week) because I'm not familiar with the disease types that may be helped.  

But the writing is so clear and important that I marched through the first two paragraphs.  And found the WHY of this important turning point:

"It suggests the agency may be ditching an archaic system for classifying cancers based on body parts—like breast or liver or colon cancer—and instead will focus on molecular aspects of malignancies, qualities that render tumors 

vulnerable, or not, to targeted drugs."

We're talking about Keytruda.  And we've arrived at the possible problems and considerations;:

"The FDA cites data compiled from five non-randomized studies that support this drug’s effectiveness in various tumor types."  Generally, I hesitate when I see the words non-randomized studies.

Then: $Cost.  Big.  And high toxicity. 


Then two things I would hope for if it were my tumor, my body: physician's judgment.

And appropriateness/accuracy: 
"Distinct ways of checking tumors for these abnormalities could yield variable results."

Yes, a tough road, tough decisions.  

And I remember something beautiful I retweeted this week: with apologies to the original writer, 
something about the patient being the only one who knows all that's really going on in his body.

I wish you health.

 

SOURCES, PLEASE, please COFFEE BREAK

Two new posts on Twitter just now on costs of screening later for BC and at what age.

I'm not quoting them.  There has been so much disagreement on when/vs/what age, vs something else that I want to know:  what specific study popped out these figures, and how recently.

And how often that study has been cited as a reliable one.

In short, I like to know Who Says So.

Meanwhile, I'm sticking with my oncologist who still favors a yearly mammo for people who have already had DCIS.  And that's regardless of who says now it's "not really cancer."

I wish you health.

Patient Experience = Yours - Coffee Break

I got this on Twitter, retweeted by someone I follow:

Advisory Board‏ @AdvisoryBd  May 15

We'll be talking about #PatientExperience for all of May. Tweet us your stories using #TreatThePerson!

hashtag #TreatThePerson

I Googled Advisory Board, got a pile of things.  If you're on Twitter or can get a minute on someone's, you might use the hashtag, tell it like it was.