crhill3
01-18-2009, 02:17 PM
My 85 yr old aunt has osteoporosis. She had very little calcium growing up, has had several fractures and has great difficulty taking medications. Now she has a very curved spine, has lost considerable height and is having trouble eating. Apparently because of the curvature of her spine, her abdoman is protruding. Is frequent vomiting and inability to eat going to be the ongoing future for her? Obviously, if she is getting no nutrition she will eventually starve to death. I just want to know what to expect. My mother is frantic and unprepared to deal with any of this. Thank you chill
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DesertBloom
01-18-2009, 07:06 PM
Hi: Has your aunt looked into getting the fractures repaired? Once the spinal curve starts, it will affect your abdomen, heart, etc. There are minimally invasive procedures than can correct that spinal curve, but it might depend on how old the fractures are. Look into Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty. I don't know if this will help but it worth looking into. There's also a brace that is used for this problem, but it has to be ordered by a Dr and fitted by an orthotist (SpinoMedIII) kyphosis brace.
Until you can get her checked by a Dr that does one of these procedures, can she tolerate drinking something like Ensure? At least that would give her some nutrients, calcium, vit D, and it's easy to digest. I don't know if she has trouble swallowing, but she needs to get some nourishment even if it's a prepared drink that is especially for this type of problem.
If Kyphoplasty or Vertebroplasty aren't an option, there are also other types of spine surgery where they use rods/screws to straighten the spine, similar to what they do with scoliosis--and straightening the spine.
If she continues to fracture she will have these problems with any organ adjacent to the spine from the spine compressing on the core.
Good luck and look into some kind of surgical repair, but be sure that whoever you choose has a lot of experience in this area, like from a well known spine clinic near her. Kyphon Internationals web site has a listing you can use to look up surgeon/radiologists that do Kyphoplasty. They may even be able to direct you to some one else if they can't do this procedure.:wave:
One other thing is looking into why the Dr hasn't suggested getting nourishment in some other way. If she looses too much from a lack of food, then feeding tubes are usually considered, although that is a unpopular approach, sometimes it's needed to keep nutrients going into the body, since you can't go long without them.
Until you can get her checked by a Dr that does one of these procedures, can she tolerate drinking something like Ensure? At least that would give her some nutrients, calcium, vit D, and it's easy to digest. I don't know if she has trouble swallowing, but she needs to get some nourishment even if it's a prepared drink that is especially for this type of problem.
If Kyphoplasty or Vertebroplasty aren't an option, there are also other types of spine surgery where they use rods/screws to straighten the spine, similar to what they do with scoliosis--and straightening the spine.
If she continues to fracture she will have these problems with any organ adjacent to the spine from the spine compressing on the core.
Good luck and look into some kind of surgical repair, but be sure that whoever you choose has a lot of experience in this area, like from a well known spine clinic near her. Kyphon Internationals web site has a listing you can use to look up surgeon/radiologists that do Kyphoplasty. They may even be able to direct you to some one else if they can't do this procedure.:wave:
One other thing is looking into why the Dr hasn't suggested getting nourishment in some other way. If she looses too much from a lack of food, then feeding tubes are usually considered, although that is a unpopular approach, sometimes it's needed to keep nutrients going into the body, since you can't go long without them.