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(rheumatologist/endocrinologist wants a BD test now & in 3 months.

GRANDmother19
0 Recommendations

I have had two primary cancers stages 3 & 4. Some of you know me. Found a doctor I really like. He wants to do two BD tests, one next week and again in mid January. Is this safe? How much radiation is involved. Does it make sense? What can change in 3 months? The only thing I can take is Calcitonin as bisphosphonates put me at high risk for ONJ. (had stage 4 H&N cancer) What's he looking for after the lapse of 3 months? All I do is take lots of vitamin D3, cal, mag, C, walk 3 to 4 miles a day. So what do you think? I simply forgot to ask him myself. Thanks friends

lana

Explore topics in this discussion:

Exercise Cancer Menopause Forteo Osteoporosis Head and neck cancer Breast cancer

19 replies

millie123

Hiya, Grandma! Long time no hear! I'm glad you found a doctor you like. I'll have to say I'm not sure what difference he expects to see in 3 months. I do know that dexas are very low in radiation, but that's about it. I know you'll keep us updated. Good luck!

DBM

DXAs 3 months apart are an excellent way of wasting money, especially if it is not your own. It also gives the doctor some time to procrastinate while appearing to be doing something. I am on forteo and my Dr. (Endo) said I should not expect to see any difference in 9 months. I attribute part of this statement to his desire to foresall any news of failure but the recommended time lapse between DXAs is 2 -3 years, not months. Beware of charming doctors. My policy is to never like one too much and watch out for suspicious-sounding statements, which is what you seem to be doing. good for you.

If there really is not any effective medication for someone with your medical history, you can help the doctor say so. medical science is not perfect. "We are still collecting pebbles on the seashore"

dixiecup

I doubt that your insurance will pay for two bone density tests in 3 months. Medicare will cover one bone density test every 24 months.

GRANDmother19

Thank you members for your replies. Very helpful DBM- as usual. No! No goddocs for sure. First hand major nightmare experiencialS!

Even Dr. Google messes with my mind.

SantaFe

Lana,
I know you are already taking D3, but this video that Millie posted on cancer and Vit D is really good, and I thought you might get some extra encouragement from seeing it. It's boring at first but hang in there as the statistics on breast cancer and Vit D and the amount to take for cancer are really amazing. I have so MANY friends with breast cancer I can't believe it, and this woman is on a crusade to get them this info!
Warmly, Santa Fe

SantaFe

OOPS,
Forgot to post the link to video:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/10/Vitamin-D-Exp erts-Reveal-the-Truth.aspx

Santa Fe

GRANDmother19

Dear Santa Fe, WOW! Loved the article. Will view the video. And ya know, I have been reading for years now, (because of my cancers) so many differing opinions about alternative medicine; the holistic thing; AND they can't even agree. Makes me crazy. My discovery of vitamin D3 came ONLY as a result of my advanced osteo; and I liked all of the literature about D3 (specifically). Not D2! So I just went for it. I am very grateful to you for sending me this link. Consider me a disciple, a true "follower" who will "testify" to others. The thing is - the sun is free. And we know how to be careful in the sun. It is natural. We don't have to be convinced of that fact! Vitamin D3 is nearly impossible on which to overdose. Just doesn't happen. Then there's the very simple blood test. My D level went from twenty something to 77 in six months; at 10,000 IU's a day. Now I take 6,000 a day. Of course this article thrilled me. I have survived two primary cancers; one being stage three breast, estrogen pos - as most of you know by now. Thanks again Santa Fe. I am on a mission!

AND FRIENDS. DO NOT LET ME INFLUENCE YOU. I AM REALLY SPEAKING TO SANTA FE. I ALREADY KNOW THE HOLISTIC FREAKS WHO PREY ON US LATE STAGE CANCER (TRYING) SURVIVORS. So do your own research on this topic! Love to all.

millie123

Well, shoot. I posted that link and haven't had time to watch it myself. Guess I'll just have to make the time. I always get a kick out of Grandmother 19 and Santa Fe. Keep on keeping on!

GRANDmother19

Hey peeps - what's up with prunes?

SantaFe

Millie,
Thanks for posting that video and DO watch it---the woman has survived double mastectomy and has charts and stats on Vit D and breast cancer---and a doctor gives good info also.

Lana,
Your story is amazing and is so inspiring to others struggling with cancer and osteo.
Having just had a recall for a VERY abnormal mammogram, I have been looking for such inspiring women and their stories with this dreaded disease.

Thanfully, it ended up a new "green" radiologist read my x-rays, and the Chief of Radiology said she just wasn't experienced with such dense breasts as mine, and since I have to be more careful with dense breasts, she will be the only one to read my x-rays from now on as they are EXTREMELY dense and hard to read.
The upside of extremely dense breasts, she said, are they will never sag.............So,apparently, when I am very old and the rest of my body is really decrepit, I will still have perky firm breasts! Something to look forward to.....
LOL, Santa Fe

PS--I agree about being careful with all the holistic crazes out there---they are also mostly profit driven.
The Soy Craze ruined my thyroid and raised my husbands PSA into the danger zone---thankfully it went right down after he stopped soy. But my thyroid never recovered and it's just now coming out how dangerous soy can be.

betterbones

Grandmother - I have been doing the prunes for @6 months now... google PRUNES AND OSTEOPOROSIS - you'll see the studies there. Apparently there is something in the dried prunes (not fresh plums -although those are good for you on another level - as fruit and vitamins) - that reverses bone loss. YOu need to eat 9-10 a day (split it up during the day and there is no laxative effect) - and just add the calories into your usual daily count. (10 prunes -- 220 cal.).
Also, google KALE and ostepporosis - this helps reverse the bone loss too.
Here's to google.

Better bones

SantaFe

Betterbones and Grandmother,
There is some caution now out about the prunes with cancer patients. Apparently it raises the IGF-1 factor quite high (insulin growth factor) something you don't want in cancer patients.
Although there is thought that the high boron amount in prunes will neutralize the IGF-1 --- no one has really checked this yet.
I have been on the 10 prunes a day for months now and plan to get my IGF-1 tested to see if it is elevated. So I would caution Grandmother (Lana) to talk to her doctor first regarding the consequences of elevated IGF with her cancer. Maybe this is just speculative, but better to err on the side of caution me thinks.
Warmly, Santa Fe

GRANDmother19

"Happily married." Now that's a novelty Ms. Santa Fe! Read about MY Inspiration.

Um - gonna check on the prune thing. Not a clue about IGF-1 - Has never been mentioned to me in my entire life, via any of my tests and blood work over the past several years of treatment and "follow-up" appointments. Nada!

I think I "got" things figured out here. A real personal revelation. My doctors know how to tell me exactly how much I weigh when I ask, because they now have digital scales, and I don't have one.

They can tell me that I have cancer, what stage, what size the tumor, treatment options, tell me to do the chemo thing or I will die, (should I say imply)? the mastectomy or I will die, insist on adjuvant medications if estrogen positive or I'm in trouble, (however I have to tell THEM about the side effects cuz they DON'T know, they may suggest a surgeon to saw off a not so perky boobie or two (sorry gentlemen), even give me some odds of surviving based on "stats" LOL!, And a bunch of other stuff that I don't give a shit about; yet they cannot tell me how I got the breast cancer. But I can tell them that I absolutely KNOW how I got it, and they REFUSE to acknowledge what's been scientifically proven in ALL of the studies. They will not even consider the "probability." Not my doctors!Seven years on HRT I was given when I didn't have one single symptom of menopause. And not catching the tumor on a yearly mammo. I am the first and only person in my entire family in generations who has been diagnosed with any cancer. And two times!

I found the first 5cm fucker at 10:00 P.M. on a Friday night, soaking in a bubble bath. I just KNEW! And it was Friday. Very long week-end. Back-up. Yikes - did GRANDmother say the F word? Please don't kick me off the site. It's just that the word really expresses intensity of emotion; that's all. "Darn thing", just "don't do it."

But in all fairness, the doctors do tell me on a "routine" basis that neither cancer has come back "yet." Whoops, the doctor did tell me I had stage-four head and neck cancer in 2005 and that it wasn't related to the breast cancer. NO! Wait, I'm wrong. The doctor didn't tell me. I stormed into his office without an appointment and TOLD HIM, yelled it out as the blood secreted my throat. "I have base of the tongue cancer DOCTOR Y." Biopsy confirmed it. Know where I found out? Dr. Google! And I wasn't even sent a bill.

Thanks again sweet Santa Fe. I trust you a lot, and another member DMB. You're both somehow calling the plays in this game I'm in and I know how to win with really good coaches! Life is a game. It just is. And it's fun too. You win. You lose. You tie. It's a good game.

Hey I was the first female soccer coach in the league here. Coached my son for nine years. All but two undefeated seasons, second place in the two losses. And 14 games without the other team scoring a single goal - via my defense strategy. Kept all great players in back field and used only one striker to get us one goal; sometimes several. The other coaches hated me. Well, too strong a word. No. Well yeah. They hated me. LOLOLOL. (Laughing Out Loud). Oh those were the happiest days of my life.

Whew! Feel so much better now. Where was I? Prunes. Yes. Need to find out about my future relationship with prunes.

Let's go geddum girls.

"On the day I was born
The nurses all gathered 'round.
And they gazed in wide wonder
At the joy they had found

The head nurse spoke up
And she said leave this one alone
She could tell right away
That I was bad to the bone

Bad to the bone Bad to the bone
B-B-B-B-Bad to the bone
B-B-B-B-Bad B-B-B-B-
Bad Bad to the bone."

-----George Thorogood

millie123

Wow. Good one, GRandma.

SantaFe

Lana,
What a poignant and beautifully written "Inspiration."
You described my own husband to a tee! How lucky we are---even with all this health-drama and commotion.

You've really got balls.
What an ordeal and disgrace re the medical community---Most patients just don't have the courage or energy to take a stand like that for their health.

On the positive side, the fact that your D level rose so quickly to 77 tells me that your metabolism must be in really good shape---many people take years to get a high D level. I'll put good healing thoughts out for you and let that healing D rip !
Warmly,
Santa Fe

justosteopenia

GRANDmother19, Santa Fe et al,
Wow, Grandma.....Holy C***! You are my "New Inpiration" I will update that tomorrow. U Rock! I will NEVER complain again. God Bless hubby too.

Santa Fe, Thanks ever so much for introducing the site about D. I have a lot of reading to do. I did take the time to listen to the 30min. U tube spot It was most informative and very much needed to confirm all my thoughts. I will check out their other site tomorrow. This is so important, can I suggest that U start a new post for the group that says something like, " Current Vitamin D info. " to bring more attention to it. (that is if U haven't already done this) It is so important to all of us probably the most important thing I have read on this site. I've had 3 blood test and have been uping my D for about 6 months now. I am still not near where I should be. There is so much controversy on this. My mind is now at ease and I am convinced. I can't THANK YOU enough.

GRANDmother19, there is strength in numbers....let's kiss some A** I'm with U all the way
Caring is Sharing
xo Justosteopenia

GRANDmother19

Dear dear dear "Just"osteopenia. Okay, if that's your chosen screen name, I will TRY to respect it. But I want you to know, that it is because of your humble nature that you minimize your condition. Clearly you don't feel comfortable complaining on this site, because you are using the rest of us as your yardstick on which to write and vent. Humility is the most wonderful quality a human being can possess. It is a deeply spiritual attribute dear heart. Notice I placed an emphasis on the "Just" word in your screen name. And please know that the word "just" (in my context here), is referring to the word "justice." I believe that you have a sense of justice and fair play. I would bet that you come last in your life; because you are both humble and fair-minded. Thus "Just." I might add that my two-year old GRANDdaughter's name is Justice. Long story; and the star in my universe. What is your name?

You touched my heart more than I could ever express in words, because you added me, a complete stranger, to the world of YOUR inspiration. I gasped when I read it; feeling so incredibly honored yet unworthy. Too too many others with very sad stories than mine.Tears poured from my eyes; you added GRANDmother19 along side your sister, who you made sound like she may have left this earthly plain and taken flight to the immortal realm.

You also set off an alarm in my head to contribute in whatever way I can, in assisting others to simply achieve a greater awareness of their own disease. You have given me a greater sense of responsibility, I would say; to stay on this site. Wow!

Do READ and indeed get those mega doses of Vitamin D3. But you must take it with magnesium in order for the vitamin to do what it's supposed to do; strengthen bones.(Can't say more about it cuz I forgot the scientific answer). Add calcium too. Remember; D3, not D or D2. Eat well and exercise; no matter how much you may hate it. You must, absolutely must take action and fight against the persistent self which says, "Geez, I just don't "feel" like doing this today." Remember always, that feelings do not have intelligence. And they will lead you astray.

To you "Just" and all others; DO NOT believe anything I have said. I would never believe me. Go and seek out your own knowledge. I do not want anyone to do anything I have said (except to exercise - safely). Lots of info on osteo sufferers & exercise. Read and study. Absolute truth is not a relative thing. Two plus two is four. It is an absolute. Go do your thing girl.

It is so nice meeting you!

Warmest regards,
Lana

bettyrenshaw

HELLO TWIN
GRANDMOM

you and I and sarah--
except I know nothing about soccer ==we speak the same language--when we get riled!

Your letter could be mis-taken, by those who know me--to be from me.

I think you got your message across beautifully and BOY, am I glad that I DIDN'T MISS IT!!!

MotherGoose

Grandmother 19:
A DEXA is not the only " for bone loss.
I might think the doctor's intention may be related to bone marker tests, done within such time frames as you describe. They are usually blood tests (or maybe urine). This is a way of finding out if your regime is effective.
Lucy Buckley PT aka Mother Goose

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