Osteoporosis from treatment
I am posting this on behalf of my mom. Her history is as follows:
Age 27 diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma- had surgeries and chest wall radiation, no chemo at this time.
Age 45 diagnosed with hormone + breast cancer- double mastectomy and put on anastrozole, no further treatment recommended.
Age 50- hormone + recurrence of breast cancer. Tumor and lymph nodes removed, chemo, no radiation.
Age 55- triple neg breast cancer recurrence. Tumor and lymph nodes removed, chemo, and radation this time.
She is now 63, NED.
After the most recent recurrence she was diagnosed with osteoporosis due to all the chemo. She chose not to go on any medications at the time because she was fearful of side effects. For years her bone density stayed stable, then she suffered a back stress fracture and also broke her clavicle which severely impaired her activity levels.
Fast forward to now and her most recent bone density is bone density -4.55. So it has gotten REALLY bad. She is having a really hard time finding help because it seems no one has treated someone with this big of a treatment history and this bad of osteoporosis. It is further complicated by the fact that she has been told she is not a candidate for bone building drugs due to it possibly causing cancer to grow. She also tries to become more active to help her bones and whenever she does she ends up getting a new fracture so it is a vicious cycle it seems.
I was wondering if anyone else has heard of any similar issues? I think she is going to start on fosamax soon, but desperate for anything else that could help, especially with helping to build bone. TIA!