DEAR DR. GOTT: I am an 83-year-old woman. One of my many health problems is bone Paget’s disease. When I was 72, my left thigh bent so bad that it fractured. My left leg was also shorter, and I had to have a rod put in from my knee to my hip. That did not stop the disease, but it helped a lot with the pain. Then my leg got shorter again, and I was told my hipbone was bending as the left thigh did.

I went to a new doctor, who put me on Actonel for 30 days. He said he was sure that I would be rid of the Paget’s, which I really could not believe.

For the past two years, every blood test I have taken for alk phos has been below normal. I think normal is 119, and my last test was 84. My hip is still bent, but has not gotten any worse. I recommend anyone with Paget’s see an endocrinologist, and I hope they will get the same results as I did.
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