My Mom and Osteoporosis: Navigating the Challenges of a Chronic Illness
By Claire Gill, CEO, National Osteoporosis Foundation
Rosaline Burke, mother of Claire Gill
I didn’t know anything about osteoporosis until my 83-year-old mother broke her hip a few days before Christmas in 2011. At that time, my sister did some online research about hip fractures and found a statistic from the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) that said almost a quarter of people who suffer a hip fracture die within the first year after the fracture. We were shocked!
My mom was a very active 83-year-old. She lived with my sister, but she was home alone all day while my sister and her husband were at work and their daughter at school. She helped around the house, kept busy reading and attending some exercise classes and events at the local senior center. She was a retired nurse and midwife, very into reading newspapers and watching news programs.
She tripped and fell in the kitchen. She said she knew right away that she’d broken her hip. She stayed on the floor until my sister returned from a quick errand she was out running. Little did we know how dramatically all of our lives would change then.
Thankfully, my mom’s hip surgery was a success and she worked hard at the rehab hospital to regain her mobility and strength. She was among the half of all hip fracture patients who had to use an ambulatory device for the rest of her life though - first a cane, then gradually a walker. She didn’t like either. She’d prefer to just hold onto someone’s arm when venturing out of the house, but soon that became too risky. We would eventually get her a lightweight wheelchair that we could toss in the trunk of the car and it allowed us to wheel her around safely wherever we were.
While we were extremely lucky that my mom survived her hip fracture, it wasn’t the last of her falls or her fractures. My mom had multiple spine fractures. My siblings and I became extremely nervous when she was home alone or when we took her out to Church or to get her hair done. We knew the next accidental fall could come at any time and maybe she wouldn’t be as lucky as she’d been before. We made as many adjustments as we could – had support in the home so she wasn’t alone, put railings in her bathroom and replaced her bathtub with a walk-in shower.
Throughout all of this – not one medical professional mentioned she had osteoporosis – not her primary care physician, not the ER doctor, not the orthopedic surgeon, not any of the excellent staff at the rehab hospital where she convalesced.
Serendipitously, I joined the staff of the National Osteoporosis Foundation in 2013. I had spent my career in public relations and marketing for both national nonprofits and for-profit companies. One of my for-profit clients connected me with NOF. I shared our family’s personal experience with fractures during my interview. I was frustrated and surprised that so few people know how important their bone health is or know that osteoporosis is hereditary, and so few healthcare providers initiate the discussion with their patients. I wanted to help change that.
Thanks to my new connection to the experts at NOF, we did get my mom diagnosed with osteoporosis and on treatment, but she didn’t stay compliant with her medication. We were much more aware of the dangers she faced and did everything we could to keep her safe and still active and engaged in all of our family activities. Tragically, my mom fell again in December 2018 and this time she did not recover.
Rosaline Burke with her granddaughter Simone Gill
Our family’s story is not unique. We are like millions of other osteoporosis patients and caregivers trying to navigate how to prevent and treat this chronic disease within our family. My siblings and I were caring for our aging mom and her fracture risk, dealing with the realities of our own bone health, and worrying about how to ensure our children were getting all they need to have strong and healthy bones throughout their lives.
I’m grateful that my family knows now what we didn’t know when my mom first fell. I’m grateful that her story can help me connect with others in our NOF community. And I hope by sharing these stories, we can help inspire people to learn more and to do more to protect their own bone health.
This story is part of a support initiative called Voices of Osteoporosis: Stories of Hope and Inspiration. If you have experienced osteoporosis as a patient or caregiver, we invite you to share your story. Your story could inspire others to learn how to protect their ability to live their best life and stay bone strong. Click here to learn more.