welcome to the organic green doctor blog

i am a family physician who was diagnosed with
early mild cognitive impairment(mci) amnestic type on december 21, 2010
this is a precursor to alzheimers disease
because of this diagnosis i have opted to stop practicing medicine
this blog will be about my journey with this disease
please feel free to follow me along this path
i will continue blogging on organic gardening, green living,
solar power, rainwater collection, and healthy living
i will blog on these plus other things noted to be interesting

Monday, May 6, 2013

sum it all up

SUM IT ALL UP

for those of you who did not see the news report on
the alzheimers symposium and the interview with me
here is the link to the video
http://www.kwkt.com/news/alzheimers-symposium-offers-insight-mental-illness


i just finished the book by pat summitt
the university of tennessee hall of fame womens basketball coach
who wrote this book about her career
and her progression to her diagnosis of alzheimers disease

she was open about her life
and open about her diagnosis of alzheimers disease

she even coached her last year while on the alzheimers drugs
aricept and namenda

after reading the book i was able to piece together her process of
getting diagnosed and how she began to notice the early symptoms

comparing my journey to hers

mine
mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
stage 2
hers
early mild alzheimers disease
stage 3

mine
mildly abnormal short term memory tests on the neuropsych exam
hers
more abnormal short term memory tests on her neuropsych exam

mine
positive beta amyloid in spinal fluid and mild elevation of tau protein
hers
not sure of her results
my guess was they were abnormal

mine
normal mri scan of the brain
hers
abnormal mri scan showed some early changes on the initial scan

mine
normal pet scan for glucose metabolism of the brain
hers
abnormal pet scan for glucose metabolism of the brain which
showed some decreased uptake of glucose which means she
has areas of alzheimers disease that has developed

mine
amyvid pet scan of the brain
ive delayed this for awhile
hers
not sure if she has had one

source
her book sum it up

so her diagnosis is a more firm one
she has it and it has progressed some

mine is possible alzheimers disease that time and
more testing in followup will show a trend if it occurs
towards the positive diagnosis

so
pat summitt you are my buddy
wish you well

but man after reading that book
i dont think i could ever play for you as a coach
but
with your record of success you definitely seemed to know
what you were doing

the organicgreen doctor

2 comments:

  1. Now that you're done with 1Q and Sum it up you can finally read the books i gave you!

    You couldn't handle the summit scowl and all that yelling?

    ReplyDelete
  2. How do you have time to read with Habitat, Meals on Wheels, symposiums, gardening, and your wife she. Oh wait, you get up at 3 in the morning! :)
    Cowgurl friend

    ReplyDelete