TAKE THEM!

A few years ago, my husband's family was going through some stressful times and his mom came out to stay with us for a few months. We got her to come out pretty abruptly so she didn't pack much and a lot of shopping was done out here. When all was clear, or as clear as it was going to get, she went home and she handed me the remainder of the bottle of Calcium suppliments she had bought out here and said, "Make sure Eric takes these".

So, being the good future-daughter-in-law that I was, I asked Eric to take them. He poo-poo'd the idea of a 20-something year old guy should be taking any suppliments let alone Calcium. Calcium is for old women. Since that initial poo-pooing I have continued to ask him to take vitamins. I'd even set up his little pill caddy with them and that is the only time he'll take them. When its easy he'd take them because bending down to pull out the bottle under the cabinet is too much effort.

(You're probably already catching on to what the moral of this story is... but I'm going to make you wait anyway....)

Last year or so, Eric was playing kickball and threw a ball to throw someone out and when he did that he must have pulled some ligaments because he was in a lot of pain for about 2 months after that. He had thought he had broken a rib but the urgent care doctor thought it might be possible, but unlikely. Especially since he was only playing kickball and it started to hurt badly after throwing a ball. No big impact and at this point he was only 31 so he couldn't have broken a rib!

(Psssst - go take your calcium pills!!!)

This past summer he was working on a client job (landscape designer), and he was working with a crowbar or something and he felt something give in his chest, followed by lots and lots of pain. He showed me his chest when he got home (bow chica bow bow -- ok not really), and there was this bump sticking up just under his sternum. I had seen this before with a previous boyfriend (I used to get around alright!), who had broken a rib and a kite boarder friend of mine said that most kite boarders break a rib and end up with that bump. Months went by and Eric finally saw a doctor for a general physical and he showed him the bump... and again the doctor didn't think he could have broken a rib although it looked like it.

(Did you go take your calcium yet?)

Reluctantly, Eric's doctor scheduled a bone scan because Eric was asking for one but he's only 32 and a man, so they wont' find anything, but since he's insisting....

(Go have a big glass of milk too... and maybe some cheese!)

If you haven't guessed yet, we got a letter from Eric's doctor this weekend which said he has osteoporosis of the lower lumbar. He'll go in to see the doctor this week and we hear there is some miracle pill men can take but women can't, so hopefully that'll fix him up good because Eric has a life goal to live until he's 100 and to go out healthy and spry, so this news has been a bit of a blow to his indestructible self view.

So the lesson of this story is 2 fold.

1. If you suspect something is up and your doctor is sorta ho-hum about running tests... push!
2. LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER!