I’m calling Monday 3rd July ‘Day 0’. Given that I wasn’t seen in A and E until 2am on Tuesday 4th, the Monday doesn’t really count, so from here on in, I’ll be referring to individual days as a count from Tuesday 4th =1. Today is day 11 so I’m trying to capture as much of my early days experience as quickly and accurately as I can before too much time passes. After all I’m a 50-year-old woman with my fair share of memory fog.
My age raises an interesting concern: the possibility that my arm broke due to bone density issues. The thought didn’t cross my mind – to me I’d just gone down in a convincing spiralling ‘splat’ against hard tarmac – but my GP raised it in a phone call I had on day 3. I’ll get back to this later, I’m sure. He’s insisting that I arrange a bone density scan after my fracture clinic visit at Frimley Park next Thursday. I feel a bit sulky at the suggestion – after all I eat healthily, and exercise more than most women of my age, I resent the idea that I’m a candidate for osteoporosis. As I said to my netball team friends – ‘You should see how much cheese I eat!’
Funny thing is, this very concern had crossed my mind only the day before my fall. I had been for a gentle 5km run around the parkrun course at Rushmoor, Aldershot, on the Sunday. It was a ‘getting back into running’ jog to get my legs turning over after six weeks off due to heavy work commitments and an infected blackfly bite. Coincidentally I had sustained the blackfly bite at netball three weeks previously. I am very prone to them and always react horribly with bloated, infected legs. The swelling on my left lower leg had finally receded and I was ready to start the road back to running fitness. I loved my run! On the way back with Geoff I commented that as part of losing weight and getting fit I really ought to look up alkalizing diets, as I was conscious that with perimenopause under way I should be giving my bones the best possible chance. Oh the irony! So I have very mixed feelings about getting my bone density checked but ultimately it will be worth knowing if this turns out to have been a factor. I will be able to take whatever appropriate measures are recommended. I still think it was just the force of the fall though… we shall see.
In the meantime I have been finding out about best bone-strengthening foods and minerals to help speed my recovery. Here’s a fabulous article from Betterbones.com.
A humerus tale 