'Barefoot Running' author Michael Sandler finds meaning in 2nd life-altering injury since 2006

Barefoot TJ

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'Barefoot Running' author Michael Sandler finds meaning in 2nd life ... The Daily Camera
It allowed him to run again and sent him on his way to becoming a leading running expert with a worldwide following, author of two popular books -- "Barefoot ...


Part-time Boulder resident and author Michael Sandler slipped while crossing a creek in the Sierra Nevadas and landed on a pyramid-shaped rock this spring. His right femur shattered in the identical spot his left femur had broken to pieces seven years earlier. (COURTESY PHOTO)
 
I wish him a speedy recovery. I am wondering if his vegan diet has lead to weak bone density over the years?

I would think it would definitely contribute. Nonetheless, I hope his road to recovery is a smooth one.
 
Perhaps people who have a vegan diet should take calcium supplements? I wonder if he does? I know there are plants that provide calcium, but you have to eat a ton of them.
 
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plants contain more calcium in them than milk. there's more to it than just calcium but i can't recall it now.
 
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Can you break it down for me, Sid? I hate to say it, but I don't have the time to read all the stuff on the site...er uh, while I am taking care of it, that is. :bookworm:
 
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Um, so because he doesn't drink cow's milk it's automatically assumed that he has a calcium deficiency? If his vegan diet is anything like mine, he likely gets more than he would were he on a standard American diet (SAD). And of much higher quality and bioavailability. Not to be a jerk about it, but the assumption that a plant-based diet puts one at a nutritional disadvantage is just ill-informed.
 
No one is assuming anything here, Thom. We are just talking about a subject, posing questions, wondering. This is an open discussion forum, and all thoughts, ideas, and ideals are welcome here. That's how we learn from one another. We share information. If you want to educate and inform, then it's best to do so with honey.
 
That -was- the the cliff notes version!
Maybe this video work would better?

Uh, WOW! That guy did a great job on that presentation, Sid. I watched the whole thing. I can't say I will remember it all, but I do have experience with the parathyroid. I shared this on the site long ago, if anyone is interested:

I had been feeling extreme fatigue for a very long time. When I was about 28 years old, my general practitioner took some blood work, saw that my calcium levels were extremely high, so he sent me to an infectious disease specialist. She took more blood which showed my parathyroid hormone (PTH) was also off. Apparently, when your PTH is messed up, that tells them that there is at least one tumor on at least one of the four parathyroids. (The average person has four parathyroids. They are very small organs that surround the back on the thyroid. They are not the thyroid. Para means near.)

I was then sent to the first of six endocrinologists, trying to find a decent one. Three of them told me to have the surgery right away to remove the tumor/s; the other three told me I could wait, since I was young, and monitor it with blood work and 24-hour urinalysis to check my calcium levels. I was at levels of 11.5 and anything over 12 could cause death or cause crippling in your hands and feet, but apparently, the levels don't shift largely that quickly, or they would have sent me to surgery immediately.

What is odd about high calcium levels when the PTH is off is that although you have the necessary calcium in your body, your bones are not absorbing it. In the meantime, each passing day, my bone density was shrinking.

I was diagnosed with osteoporosis when I was in my early 30s, but about two then four years after the parathyroidectomy, the bone densitometry (scan) put me in the osteopenia category. They told me I would never be in the "normal" category (but we all know I am not normal!) because I am creeping into old age.

When I became pregnant with my first son, there was no monitoring the condition any longer, I had to have surgery to remove the tumor, and I had to have it done in the second trimester, since there is a high rate of miscarriage in the first trimester due to the general anesthetic, and by the third trimester, the baby's bones start to really develop. My PTH was passing through the placenta telling my son's PTH to not develop bone. If I did not have the surgery, my baby may have been born still or deformed.

They would have had me drink a radiation liquid prior to the surgery to exactly pinpoint the tumor/s, but because I was pregnant, that was not a possibility. He found only one tumor on one parathyroid, and he removed the whole parathyroid. They will remove all of your parathyroids if they all have tumors, but they will try to save enough good tissue and reimplant that in your arm; that, along with your taking calcium supplements is supposed to be enough to carry you through life.

The surgeon who had performed my surgery told me he had performed 880 parathyroidectomies but never on a pregnant woman. That is how rare it is to have Hyperparathyroidism when you're young. Normally, they treat people (women mostly) in their 60s for this condition. There were only two recorded cases at that time of women having parathyroidectomies and being pregnant. There was one good outcome and one not good outcome. It was a frightening time for us.

We thank God that our beautiful baby boy was born completely normal.

Having a calcium problem also caused other issues for me, mostly digestive, so it's not just about building bones. Other things can go seriously wrong as well if it's off.
 
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Oh wow! I'm sorry I didn't find this thread sooner. I was searching for it yesterday. Thank you, TJ, for starting it.

Ok, I'm not going to get into the vegan/non vegan calcium debate, but I can share that bone density was one of the first questions that popped into our minds after surgery. So, on two separate occasions we asked the two orthopedic surgeons who operated on Michael for 5 or so hours and they both sort of chuckled saying bone density was absolutely not an issue.

Thank you everyone for your concern! Michael is healing well, ahead of schedule. I'll be working on a fun video clip of his healing progress this weekend.

With blessings,
Jessica
 
Well if the vegan himself asks the same question, then I don't believe it's wrong if we ask it too. Thanks for checking in here and setting our minds at ease. From my emails to Michael, seems like he is expected to make a full recovery and should be able to do everything he did before. We were all concerned, and we wish you both well.
 

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