About 15 years ago, my poodles were fighting with each other and I was trying to separate them, pulling the larger Standard Poodle away, when I felt my back go. The pain was excruciating, but all the GP did was give me strong painkillers.  

A few years later, I was out shopping and bumped my trolley up a step in the car park. I felt a pain in my rib area. The osteopath I was seeing at the time examined me and said he thought I’d fractured a rib. I had a private DXA scan and my osteopath simply said “I’m not touching you” after seeing the results, and explained what osteoporosis was. That was it – I wasn’t told anything else or given any help. 

When I eventually got to speak to a GP, he prescribed alendronic acid and advised that I take it to avoid becoming ‘bent in half’. I was struggling with back spasms, and was given anti-spasm tablets to take for a short while which worked really well – I just wish they’d been prescribed sooner.  

I later had an X-ray which showed that I had three spinal fractures.  

My third spinal fracture happened when I was stretching up to reach a t-shirt off a rail in a supermarket. Since then, I won’t risk things like lifting heavy objects, and I get other people to help me. I feel scared of what could happen – for example while I could previously touch my toes I daren’t do it now.  

“I was 5’3” before my spinal fractures, and I’m now 4’10”. Due to the fractures causing my stomach to protrude, I can’t eat as much, and I have to be careful what I do eat, because anything that makes my bowel swell causes pain too.” 

Being so squashed up has caused me to have a hiatus hernia, and people think you’ve become ‘fat’ because of how your stomach looks.  

While I’m sitting down I’m not in pain – it’s when I try to walk the pain starts. Because my legs are fine, people don’t realise the amount of pain I’m in with my back, and friends would say “for goodness sake, stand up straight!” which was hurtful and frustrating, as people just don’t understand. 

I can’t lie flat and need to take two cushions with me to the dentist as I can’t lie back in the chair without them. I also have to use a double thick cushion when I drive, to help protect my back when going over bumps in the road. I also have a portable back support called a ‘Backfriend’ which I use in other people’s cars. I now take it wherever I go, as without it I wouldn’t be level with a table to eat, due to my loss of height.    

I currently own a Toy Poodle, who has taught himself to help me. If I drop something, he’ll rush over to pick it up and give it to me, and if my back is being particularly bad he’ll pull my socks off if I can’t manage it. My animals are my life. 

I did a lot of research on osteoporosis as nobody seemed to know anything about it. For instance, when I went to the dentist for an X-ray, they used a new machine which went round my back as I was standing up. It hit the hump on my back, which hurt me and caused bruising. The staff hadn’t received training on how to safely operate the machine with patients who have physical issues.  

I’m a member of ROS and find the magazine really helpful – I read it all the time. I also go to the Northampton support group every other week, where we have an informal chat amongst ourselves. It’s good to talk with other people who have the same condition, who get what you’re going through. Because not everyone does. 

“People don’t understand what living with spinal fractures is like. They assume you have poor posture or are just slouching.” 

Spinal fractures mean that the muscles no longer support your back as they once did. Your internal organs have to go somewhere as they’re being pushed out of their normal position, hence your stomach protrudes, and when you sit, some of these organs seem to go under your ribs and so on standing you have to release these. Not only is your back now humped, it impacts on your neck and head, so now your neck feels uncomfortable too. Your legs and arms are fine but you need support like a rollator to allow you to walk when you’re out, but being in a bent position like this leads to your lungs being affected and therefore you get out of breath and have to keep stopping. Then there’s the loss of height. Shopping becomes more difficult as you can no longer reach some of the shelves, so you’re constantly asking strangers for help. 

You put a smile on your face and go out and face the world each day, with nobody really understanding the fear of falling over and fracturing bones. You’re no longer able to do the things you once did, in case it causes another fracture. 

You live your life around ‘will I be okay to do this?’. It’s a life lived in fear. It’s important to me that other people don’t have to experience the same loss of their quality of life that I have. Everyone should be aware of the condition and the truly life-altering effects it can have, so that it can be prevented.   

No More Broken Bones. No More Broken Lives. 

Will you donate today and stop osteoporosis from breaking lives?