From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers
stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry
appeared in August of 2014.
The word today is
“osteoporosis”.
My wife just had a
“bone density scan” done and the doctor said that the indications are that she
has the beginning stages of this disease.
So I thought I’d
take a step back and do a “translating the doctors” column.
First of all – why
does the bone density of a breast cancer patient matter. (I won’t be using the
last letter of the alphabet, a question mark or the mathematical symbol for
nothing – they have stopped working.) At any rate, bone density matters: “Osteoporosis
is a condition in which the bones become less dense and more likely to
fracture.”
Sounds simple
enough. Factors that figure into the disease are on this site, too. The problem
is that: “Women who have had breast cancer treatment may be at increased risk
for osteoporosis and fracture for several reasons. First, estrogen has a
protective effect on bone, and reduced levels of the hormone trigger bone
loss…Studies suggest that chemotherapy also may have a direct negative effect
on bone. In addition, the breast cancer itself may stimulate the production of
osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone.”
In order to
monitor patients during treatment and afterwards, doctors do something called a
“bone scan”. What’s THAT mean (question mark)
Here’s a simple
explanation of what happens: “The DXA (= Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry) machine
sends a thin, invisible beam of low-dose x-rays with two distinct energy peaks
through the bones being examined. One peak is absorbed mainly by soft tissue
and the other by bone. The soft tissue amount can be subtracted from the total
and what remains is a patient's bone mineral density…it feature[s a] special
software to compute and display the bone density measurements on a computer
monitor.”
The question now
is does this mean you should panic – and the doctor’s advice is “NO!” While
osteoporosis can’t be “cured”, you can take steps to lessen the effects.
“Getting enough calcium and vitamin D is essential to building strong,
dense bones when you're young and to keeping them strong and healthy as
you age.”
And you do that by
eating well “…food is the best source of calcium. Dairy products, such as
low-fat and non-fat milk, yogurt and cheese are high in calcium. Certain green
vegetables and other foods contain calcium in smaller amounts. Some juices,
breakfast foods, soymilk, cereals, snacks, breads and bottled water have
calcium that has been added. If you drink soymilk or another liquid that is
fortified with calcium, be sure to shake the container well as calcium can
settle to the bottom.”
In our case, my
wife is planning to increase her calcium intake – while she uses the chocolate
“calcium chews”, she’ll add in the foods.
So if SHE’S not
panicking, no reason for anyone else to panic! Be smart and eat well and take
the drugs prescribed. If we end up going that route, I’ll do another post. But
for now, this is what we know!
Resources: http://www.niams.nih.gov/Health_Info/Bone/Osteoporosis/Conditions_Behaviors/osteoporosis_breast_cancer.asp,
http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=dexa,
http://nof.org/articles/10#CALCIUMSOURCES
Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg
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