A Little Bump in the Road

As I write today I’m a little less scatterbrained than I was on Wednesday, but a little more disheartened. After impatiently waiting for what seemed like forever, I received a call from my physical therapist in Detroit, Diane.

Before I get into details of the call, let’s talk about bone density a little bit. Bone density is measured by what they call T-scores. Your T-score is your bone density compared with what is normally expected in a healthy young adult of your gender and it shows you if you are above or below the average.

If you have a T-score of -1 and above, your bone density is considered normal. If your scores are between -1 and -2.5, you have osteopenia, a condition which your bone density is below normal and could lead to osteoporosis. Anything below -2.5 is considered as osteoporosis.

My T-score in my hips is -4.2.

Despite my extremely low T-score, I hoped that Diane would have good news for me – that I would still be able to come up in June for therapy. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The medical director for CSCIR sets bone density parameters in which patients must adhere to and still be considered safe and not subject to a possible fracture. The lowest T-score they allow in the program is -3.5 which means I am .7 units away from qualifying.

Being .7 units off doesn’t sound like much and you would think I’d be able to acquire that in no time, right? Not necessarily the case. I am going to start on a medication that will hopefully help me regenerate some bone, as well as begin a calcium regiment. Between those things and continuing my workouts of peddling 10+ miles on my e-stim bike and standing in my standing frame, I hope by next summer I will be at -3.5 or better.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t bummed about not being able to go. I love Detroit, but I can’t tell you how glad I am to find out about my osteoporosis through a bone scan instead of the hard way…fracturing a hip. I’m confident in our plan to curb the degeneration and I know that as fast as time passes, next summer will be upon us soon and hopefully I’ll be packing my bags to head up to the D.

It’s just a little bump in the road, but God has a plan, right? He must have know I’m a first-year head volleyball coach and that it would be in my best interest to stay home and put all my energy into prepping for the season!! Those girls better be ready because I sure will be! =)

Side note:

 After Wednesday’s post, I have to thank you all for your support and your prayers. It means more to me than you’ll ever know!