"My diagnosis left me stunned" - Daphne's story

"In the summer of 2019, I received a diagnosis of osteoporosis in a way that left me completely stunned."

"I joke now that the clinician who first told me hadn’t quite mastered the art of breaking difficult news. Still, there I was - feeling as strong and active as I'd ever been, and confident in my lifelong track record of sturdy bones, child‑bearing hips, and a fondness for dairy when nearly seventy years of positive feelings about my bone health were crushed in a few brief moments. The nurse who had just completed my bone density (DEXA) scan spoke quickly about T scores and warned that I could break a bone at any moment, even in bed.   

“Needless to say, I didn’t sleep at all that night, and badly for many nights afterwards. I was living on the south Devon coast at the time and spent much of the next few days half out of my mind, wandering on the beach, looking at ribbed sands, picking up broken shells, inspecting barnacles in rock pools. Everything reminded me of my bones which, I believed at the time, were about to crumble into dust."

Knowledge is power 

“Thankfully, those anguished first days passed as I began to educate myself on what it all meant. I found the ROS and spoke at length with a specialist nurse there who was indeed supportive, and for the first time I began to think I might still have some sort of life. 

“Six years on and I know now  a lot more - including how the hyperparathyroid condition I have is related to osteoporosis – but, even so, when later scans showed further deterioration and I had to change medication to the twice-yearly denosumab injection, I became despondent again and was grateful to get support once more from the ROS.  

“For all my life, whilst never a go-to-the-gym or training programme sort of person, I was a great walker, loved swimming and dancing, would run for a bus if I had to. Two days before I got my diagnosis, I’d been climbing a tree. Post diagnosis, even when I realised I wasn’t crumbling to dust, I became far less active, gained weight and lost confidence: the beginning of an unhelpful downward spiral."  

Getting active again 

“I’ve decided now that I want to re-gain as much of my physicality and flexibility as I can, and return to enjoying my walks in nature, and my grandma dancing around the lounge. I’ve made a commitment to do the East Yorkshire Half Marathon (the 10k bit of it!) at the Summer Solstice to raise funds for ROS whilst doing so.” 

Visit Daphne’s JustGiving page to read more about her motivations for this challenge and show your support or go to our Fundraising events to sign up for your own fundraising challenge!