Welcome, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series. In this daily newsletter, I reflect on my life as an indie author trying to age gracefully, including my struggles to maintain a balanced life, what I listen to, read, and watch for entertainment, and occasional bits of information I’ve gleaned from doing the research for my novels.
Daily Diary, Day 1294:
Been a busy morning, I had yoga, then showered and got ready for my early morning doctor’s appointment. This was with my regular primary care physician to have her check on the knuckle and the eye and discuss the results of the latest bone density scan. Both the knuckle and the eyelid definitely felt better this morning and the doctor confirmed that they were both improving, but also cautioned that it would probably take some time, if not a couple more weeks, to completely resolve, so patience (smile.)
The really good news was the improvement in my bone density. Starting 40 years ago when I developed my “syndrome,” which was the loss of my pituitary gland, I started to have bone loss (early menopause, growing deficiency in my human growth hormone, and the side effect of 30 years on prednisone. Unfortunately, this loss in bone density was not detected in the first 10 years because no one bothered to take my bone density. Once this problem was discovered, I was already had osteopenia, and I went through various medication’s that helped slow the bone loss, but eventually I slipped into osteoporosis, and would have to take a “vacation from medication, and then a different once would be prescribed.
The most recent medication was through yearly infusions, and once again, after 3 years I needed a “vacation” from the medication. The good news was that unlike all the other times when follow up tests showed I was continuing to lose bone density (albeit more slowly than I would without the medication) in the past three years since I was on the last medication, I showed a significant increase in bone density. This was probably a combination of the long-term effects of the infusions, plus the fact that I have shifted from water aerobics to walking as my main source of exercise which of course because the latter was weight-bearing probably helped increase my bone density. My numbers still put me in osteoporosis but there was no need to put me on any more medication for now. Just continue to check the bone density every 2-3 years (unless I have a bone fracture) and continue to keep up my walking. Very good news.
So, speaking of walks, after I post this, I’m going to go on my first walk of the day. It’s quite sunny and supposed to get pretty warm so I don’t want to wait too late. I do have a scheduled phone call this afternoon, but I’m not pushing myself to write anything new, just enjoy the fact that I’m starting to feel better. I have some marketing graphics I need to work on to get ready for the next round of promotions that I’m doing so, that’s my major task for today.
I sat outside in the sun for about a half an hour yesterday afternoon, and the first photograph is what the sky looked like. The second photo is of a very cute lawn ornament that I noticed for the first time on my afternoon walk.
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Wonderful news !
Great to read some good news!