When most people picture becoming a grandmother they imagine lots of hugs and cuddles, and playing with their young loved ones. But for osteoporosis sufferers it can be fraught with risks too, as even the smallest tumble in a park can lead to life-changing injuries. As half of women over the age of 50 now have osteoporosis, thousands across the UK are living with the anxiety and guilt this brings.
Lucy Wilkins, 63, from Cornwall, has two grandsons aged nine and four. She was diagnosed between the two births, and saw a difference in how much she could help her daughter with her second. “Our family don’t live near us so when the first grandson was born they came down to visit with the new baby, and it was all lovely because I could cuddle him and hold him.
” Lucy said she would get up early with her daughter to help out. “But when the second grandson arrived I was in plaster with my first break. I couldn’t hold him.
I held him once on my right arm, which is not my natural arm. “I certainly couldn’t relieve mum to go back to bed and have a rest. It just made me feel quite pathetic.
“Now they’re kind of past the picking up stage, and I can cuddle but where they live there is a lovely nature reserve, which is very marshy and I try to walk with them, but it is in the back of my mind and I can’t run with them. I often say ‘Oh, don’t forget, Nanny’s got silly bones’.” Lynne Marples, 72, from Derbyshire, has five grandchildren between the ages of seven a.