Re: Is Osteoporosis a common problem for AKA?Posted by Donna Kennedy on December 05, 19102 at 11:25:08: In Reply to: Is Osteoporosis a common problem for AKA? posted by Peggysue on December 04, 19102 at 19:13:15: : I was shocked to find out that my residual limb is osteoporotic. I was downhill skiing Feb.'02 and turned sharply to avoid a young skier darting in front of me. As a result, I broke my hip! The surgeon wrote in his surgery report that my hip was so osteoporotic that he did not need to tap the bone to drill in the skrews. I had had a bone density test 14 months before this and my doctor said everything looked great---keep up the healthy diet and exercise! Well, this test was done on my vertebrae and right hip since my prosthesis was on the left side. I realize as AKA, we bear our weight on the tubercle ischii (pelvis bone), and even though I work out 4 1/2 to 5 hours a week, I am not getting weight bearing on the residual limb. My prosthetist and doctor have been of no help whatsoever. Could we all be osteoporotic and not know it? I feel like I am walking on a time bomb and my residual limb could crumble at any time! I have been taking calcium and a lot of other crap for a number of years---obviously weight bearing is our best defense against this disease. Anyone else have or heard of this problem? Peggysue Hi Peggysue, How right you are !!!!! I have been an A/K amputee for 15 years and although the rest of my body is solid with very dense bone, my hip joint and femur is two standard deviations below normal on the bone density test. Non-union or failure to heal in fractured hip cases is a real danger to amputees. I am very careful not to put myself in danger of falling. No throw rugs in my house, constant vigil for water on kitchen or bath floors, shoes with good traction, etc. I do take Calcium and FosaMax ( which tries to put calcium you take in back in the bones), but I think that my prosthetic side will always be below norm. Donna
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