Anna Periquet: ‘Osteoporosis may break my bones but not my spirit’

Anna Marie Periquet glides into the room like a graceful ballerina that she is. Who would ever think that the pixie, sprightly Anna, who delights audiences with her impeccable pirouettes and boundless energy, has been battling osteoporosis (a.k.a. the brittle bone disease) for a year now?

“It’s a silent disease,” Anna, chosen by the Osteoporosis Society of the Philippines as its poster girl and ambassador, sends her message loud and clear. “For a year and a half, I noticed I was waking up feeling something in my feet and toes. I would go to the bathroom like at 3 a.m. and I was limping. When I’d wake up at 6 or 7 a.m., I would still be limping. There were like pins and needles stabbing me. I felt something was wrong. I thought that maybe I was running so much or I was overdoing dancing ballet. Every day, I’d wake up and I’d feel the pain, but it would subside after an hour. I’d also wake up with clawed fingers — don’t tell me that at 51, I was already having arthritis or rayuma! Then one day, halfway through a rehearsal for a show, I noticed that my foot was swollen, like it swallowed a golf ball. But I’m not a quitter, I would finish rehearsal no matter what.”

Rude Awakening

Anna rushed to St. Luke’s Medical Center’s Emergency Room where she underwent an x-ray. The next day, her orthopedist and sports doctor, Edgar Eufemio, fondly called Doc Gar by his patients, handed her a verdict that shocked her and changed her life forever. “Doc. Gar said that my foot was swollen because my fractures were bleeding,” she begins to relate. “I didn’t know I was walking for two months with multiple fractures on my right foot. And I was getting the fractures from simple walking because my bones had become brittle. The reason was that I retired from dancing for two years and I didn’t have any form of exercise. My body was used to heavy and rigid training for dance sport, but when I retired, I stopped competing. I also stopped running and jogging. So, with two years of no dance and no exercise, my bones thinned out.”

Though she was to ballet born, dancing at three years old, Anna also distinguished herself when she pointed her toes in the direction of government service and the business world. For instance, she was youth sector representative to the House of Representatives, private sector representative to the Board of Small Business Guarantee and Finance Corporation, consultant for corporate affairs and communications, media relations and public affairs, and entrepreneurship development. She’s currently vice president for corporate affairs of the Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc., chairman of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Asia Pacific, and sits on the board of different corporations.

So, can you imagine Anna just sitting and doing nothing? Or hanging up her tutus and pointe shoes and retiring from ballet?

“I retired from professional ballet at 21 because I wanted to be with the private sector and my career goal was to be in business or public service,” declares Anna.

Painful Lesson

Lesson learned painfully well: Retiring from ballet and dance sport, she should have continued exercising, even just 15 to 30 minutes of brisk walking, because her bones needed the weight-bearing exercise which she had no time for as she was then busy traveling for work.

Her doctor said she was walking with one fracture, then two, three, four, five, six fractures! Dr. Gar suggested a calcium test and bone densitometry for Anna. Dr. Gar freaked out and screamed when he saw the result. He told Anna that at 50-something, she had the bones of an 80-year-old woman! The doubting doctor thought that Anna’s test result was switched with somebody else’s.

“My doctor was really shocked because he knew that I was an active person all my life, I was a health freak, a vegetarian, I never smoked, I never drank alcohol,” says Anna, herself even more shocked.

But she’s quick to add, “If you were to check for the risk factors for osteoporosis, I had them all. I have a small body frame. I was perimenopausal at 43. I’m a retired ballerina. I’m Caucasian (Eurasian) — my mom is American-German, my dad is French-Spanish. I’m allergic to the sun so I lack vitamin D, which is very crucial for osteoporosis prevention. I’m lactose-intolerant so I didn’t have the calcium I needed at the time my bones were building. When it comes to osteoporosis, I certainly fit the bill. And my osteoporosis was so advanced I hit -3 on the bone densitometer.”

Anna had two doctors — her orthopedist Dr. Gar and her endocrinologist Dr. Mitos Cabral because of her thyroid problem.

“Imagine how devastated I was!” Anna laments. “I couldn’t even brisk walk because of the pain. I was in so much pain that everything you touched would hurt, except for my face. In May last year, I was rushed in an ambulance because of the pain.”

Fixing Anna

Doc Gar recommended radical treatment with Forteo (to increase her bone density and bone strength). Anna underwent extensive physical therapy and rehab. For eight months, Anna slept with her legs elevated so that when she wakes up, there’s blood circulating in her legs.

“After six months, my bone density went down to -1. My doctor said this was the test result of a patient healing after one year. Doc Gar was able to fix everything — not as good as new, but I’ve never felt healthier and stronger. ”

According to Anna, by God’s grace, positive thinking, and a vegetarian/pescatarian diet, she’s back on her toes — quite literally! She’s up and about sharing her inspiring story. “I want people to know that though it’s irreversible, there’s life after osteoporosis. It should not deter one from leading a normal life. I also want people to know that it doesn’t happen only to the elderly, even young people can have it — people in their 20s, retired athletes, retired dancers who don’t have an active lifestyle. I want to impress on people that it’s not just about medication, it’s about a lifestyle change.”

Of course, Anna now has her limitations. She can’t do marathons anymore. But she can still do a mean contemporary and neo-classical ballet. “I admit I went through depression, anxiety/panic attacks when I was told I could no longer dance,” she confesses.

Dance On, Anna!

But she prayed and prayed, knowing there’s a reason for everything that’s happened in her life. “I told the Lord, if you have great plans for me, show me. And I want to continue whatever I’m still capable of doing. As Doc Gar promised, I was back on the dance floor in six months. After five months, I did a show for Caritas Manila and last November, I did a show in Taipei.”

How did she feel when she was performing?

“When you’re running on adrenalin, there’s no pain, it’s more of discomfort,” she reveals. “As Doc Gar said, my bones are not ready to retire.”

She adds with stars in her eyes and a twinkle in her toes, “I can’t run anymore, but I can still walk. And I can still create a beautiful dance. I never stop counting my blessings.”

And she’s never stopped dreaming. “I want to do a dance exercise program for osteoporosis patients and the elderly. I like to be an advocate of a good, healthy lifestyle and a staunch champion of exercise. I want to reach out and help others battle osteoporosis.”

For the passionately driven Anna, osteoporosis may break her bones, but she certainly won’t allow it to shatter her spirit.