It’s been just over two months since I last posted – apologies, but these last two months have been a bit of a journey and I wasn’t quite ready to share the events with everyone until I had got my head round it all and understood it as much as possible.

I am now ready though, and having been through the first few weeks of fear, I wanted to share my story to try and raise awareness – so I apologise in advance as this is a long post…. but there are lots of foodie photos at the bottom, so please feel free to scroll on by if you prefer…..

This is my story that I have shared with the Royal Osteoporosis Society as I feel that support wasn’t there for the ‘younger’ generation……

I am only 49, and I thought I was in my prime until October last year…. Running 5 miles six times a week, doing HIIT training, walking, cycling…you name it, the world was my oyster.  We opted out of the ‘normal’ life and moved into a motorhome in 2014 and have taken every day and made the most of it, searching out new and interesting places to travel to, both UK and abroad and cooking, eating and drinking local produce….every day brings something new for us and we have always embraced it, adapting and changing along the way depending on what was on our doorstep.

Back in October last year I got a running injury, so stopped running and switched to doing more HIIT.  Fairly soon afterwards, whilst doing a squat – something I have been doing for years – my back suddenly went and I was in a huge amount of pain.  It threw me, I wasn’t able to walk, cycle or anything… but just thought I had pulled a muscle and stopped the exercise but focussed on stretching.

It didn’t heal though, so after a couple of months I started visiting a Thai Masseuse whom I have visited previously, which although was hugely nauseating, also alleviated the pain a little but it soon came back 24 hours later.  After one visit, I then started to have a problem in the upper back along the thoracic nerve (bra strap level).  I stopped the Thai massage and spoke to the doctor who sent me to a physio who advised on more stretching… but the pain was still acute and not really going away.

A month later I went back to the doctor as things were still bad… my morale was low due to lack of exercise and pain.  I was once again referred to another physio – but this time I obviously had done something else as I had pain in the ribs which caused me breathing difficulties so quickly decided this really couldn’t go on and that I needed to get to the bottom of the problem.  This time, the doctor agreed.  I was sent for Xrays of the Thoracic spine which highlighted a compression fracture in the T7…. They didn’t do any Xrays of the Lumber spine.  The doctor was amazing and called me within 24 hours and set up a referral for a Dexa Scan as well as bloods. The bloods came back really quickly and highlighted that my Vitamin D levels were really low so I went on an emergency dosage for 7 weeks the following day, which I finished about a month ago.  However, as I knew the Dexa scan would take a while as the NHS is overloaded and I am lucky enough to have private health care, I chose to escalate and within two weeks I had had a Dexa, more Xrays and an MRI.  Within 12 hours of the XRays being completed the spinal surgeon called me and told me to get to the hospital ASAP and get a brace on…. I had also fractured my L4.

The prognosis was Osteoporosis…. And the compression fractures were now 5 months old …. I was living with the pain, thinking that they were muscle strain.  When I was told it was Osteoporosis at 49 years old my life fell apart……. That is something that 90 year olds get due to lack of weight bearing exercise and poor diet, surely?

Apparently not… but there isn’t much out there to tell you otherwise – even on the Royal Osteoporosis Society website.  My life was over as far as I was concerned as I couldn’t find any information that led me to believe that I would be able to live ‘normally’ again.  I dug and dug, asked friends, physios, contacts and spoke to people at the ROS and then the information started flowing…. And the light began to shine once more.

It’s not an easy thing to take on board, but with the appropriate information to support you, anything is surmountable.  I have an incredibly supportive husband and although he admits that I was in a very dark place for a couple of weeks… we have now come out the other side.

I would like to try and help raise awareness, letting people know that this happens to the best of us…. But life also still goes on.  I am very new to this and have yet to find out what the future has to offer me but I feel positive.  I have made new friends who are supportive within the different networks, and although I may not run 5 miles 6 x a week again, I will be able to swim, walk and possibly at some point, even run again.

I am only 49 and life isn’t over… I am in my prime and I want to ensure that anyone who is newly diagnosed or frustrated with this horrible illness doesn’t give up… life is here for living, so grasp it by the balls and live it…

Life has taken a turn for me and the last couple of months have been full of hospital appointments, scans, blood tests, more blood tests, and even more blood tests… but we are almost there, and have managed to squeeze in a couple of short trips away, lots of eating – well apparently I need to up the protein intake – and a bit of catching up with friends….

The first little trip away took us to Lincolnshire, first stop Grantham where stayed at Happy Trails CL which is a great new CL a couple of miles outside Grantham, with a lovely riverside walk and a national trust property close by…but the town itself wasn’t much to write home about although it was a good stop off before we headed back to an old haunt…. The Manor Campsite in Melbourne, where Hattie (the last motorhome) came from.

Melbourne is such a lovely little town with a plethora of fantastic eateries and loads of beautiful walking and we were really lucky as the weather was incredible.

We got the BBQ going and cooked outside, enjoying the beautiful rolling hills and views of the reservoir as well as walking over to meet Kevin and Petra in The Bulls Head, Wilson for a fantastic Sunday Lunch…. not only is Melbourne on our places to visit more frequently…. the pub is too!

Time flies pretty quickly though, and it wasn’t long before we had to leave the beautiful Derbyshire countryside behind us and head over to Thame, slightly closer to home.

We had wanted to bring the motorhome over to Thame for ages but all of the campsites are grass and its always been too wet when we thought about it… this time however we snuck a quick two night stop off at Lashlake Farm CL which is about 10 minute walk into Thame itself and incredibly tranquil.

Despite being market day, the market was a little underwhelming….although we did find a local honey producer, and the coffee shop and cake variety for such a small place was second to none! We had lunch at the Black Horse which was good and finally tried out a version of a ‘Dubai Chocolate’ in the form of a brownie… the pistachio nuts added a lovely crunch and mix, but it was still quite sweet – sorry no photos but it was huge!

Back home again for Easter and another few weeks gave us the opportunity to walk and eat closer to home.

The Bluebells were beautiful, and I haven’t ever seen Tulips like these with the serated edges – absolutely stunning and they appeared to last forever which was lovely.

One of our first foodie trips out was to catch up with a friend for a lazy Sunday lunch in Marlow, where we opted to go back to Sindhu which is located in the Complete Angler Hotel. It is such a stunning location as the restaurant overlooks the Weir, service is relaxed and the food is delicious. We all had the Tasting menu, which was delicately spiced but full of flavour… the only downside with a tasting menu is that when you get a plate that is exceptional, you find it is too small, as you just want more!!

We have also had a couple of meals over at Milaanj @ The Beehive, White Waltham and decided to go along to another evening that they had which was a collaboration with Chef Arbinder – a local private dining chef, who had previously been a masterchef semi-finalist…. the food was exceptional, albeit that the desert was too sweet for both of us.

It’s not all tasting menus though, and we both prefer ‘good homecooked food’ and would generally opt for ‘good pub grub’, it is just a situational thing that both of these have fallen in the last couple of months….and it would be rude not to try all the delicacies when they are offered up to you!

The next meal out therefore was a revisit to The Queens Head – better known as ‘Marlows Little Secret’. We hadn’t been for a couple of years, but rocked up on a Wednesday lunchtime and the sun was shining and the garden was already pretty full of people taking in a few rays and some good food. The food was as good as we remember and they even make their own ice-cream… another one to visit more frequently when we are nearby….and they were good chips, a proper crunch on the outside but still light and fluffy in the center.

Last week, we managed to escape again for a few days between appointments, this time along to Wiltshire with the first stop being just outside Malmesbury.

A lovely CL down a very long driveway, and even with the knowledge that we were going the right direction, I got a bit nervous towards the end when the Willow Trees were hanging low and the beautiful Mill buildings narrowed the road. It was however worth the drive as it was beyond tranquil when we arrived, with just birdsong to listen to.

The soft rolling hills were beautiful and the mix of arable and woodland gave a beautiful texture and colour to the views. We managed to get a few lovely walks in, and Malmesbury is a lovely little town with a small but well formed selection of shops… butchers, bakers, cafes and restaurants, and even had a decent Waitrose to stock up in!

Leaving Malmesbury on the Thursday, we headed to a site we had been to before – Church Farm CL in Stanton St Bernard – which is on the canal and about a mile from a pub, farmshop and cafe in one direction and a mile and a half from another pub and a community village shop in the other… perfect!

The weather had changed and it was a little grey and drizzly on a couple of the days but we made the most of it and headed up into the hills to see the White Horse, and a couple of different circular routes out into the fields and back along the canal. Beautifully tranquil location and conveniently placed for us to do a quick trip away to.

We had walked passed the Kings Arms in All Cannings last time we were here and decided to book as their menu looked interesting – Friday night was fish night and it didn’t disappoint! A lovely local pub, serving good home cooked food.

Back home for a week and we’ve managed to squeeze in a Samosa making class at Milaanj @ the Beehive along with lunch…. a great few hours and although we haven’t recreated them in the motorhome yet, we think it is going to be possible without a deep fat fryer so watch this space…. as they – along with the rest of the food we ate – were delicious!

There has been alot of cooking going on in the motorhome – as well as a good few BBQs, and a fair number of new recipes for you as well as its been a little while…
Red Lentil Curry – Dr Rupy
Smoky Mushroom Tempeh Burgers
Soda Bread – Paul Hollywoods version, and it works perfectly, unlike the last time I tried to make soda bread and it could have sunk the Titanic!!
Carrot Soup – Nadiya’s recipe
Cod and Carrot Curry – Nadiyas recipe
Thai Green Lentil and Hake Tray Bake
Herby Green Lentils with Pasta – Mob
Pea and Cottage Cheese Dip
Charlottes Dark Chocolate Mousse – dairy free, rich and creamy but deliciously light and fluffy

…and although we haven’t been far – the map