Osteoporosis: My story and diet
Rosemary Fisher's recipes enhanced lives of husband, others 11:43 PM, Feb. 19, 2011  |Written by Mark Hare  Alvin Fisher was 58 when he was stunned by a major heart attack in 1976. His doctors said the damage was too severe to risk bypass surgery. They recommended that he and his wife, Rosemary, move to Florida to enjoy his last several months. His cardiologist suggested, however, that a healthier diet might buy him some added time. Rosemary, a trained nutritionist, rose to the challenge. She took some refresher courses, and began to pore over research studies at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry library. From the findings, she developed comprehensive but simple, low-fat, low-cholesterol recipes that formed the basis of a heart-healthy diet -- a regimen that halted the progress of arteriosclerosis and dramatically lowered her husband's cholesterol. In 1982, when she was 63, injuries she suffered in a car crash showed the presence of a debilitating form of osteoporosis -- a condition her doctors described as hopeless. She would, they agreed, soon have such weak bones that she would require a wheelchair 24/7. Not so. When medications and supplements left her feeling sicker than ever, Fisher developed a diet that would help her absorb more calcium. After two years, she had not only halted the bone loss, but added an unprecedented 5 percent to her overall bone mass. Hers was the first documented case of a woman older than 65 reversing osteoporosis. The Fishers' own health crises launched her on a later-life career as a nutrition and cookbook writer and lecturer who demonstrated the sanguine effects of a heart- and bone-healthy diet on longevity, overall fitness and even dementia. Rosemary Fisher was 92 when she died late last year. She was born on Ames Street in Rochester, in her grandfather's house, in 1918. She graduated from Jefferson High School and then went to secretarial school, says her son Jerry Fisher. "But she soon found that she could make more money spooling film in the dark than typing letters in the light," he says. She went to work for Eastman Kodak. (Page 2 of 3)She met Alvin at a social event for teens at Holy Apostles Church, and when they married, she worked to help him get through college. He then took a part-time teaching position at Rochester Institute of Technology. His position allowed her to start her own degree program at RIT in nutrition. She finished her degree but was a stay-at-home mom for many years. On their 25th wedding anniversary, Rosemary and Alvin took a cruise to Trinidad, where they met a dock master whose daughter was about to start her studies at Nazareth College. "He asked them to check on her," Jerry says. And so they did. At Thanksgiving, when the college dorms were closed and foreign students had no place to go, they invited the young woman and three friends to their Gates home. At Christmas that year, Jerry says, more than 40 foreign students came to the Fisher home. Over the next few years, Rosemary became active in the International Friendship Council and opened their doors to foreign students at the University of Rochester and RIT. "She had an extended family of more than 100 students," Jerry says. "When I would come home from college, there would be 35 to 50 students with sleeping bags, enjoying their American Mom and Dad's hospitality." On the Fishers' 50th wedding anniversary, in 1989, several of those adopted students sent them on an around-the-world trip -- from Hong Kong to Tokyo, Kyoto, Sidney and even Rio. But clearly her husband's heart attack and her own serious car accident a few years later were turning points in Rosemary Fisher's life. In her late 50s, not having worked out of the home in decades, she began to research recipes, at first to restore her own and Al's health, but quickly to share those recipes with a larger public eager to add years through dietary common sense. She wrote four cookbooks filled with healthy meal ideas that would counter heart disease and even osteoporosis. The books are easy to read, the meals simple to prepare, and the rationale readily understandable -- eat fresh, natural foods and avoid "bone robbers" such as salt, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, etc. (Page 3 of 3)Rosemary's mission was to help people eat better, but also to learn how to identify and prepare food that is both tasty and satisfying. She refused to include the flashy photos and graphics that would add cost to the books. The books all sold for $10 and all profits went to charity. When Jerry and his wife, Joyce DeHaan, visited one of Rosemary's favorite charities, a ministry for the very poor run by Carmelite nuns in the Philippines, "we saw that they gave out cards with her website -- because the recipes were so simple -- like they were holy cards," DeHaan says. When Al died in 1994 as a result of Alzheimer's disease, Rosemary found another cause. The family had noticed that Al had slowly developed signs of early dementia, but four months before he died doctors discovered that his Alzheimer's was far advanced. And this was just two months after he had, as always, prepared their income taxes without any assistance. He lived so well so long with dementia, in part because of diet. Heart-friendly food increases the flow of blood to the brain, which helps counter dementia. "She discovered that she had a knack for dealing with people lost in dementia," Jerry says of his mom. She visited nursing homes and gave her time and attention to people who had dementia, but no family or friends. She wrote a small booklet, Reaching People with Dementia, loaded with tips. Look for lucid moments, especially vivid descriptions of the past. Learn to accept anger, which often flares with dementia. Remind them of things, even food, they once liked. Take an imaginary trip with them. His mom found her voice and her calling relatively late in life, Jerry says. But what she became was a clear extension of who she always was -- a woman who wanted the people in her life, including her two sons, to have tools to make the best choices they could, to be their own persons. If you'd like to nominate a local person who has died within the last six weeks for A Life Lived feature, contact Mark Hare at (585) 258-2351 or at MHARE@DemocratandChronicle.com. She met Alvin at a social event for teens at Holy Apostles Church, and when they married, she worked to help him get through college. He then took a part-time teaching position at Rochester Institute of Technology. His position allowed her to start her own degree program at RIT in nutrition. She finished her degree but was a stay-at-home mom for many years. On their 25th wedding anniversary, Rosemary and Alvin took a cruise to Trinidad, where they met a dock master whose daughter was about to start her studies at Nazareth College. "He asked them to check on her," Jerry says. And so they did. At Thanksgiving, when the college dorms were closed and foreign students had no place to go, they invited the young woman and three friends to their Gates home. At Christmas that year, Jerry says, more than 40 foreign students came to the Fisher home. Over the next few years, Rosemary became active in the International Friendship Council and opened their doors to foreign students at the University of Rochester and RIT. "She had an extended family of more than 100 students," Jerry says. "When I would come home from college, there would be 35 to 50 students with sleeping bags, enjoying their American Mom and Dad's hospitality." On the Fishers' 50th wedding anniversary, in 1989, several of those adopted students sent them on an around-the-world trip -- from Hong Kong to Tokyo, Kyoto, Sidney and even Rio. But clearly her husband's heart attack and her own serious car accident a few years later were turning points in Rosemary Fisher's life. In her late 50s, not having worked out of the home in decades, she began to research recipes, at first to restore her own and Al's health, but quickly to share those recipes with a larger public eager to add years through dietary common sense. She wrote four cookbooks filled with healthy meal ideas that would counter heart disease and even osteoporosis. The books are easy to read, the meals simple to prepare, and the rationale readily understandable -- eat fresh, natural foods and avoid "bone robbers" such as salt, alcohol, caffeine, sugar, etc. Rosemary's mission was to help people eat better, but also to learn how to identify and prepare food that is both tasty and satisfying. She refused to include the flashy photos and graphics that would add cost to the books. The books all sold for $10 and all profits went to charity. When Jerry and his wife, Joyce DeHaan, visited one of Rosemary's favorite charities, a ministry for the very poor run by Carmelite nuns in the Philippines, "we saw that they gave out cards with her website -- because the recipes were so simple -- like they were holy cards," DeHaan says. When Al died in 1994 as a result of Alzheimer's disease, Rosemary found another cause. The family had noticed that Al had slowly developed signs of early dementia, but four months before he died doctors discovered that his Alzheimer's was far advanced. And this was just two months after he had, as always, prepared their income taxes without any assistance. He lived so well so long with dementia, in part because of diet. Heart-friendly food increases the flow of blood to the brain, which helps counter dementia. "She discovered that she had a knack for dealing with people lost in dementia," Jerry says of his mom. She visited nursing homes and gave her time and attention to people who had dementia, but no family or friends. She wrote a small booklet, Reaching People with Dementia, loaded with tips. Look for lucid moments, especially vivid descriptions of the past. Learn to accept anger, which often flares with dementia. Remind them of things, even food, they once liked. Take an imaginary trip with them. His mom found her voice and her calling relatively late in life, Jerry says. But what she became was a clear extension of who she always was -- a woman who wanted the people in her life, including her two sons, to have tools to make the best choices they could, to be their own persons. If you'd like to nominate a local person who has died within the last six weeks for A Life Lived feature, contact Mark Hare at (585) 258-2351 or at MHARE@DemocratandChronicle.com.