I’ve had another clever medical intervention today. Isn’t science fabulous?
As with last year’s colonoscopy (was it last year?), it’s not a treatment for a current problem but rather something that is going to help me stay healthy, hopefully.
At my husband’s insistence, I got a DEXA scan a couple of months ago. Yes, this would be the same man who has put off his own colonoscopy for years, although he did recently reintroduce himself to his GP, which was a step in the right direction. A DEXA scan is a type of bone scan, looking for osteoporosis. It was reported as normal, but Simon, who is excellent at keeping up to date, knew of a study that suggested early treatment with a one off infusion will help ward off osteoporosis for many years to come. My GP agreed, so this afternoon I have had an Aclasta infusion. Well, that’s not quite right, because Aclasta is the trade name and it’s made by someone else now. The generic name is zoledronic acid which doesn’t trip off the tongue in the same way (clearly these marketing types know what they’re doing).
The infusion took less than half an hour and I didn’t feel a thing. They recommended staying in the waiting room for half an hour afterwards but I sloped off, bored, within a few minutes, and I’ve been fine. The nurse gave me a spiel about side effects beforehand, which mostly added up to flu like symptoms, if I remember rightly. I’ve been taking a closer look since getting home. As with most drugs, rare severe side effects include seizures, coma, and death. There’s also a weird one my dentist told me about, something terrible that might happen if you have a tooth extracted too soon after your treatment. I can’t remember what happens but it’s bad. Jaw bone fracture may be a feature.
More common but less severe side effects are the usual random bunch of nonspecific ephemera: rashes, dizziness, nausea, that sort of thing. My favourite is one out of a range of psychological symptoms:
Well, it all looks like a barrel of laughs, I must say. But for all that, I’ve been feeling remarkably well so far, and even got out to a sneaky dance class earlier this evening, for some remedial tango. Fingers crossed I’m one of the lucky ones, as far as side effects go.
ps. I forgot to mention, the practice nurse who looked after me used to work at Wellington Hospital. She remembered me from scheduling meetings as the one with the fabulous boots.