LIFE IS GOOD

With an optimistic outlook and a healthy, active approach to life, Sharon Andrews hasn’t let an osteoporosis diagnosis slow her down.

Being told that you have the “bones of a 90-year-old” isn’t what most women want to hear at age 58, but they were words that Sharon Andrews won’t soon forget. After she suffered a painful crush fracture in her spine, Sharon was sent for a bone density scan by her doctor. On top of the fracture, she discovered she had severe osteoporosis.

“In my late forties, my gynaecologist tried to get me to have a bone density scan. I thought I was too young and didn’t need it,” she reveals. “As it turns out, I should have taken their professional advice because it would have given me an earlier diagnosis which really helps in the long-term management.”1

Once diagnosed, Sharon discovered there are various levels of poor bone health and hers “just happens to be very, very bad”. “I always thought it was an old person’s disease – just ‘brittle bones’ in frail older women. Never once did I think it could happen to someone in their fifties.”1

In the two years since her diagnosis, Sharon has embraced her treatment options, taking more care of herself in everyday life.

“I have medication which is quite easy to take, I take calcium and I’m very, very careful where I walk,” she explains. “I also avoid lifting heavy things – my husband won’t let me, which is good.1 “My twin girls have just turned 30,

I work four days a week and I’m still on my feet. Life is pretty normal.

“I really try to take the advice of my doctor. He said don’t wrap yourself in cotton wool, just get on with your life but don’t fall over!”1