Whatever date this is posted at, I am writing this on Tuesday evening, November 8, 2022.
This morning was my regularly scheduled Prolia shot at Northwestern Medicine.
While the pain from the broken vertebrae has diminished somewhat, I very much appreciated my son's support getting me there and home!
But my anger still burns when I think of how totally unnecessary these years of pain have been, and all that I have missed, because of the careless words of the retina specialist, whom I shall call "Dr. Timothy Deluge," who told me that my eye condition (macular degeneration) was "because I was on Prolia."
Couldn't he get the word "osteoporosis" out of his medically-trained, specialist-honed mouth? Were there just too many syllables for his valuable time? Or did he really not know the difference between "having osteoporosis" and being "on Prolia?"
My attempt to stop Prolia because of this inexcusably erroneous information resulted in at least three vertebral fractures, leaving me in tremendous pain for years.
I am still unable to enjoy the travel and other activities I so looked forward to in retirement. Even driving a car was so dangerously painful I let that go as well!
Every reliable authority I consulted after this debacle told me that while there was a link between osteoporosis and macular degeneration, there was nothing reliable suggesting that the most widely used pharmaceutical for osteoporosis, Prolia, would have adverse effects on the eyes.
Leslie Gore singing It's my Party and I'll Cry if I Want To reflects how I feel!
And read about it here!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_My_Party
Here is the parody I wrote about this in 2018 when this first happened! It's based on Leslie Gore's 1963 classic!
Nobody knows where my backbone has gone,
It was once strong and fine
Then my insides collapsed with a groan
And I’ve lost a lot of my spine!
It’s my backbone I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to,
You would cry too if it happened to you!
My ribs are crushing my iliac crest,
My belly is way out to here,
Can't stand or sit, I just need to rest,
And the pain is making me swear!
Why in the hell did I miss that damned shot?
That’s where this mess got it’s start!
All this has left me tied up in a knot,
My life is falling apart!
It’s my backbone I’ll cry if I want to, cry if I want to, cry if I want to,
You would cry too if it happened to you!
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