I've been spending far too much time here lately - Dixie Regional Medical Center. This is a bronze statue in the parking lot which is really cool - about 30 feet tall and full of tiny details.
On the 12th I had a DEXA bone density scan done. Here is what that looks like. It takes about 5 minutes.
My last scan was done in 2004. Due to the nature of my fracture my ortho doc wanted to see what my bone density was now. My collar bone didn't just break but the middle of it kinda disintegrated. Such a large gap was left it needed plated and will take a long time for bone to grow back across the gap.
Bone Mass Density (BMD) is ranked by a T-Score. Your T-score is your BMD compared to the average score of a healthy 30-year-old. It is expressed as a standard deviation (SD), which is a statistical measure of how closely each person in a group is to the average (mean) of the group. The average BMD is determined by measuring the bone density of a large group of healthy 30-year-olds (young adult reference range). BMD values are then reported as a standard deviation from the mean of this reference group. About 90% of people have a BMD value within 2 standard deviations of this mean.
T-Scores of -1 and above are normal, -1 to -2.5 defines Osteopenia, -2.5 and below defines Osteoporosis.
In 2004 my T-Score was -1.7 slap bang in the middle of the Osteopenic range. I've done a lot of things since then to ensure my bone density improved short of taking prescription meds. I was looking forward to seeing how much my bone density had improved over these 3 years with my efforts.
Today I got the result that my T-Score is now -2.2 which is a sickening loss of bone density over 3 years. Not quite in the Osteoporotic range but trending there.
Another lemon to throw in the bag of them I seem to be collecting recently.
Emma is a walking fashion show at the moment. She cracks me up ten times a day and changes her outfits almost as often. Head wear is obligatory to complete any fine outfit.
