Anything to keep moving.
“If you sit down too long your bones are gonna get stiff,” Angela often reminds her friends and family, “so you gotta keep moving!”
Since walking has become difficult for Angela, she’s taken to dancing instead. “Even if you don’t feel like it, just move in a chair. You know, you can dance sitting down!” One of her favorite dance tracks is “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” and she loves to put it on so that she can dance with her dog, Northe. “I’ll just grab her two paws and she’ll dance with me. We’ll dance around the kitchen.”
Angela just finished physical therapy and is in the market for a stationary bike to help her keep moving, too. “I feel like if I’m sitting, at least I can keep my legs moving and build up my stamina.”
Keep your calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin C up.
Women should be getting 1,000 to 1,300 milligrams of calcium per day. You can do this by consuming calcium rich foods like milk, collard greens, and baked beans (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health).
Vitamin D allows your body to effectively absorb calcium, but most Black women don’t get enough of it (National Osteoporosis Foundation). You should be getting at least 1000 international units per day. Vitamin D comes from the sun as well as foods like tuna, egg yolks, and mushrooms (NIH). Also look for cereal, orange juice, and milk fortified with vitamin D. If you take a supplement, make sure it is Vitamin D3.
Women should be getting between 250mg and 1,000mg of vitamin C per day. For reference, a small orange contains 50mg of vitamin C, a medium red pepper contains 152mg, and a cup of cooked broccoli contains 101 mg.
Protect your bones with medicine.
“Xgeva is going to be a part of my treatment plan for the rest of my life,” Angela says. “It’s been with me since 2011 and I’ve changed treatment plans a few times, but Xgeva has always been a part of it. I’m grateful for that. I feel like it gives me peace of mind. I gotta worry about all the other areas, but I feel like the bones are okay. The medicine is taking care of my bones.”
Not only does Xgeva decrease bone breakdown, but it also increases bone density and overall bone strength. Angela gets the Xgeva shot once a month to help protect her bones. “It’s not like other shots I used to get that were thick and would burn,” Angela reassures breasties. “It’s an easy shot.”
Advocate for yourself!
When Angela’s doctors first laid out her metastatic treatment plan, they automatically included Xgeva without Angela having to ask. While she was lucky to have a proactive team, Angela wants all breasties to ask “Am I on all the medicines that I can be on? Is there anything else that can help with my bone health? Really research all the things that you can do to help yourself.”
If you want to know more about how you can love your bones, reach out to us at [email protected] or 443-758-1924. And join us for our Love Your Bones dance party every Friday at 3pm on facebook.com/TouchBBCA/!
Don’t forget to check out Angela’s amazing work through Angel in Disguise at www.angelindisguiseinc.org.