Hao Yun's Wonderful Life - Farewell to Square Dance

This is the 5322nd article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

Hao Yun, a fund manager in his 40s, has settled down in a first-tier city through his own efforts. He was once a model of success in the eyes of his fellow villagers, but now he is struggling to find the direction to move forward in the storm of life, trying to regain the balance and peace of life.

"Mom! Don't cook braised pork tonight. I checked and found that my uric acid and blood pressure are high. The doctor told me to eat boiled vegetables, which means just boil them in water and add some salt! And... "Hao Yun was interrupted by his mother before he finished speaking: "Yun, I don't have a fever today. I twisted my ankle while dancing in the square this morning. Now it's as thick as my neck. It hurts!" Hao Yun was struck by lightning when he heard this. He felt a heat rising to his head, and a familiar feeling of dizziness followed...

Hao Yun's mother, Su Songcui, is a 65-year-old woman, 1.7 meters tall and thin. She used to be a music teacher in elementary school. With the birth of the third generation, Teacher Su "drifted" to her son's city to help with housework and take care of children. Before the birth of her second grandson, Teacher Su liked to go to the community to dance square dance after buying vegetables in the morning. With a beautiful face, elegant posture, and good musical literacy, Teacher Su quickly became a dark horse in the dance team. She also often took her eldest granddaughter to participate in dance choreography and movement guidance... It can be said that she danced and took care of the baby at the same time.

However, half a year ago, after Hao Yun's second child was born, Teacher Su became even busier, and also had to worry about his wife's postpartum care. He often felt weak and had backaches, and sometimes his legs cramped at night. It was so painful that he dared not move. It took a while for him to recover, and he couldn't sleep well. If you don't sleep well at night, you will naturally have no energy during the day! This situation lasted for several months, and even the aunties who danced in the square could see that the leader who used to be energetic and upright now sat by the side with a sluggish look. They were very anxious, so they talked about ideas at once.

Aunt Wang said: "If you can't sleep well, take some sleeping pills. You will fall asleep immediately after taking them. After a deep sleep all night, you will definitely feel better the next day."

Aunt Zhang said: "You feel weak all over and your back hurts. Are you tired from doing too much housework? Ask your wife to do more work. You can't do all the housework by yourself! The harder you work, the more suffering you will have to endure!"

Aunt Li said, "I went to a health product company to attend a lecture and heard that back pain, leg cramps and lower back pain are caused by calcium deficiency. Do you want me to introduce you to Xiao Wang from that company? He has a lot of health products and maybe you can get better after taking them!"

Everyone was talking excitedly, and Teacher Su was even more worried. "What's wrong with me? Is it because I'm tired and have some bad health problems?"

That night, Teacher Su hesitantly mentioned to her son: "Yun~ Mom has been..." Before she finished speaking, Hao Yun's cell phone rang and she got up to answer it. Teacher Su couldn't bear to let her son worry, so she didn't say anything in the end. After being busy with the family's affairs, Teacher Su finally lay down on the bed, but her heart was beating fast, "Don't have cramps tonight!" The more she worried, the more she couldn't sleep. As she tossed and turned, it was already dawn...

The next day, there was a free clinic in the community, and doctors from the nearby People's Hospital set up a stall in the community to provide free consultation. Teacher Su thought about it and decided to go and see, maybe she could find out the truth. She saw a girl who spoke softly and smiled, with a sign in front of her that read "Lin Xiaomi", so she walked up to her and asked tentatively: "Doctor, I have been having back pain recently, and my legs cramp when I sleep at night. Can you take a look at it?"

When the girl saw Teacher Su asking questions, she warmly asked her to sit down. "Hello, Auntie! I'm Doctor Xiaolin. Please sit down and talk!"

Teacher Su: "I was in good health before, and I had no problems. But recently I have been suffering from back pain, lack of energy, and cramps at night. The cramps are so painful that I dare not move, and I can't sleep well all night. What do you think is wrong with me?"

Doctor Lin listened carefully and asked, "Auntie, how old are you this year?"

Teacher Su: "I'm 65, and my black hair is dyed."

Doctor Lin: "Based on your symptoms and your age, I initially suspect you have primary osteoporosis [1]. This is what we usually call calcium deficiency."

Teacher Su: "Calcium deficiency? But I drink soy milk and eat black sesame and walnut powder every day to supplement calcium. How can I still be calcium deficient?"

Doctor Lin: "Osteoporosis is not just caused by calcium deficiency, it is also related to age and changes in hormone levels. You can take some time to come to our hospital for a dual-energy X-ray bone density test to see the bone mass. If you really have osteoporosis, drinking soy milk and eating sesame and walnuts alone is not enough."

"Ohhh, okay, okay."

The day after the free clinic, Teacher Su went to the People’s Hospital to see Dr. Lin Xiaomi for a bone density test [2].

Half an hour later, Dr. Lin Xiaomi took Teacher Su's bone density report and said, "Teacher Su, you do have osteoporosis. Look here and here, the T values ​​are both below -2.5. It can be confirmed that you have osteoporosis."

Teacher Su: "Osteoporosis! What should I do? I was still terrified by the cramps I had tonight. I started to worry before I even went to bed. Is there any medicine for this disease?"

Doctor Lin Xiaomi: "Don't worry, this type of osteoporosis is very common in postmenopausal women. There are many treatment options, all of which are effective and convenient to use. But before taking the medicine, we still need to do another blood test to check electrolytes, bone metabolism, liver and kidney function. Evaluating your specific situation will help choose a more appropriate medication plan."

Teacher Su: "Do you still need to draw blood? My blood vessels are thin, so it's hard to draw blood. I've also checked my bone density. Since it's confirmed to be osteoporosis, you can just prescribe medicine for me. I don't want to have a blood test, okay?"

Lin Xiaomi: "Auntie, this is your first visit to the doctor, so let's first clarify the basic situation. Then we can have a follow-up check after treatment for comparison. The bone density result is like the balance of a bank account, it tells you how much money you have. But how the money was spent and the details of the account flow, we have to look at the blood test results. So, the blood still needs to be tested. But don't worry, we usually check once every 3-6 months after treatment, and we won't draw blood frequently." After hearing this, Teacher Su agreed to the blood test, wrote a prescription and went back. Come back tomorrow for another blood test on an empty stomach.

Two days later, the blood test results came out, and it turned out that Mr. Su's 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was very low, and the bone loss index in bone metabolism [3] was also higher than the standard.

Doctor Lin Xiaomi: "Teacher Su, you do have osteoporosis. First of all, we must ensure that you have adequate calcium and vitamin D intake to ensure the basic nutritional supply of bones. Then we also need to add therapeutic drugs to inhibit bone loss. At present, we commonly use 5 kinds of drugs, including oral, intravenous, buttock injection, nasal spray, and belly injection. I will explain the 5 medication plans to you in detail. You can see which one you choose. The first one is oral medication..."

Teacher Su chose oral medication without thinking twice. After all, this is the best option for her who is busy. After taking the medicine prescribed by Dr. Lin Xiaomi for two weeks, Teacher Su felt that the cramps at night basically stopped happening, and the back pain was much better. The waist seemed to be able to stand up as before. Teacher Su was very happy. In the morning, when she heard the square dance music, she felt itchy in her heart and couldn't help but follow the rhythm and beat the beat. She became the energetic leader again.

Unexpectedly, this morning, when Teacher Su was leading everyone in a new exercise in the neighborhood committee, "Step up, kick, turn... Ouch!" Teacher Su felt a sharp pain in her ankle, and her left foot was powerless, so she fell down. The strong Su Songcui thought it was just a sprain and there was no need to go to the hospital, so everyone could only help her limp home. Unexpectedly, after a nap, the ankle did not get better in the direction that Teacher Su had imagined. This is where the scene began.

Fortunately, Hao Yun drove to work today, so he had to bite the bullet and ask for leave from his boss. He drove home in half the time of his original commute. As soon as he got home, Hao Yun carried his mother downstairs without saying a word and rushed her to the nearby People's Hospital. The emergency X-ray showed: left lateral malleolus fracture and soft tissue contusion of the ankle joint.

For more details, please stay tuned for the next episode.

Popular Science Knowledge Points

【1】Osteoporosis : It is a systemic bone disease caused by various reasons. Its main characteristics are decreased bone density and bone quality, damage to bone microstructure, increased bone brittleness, and a state of proneness to fracture. Osteoporosis is mainly divided into primary and secondary types. Primary osteoporosis is further divided into postmenopausal osteoporosis (type I), senile osteoporosis (type II), and idiopathic osteoporosis.

【2】Bone density test : Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is the most commonly used method.

T-value = (actual value - peak bone density of normal young people of the same race and gender) / standard deviation of peak bone density of normal young people of the same race and gender; DXA: dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

Author: Shanghai Putuo District People's Hospital

Lin MinDeputy Chief Physician

Shanghai Putuo District Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital

Zhao JiajingChief Physician