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

Friday, February 3, 2017

alzheimers news-this is the one

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THIS IS THE ONE
Image result for organicgreendoctor
as we were driving up to dallas from the country n
early on tuesday morning
on our way to do more testing for the
aducanumab study
i turned to my wife she
who is along with me on this journey
i said
this is the one for me there might not be another one

now
i keep up with all the research thats going on
let me tell you
there is a lot thats happening in alzheimers research
yes there should be more
we need more funding

for those of you who are programmed to get alzheimers disease
yes
soon
in the next few years whether or not you will get it
well
you will be able to be identified via testing most likely
blood tests
that will tell you
well you got it

however
if you are 50 or under there will be treatment available
to slow it down or stop it in its tracks
maybe

if we are lucky
this will happen sooner for those who are older than that

so for my younger relatives behind me
nephews nieces kids maybe siblings but definitely the grand ones
there will be something that can be done

now back to the present
for me
this study
the aducanumab study
is my hope for a treatment to slow it down or stop it

as i look back to whats happening in the research
i realize that for me there is not another one out there
that will be here now to help me
since
the clock is ticking

if this progresses too far there is and never will be anything
that will stop that amyloid and tau thats accumulated
and caused destruction
this all happens before symptoms worsen
so
when symptoms worsen
you know its really too late

so
thats where i am at
i am on the verge
i need something now to stop and slow its down

so
i underwent the next to last hurtle this tuesday
we spent 5 hour there again at the alzheimers research center
doing
memory tests
having my wife she interviewed again
then
getting an hour long mri of the brain
that follows the research protocol for this study

why
i asked why do i have to keep my eyes open for 30 minutes
oh he said
thats for a functional mri
opening the eyes
makes the brain to start working more
so the mri can look at the active brain
im sure they were concentrating on the hippocampal area
since thats where the disease starts
and
where it gets the worse first

now i wont get the official reading on any of these
all i will hear is
you passed
you failed

if i pass then i go to the amyvid pet scan which identifies the
bad beta amyloid that has accumualted up there
heres the link to tuesdays blog with the scan pictures from the
nature magazines article

if i flunk it ie i have something else going on up there like
a small stroke or tumor or mass or swelling etc
then im out
there for me will not be another chance to stop it this early

if i do progress to the amyvid pet scan
if its positive
i am in
thats bad news but also real good news

it also means i definitely have it
ie
alzheimers disease

if it is negative
well thats good news too
i dont have alzheimers disease

so if i make it to the amyvid pet scan
well
no matter what that one shows
it will be good news
so as we were leaving the radiology department
my wife she and i stood in front of this
chihuly statue that is two stories high
worth a million dollars
we were both thinking about all this
knowing
we are about to start the beginning of
a new journey together

for better or for worse

the organicgreen doctor


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