Karen, Thank you very much for your concern. The tragedy is enormous, hundreds of people died and a lot of them are missing. Some towns just desapear from the map! I'm ok I live in Sao Paulo, 10 hours by car from the tragedy, Sonia lives in Rio but not in that place. I believe this is the result of global warm and massive destruction of nature. The people build their homes up in the hills, not considering the soil conditions and the government does not do what it should be done. What I've been seeing at tv is horrible, you guys have no idea what is happening here. Sorry for my English mistakes.

The best news,just as we all hoped! Dexascan is a piece of cake - I used to do them when I worked in the Rheumatology office. Bone-building drugs may be prescribed, but they work slowly, so 6 weeks one way or the other won't make a huge difference. There are lots of reasons you can have osteopenia or osteoporosis - drug therapies, both chemo and steroids, being too thin (being under 127 pounds is a marker for risk), family history, early menopause, low calcium and Vitamin D, and the list goes on. For now, take care of yourself, be a good girl and do what the docs tell you to do. We'll all be here, thinking of you and cheering you on until those crutches are tucked away in the closet.

My thoughts & prayers are with Cherlyn & your family. I have a former co-worker who is not expected to live much past April. She has skin cancer that is spreading rapidly.

Shelly, I wish you well. I wonder if you are having the same thing I had done 4 years ago. After several MRI's and Xrays to diagnosis the problem I went to the Neurosurgeon who injected cortizone into my neck and also my lower back. I went three weeks in a row for the shots. I also have arthritis and bulging discs. The steroid injections worked wonders and I haven't had to return yet. I am starting to get a few twinges in the same lower back area but so far nothing like what I had experienced before. There were days when I couldn't get out of bed because of the lower back pain. I didn't have any difficulty with the injections and I opted to have local shots of Zylocaine to numb the area rather than be sedated. The only pain I felt was from the first shot of Zylocaine- and that pain only lasts for about 10 seconds and then you're numb. Then he injected more Zylocaine to numb the rest of the area. My Neurosurgeon is a genius and the needles he used are amazingly thin. Most of the others patients who were there for the shots chose the sedation. I'll be thinking of your tomorrow. Try to relax.