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, March 30, 2012

tough choice

TOUGH CHOICE
 i am thinking today of my younger brothers family as they have
to make a difficult decision
my younger brother has alzheimers disease and it has come to a
point when a difficult decision has to be made as to whether it
is safe for him to stay in his home because this terrible disease
has marched on

he had a seizure which was probably unrelated to his alzheimers
disease
this placed him in the hospital and brought this social issue to a
head for his family

sometimes things happen for a reason

my wife she and i have already had this talk about what i want done
when i reach this stage
our decision has already been made
its to be made and no one is to look back and wished they had not
made the decision to put me in a long term care facility
there is to be no guilt as its the right thing for my family to do
the right thing for my wife she to do
all i ask of them and my friends is to come visit me when the time
comes and to support my family

my wife she and i are lucky as compared to my younger brother and
his wife as we got to discuss these issues years (i hope years) before
it happens
they probably did not get a chance to have an open frank discussion
about what to do as my younger brother when he was diagnosed was
probably cognitively impaired enough not to be able to
make the decision

i and my wife she are glad i have gotten an early diagnosis as we are
able to plan our lives
its almost cruel for families to not have that opportunity

this alzheimers disease is a cruel disease
it saps away a persons personality
they are not what they use to be
and it affects the family and friends sometimes the worst

i know i have a difficult time visiting my brother
as do some of his other siblings because we all know and me
specifically that we could be looking in a mirror at ourselves
its hard to do

again
good luck today my younger brother in your new transition to
the next stage of your life
we will be thinking of you today and every day
and
we will be with your family in spirit as they make this difficult decision
today to have you move on to this next stage
but
we know and i hope they know that they are making the right
decision for all involved
i feel like that my younger brother would want it this way also
just remember that
as
i know thats what i would want done also

the sad organicgreen doctor  : (

Thursday, March 29, 2012

youll shoot your eye out

YOULL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT
in the christmas story when the little blond boy with the
black glasses wants that bb gun
his mom says youll shoot your eye out
in the end when he got it he almost did shoot his eye out
as the bb ricocheted around and hit his glasses breaking
the lenses

well the republicans are trying their best to shoot their eye
out in this presidential race
or more like shooting themselves in the foot
what was looking like a sure thing became less
certain

they havent learned their lesson have they
dont mess around with women
we all know that
especially if youre married you know when to
keep your mouth shut
or you wont get anything you want

so they march on shootin themselves frequently in the foot
they should really be limping this fall or will be on
crutches if they continue like they are

they had or have a golden opportunity to retake the presidency
but they arent seizing the chance very well

now they are opposed to the violence against women act
add that one to the we hate women list

whose running their show anyway
it must be a closet democrat who is sabotaging their campaign
really
no contraception
no health clinics for women
(the state of texas just lost federal funding for most of these clinics
and must take millions out of the state budget to fund them-we know
where that money will come from-probably the education fund)
no college for your kids
no freedom of choice

wonder what those wives are saying to their husbands behind
close doors
you arent getting any tonight
or for awhile

take that gun away from those guys so women will be safe
just leave the women issues along and debate
with the democrats what really is important to most americans
the economy stupid
jobs
health insurance
medicare
social security
wars
college debt of $1,000,000,000,000

thats what we are all really interested instead of taking things
away from women
heck you guys are hurting all of us men
please give us a break

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

pedexting

PEDEXTING
texting is a good way to communicate with people especially
if you dont wont to talk with them
heck some teenagers do hundreds of texts a day talking with
their friends
ive found it a very convenient way to interact with my friends and
family
i can text that message and keep on working
they can work and look at the message and keep on working

unless

they are driving which isnt good
and now texting while walking can be just as bad



yesterday there was a report of a lady who was walking with
her family on a pier after they had eaten at a nearby restaurant
and she simply pedexted herself into lake michigan and had to
be rescued by her son and rescued workers
bet that was real embarrassing
heres the news report

her advice was no texting while walking

now there is a new app for your phone called transparent screen that
uses your rear camera to show a video screen of where you are walking
that shows up under whatever you are texting or reading

its recommended it be used sparingly and to never be used while
driving

this is what i think about all of this


the organicgreen doctor


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

keyhole square foot garden

KEYHOLE SQUARE FOOT GARDEN
whats a keyhole square foot garden

well i made it up
i took the ideas from the keyhole garden and combined it
with the ideas of a square foot garden

what comes out of this is a keyhole square foot garden

mel bartholomew is the god of square foot gardening
i have three of his books
the first is dated from the 1980s and i have his latest update
version of his book square foot gardening

here is his website for the square foot gardening foundation
which promotes square foot gardening nationally and internationally
and
here is his blog the mel bartholemew blog

the idea is simple
you can garden anywhere
in an apartment in the city in the country in a high rise etc
build a 4 ft square frame and add good dirt
and then add plants
its that simple
he has a mixture he recommends internationally and nationally
but a local source of his soil for the area where i live is the lady bug brand
of square foot garden soil-a mixture of coir fiber and vermiculite
to hold moisture and five different composts

i recently wrote a blog on the keyhole garden method that is
being promoted especially in africa and other areas using
local rocks and materials to build a circular raised garden with a
central composter and with a pie shaped wedge cut out of the
circle so you can walk into the composter and reach the middle
of the garden
it has been a very successful method of gardening in these foreign
countries
here is a reference to an article on keyhole gardening and my blog
reference

so i had the idea of taking the features of both methods and combining
them into a method i call the keyhole square foot garden

here it is

at the habitat for humanity house i am working on my wife and i
donated a garden to the new home owner
we recently met with her and the three of us put in her new garden

heres how we did it

first we located a site that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight
this one gets some late afternoon shade

we scraped off the top layer of soil
since the soil is deep at her site i opted to dig out 6 inches of her
soil then added this 4 foot square frame of left over 2x6 untreated lumber
dont use treated wood
use cedar or rock or concrete blocks or untreated lumber
so we then have a space thats 4 ft x 4 ft x 1 ft deep

i elected to go to my nursery i like here called the natural gardener
they are the ones that makes mels square foot garden mix for this area
it probably takes 3-4 bags to fill a 6 inch deep garden as mel usually
recommends

i opted to use their hill country soil instead which is the best garden
soil made as it has several types of compost in it granite sand
all the bacteria and fungi needed for plant growth
just dump it in and plant the stuff


















we lined the bottom of the hole with cardboard recycled from the
construction site and cut a hole in the middle for the composter
that was made from left over chicken wire and concrete wire
it was placed in the center of the space and was placed it another
6 inches in the ground
its total height was 4 ft (guess that would make this is a cube foot garden)

the bottom was then lined with 10 sheets of newspapers
just trying to keep out all of those dang weeds and also provide
food for all those worms we want to attract to the garden

next the 4 ft square frame was placed down over the composter
there are 1 ft squares marked off on the frame using wire stretched
across the frame
this makes it easy to plant things in 1 ft squares


















then we dumped that good old soil in there and we were ready to plant

in the composter we placed layers of chicken poop compost thanks
to my girls at the country n  of compost from the natural gardener  of
oak leaves  of shredded newspapers and added a bananna peel on
top to top it off
shell add compost material over time from her kitchen from mowing and
from leaves as they fall
all she adds is water to keep it moist

later we will add 2 ft path around the square foot frame using
plastic to block the weeds and addi crushed granite on top of the plastic

we planted these items in her garden-two tomatoes malabar spinach
oregano leeks mulitplying onions swiss chard arugula beans basal
bell pepper banana pepper jalapeno pepper and egg plant
nice garden choices huh
this fall late she will add a winter planting to this area

we then added bird netting over the pvc frame we placed to protect
against varmints
that squirrel sat on her fence and licked his chops
at 48 hours he has not attacked yet

now we have the new invention
the keyhole square foot garden
a self contained garden
just add water and compost material and love

will update pictures as the garden grows

the organicgreen doctor


Monday, March 26, 2012

healthcare law

HEALTHCARE LAW
i have always been an advocate for a single payer system for
health care
heck if you are in the va system or the military you sort of have
one now and have for years
if the healthcare law hadnt been enacted the price of our health
insurance would have gone up 
opponents claim that the new law was the reason why our rates 
went up 
dont think so 
it was going to happen anyway

if you are on medicare or medicaid you are on a system that
is almost a single payer system 
that despite what you hear works fairly well
they actually do a fairly good job of controlling the cost of medicine
we do waste so much

ive seen health care from all sides
i worked in high school at a local hospital as an aide with other 
students and worked through college in the emergency room as 
an emergency room technician
i worked 3 years after residency fulfilling a national health service 
obligation as a private practitioner
then worked over 25 years as a family practitioner

now im retired and am seeing the side from the perspective of 
a patient
dont like this side at all
theres deductibles non covered services copays non covered 
providers etc

when in high school i wrote a paper on enacting a national health
insurance in favor of it and have always felt we needed one
were the only industrialized country in the world without one
there is a great uneveness to our system we have

if you work in the system you know what im talking about
if you are on medicaid or medicare or god forbid have no insurance
just try to get certain health care done 
wont happen

the health care law is a step that way in the right direction
you know we pay for all this uncovered care one way or another
yes our system has the best available medical care in the world
but its not available to everyone and
we have one of the worst record of health care results in the major
industrialized countries

we do need more
heck we talking about contraception a battle fought 50 years ago 
im sure the rest of the world is laughing at us 
i know i am

your 25 year old can now get health insurance on your policy
if you dont believe in the new law dont let them on it

your insurance has to pay for your mammogram and pap and 
other preventative care without copays
if you dont believe in the new law pay cash for yours
im not paying for mine

if your child has a preexisting condition and you lose your job
and try to get him or her insurance now they cant carry forward
that preexisting condition
soon that will extend to all adults
if you dont agree with the new law then just get your insurance
with that preexisting condition and pay for your childs asthma attack

yes i agree with the law  though more needs to be done
just look at your own situation and see if the new law is already 
helping you
bet it is 

if you are in the military on military retirement in the va system on medicare
medicaid or on certain government plans you are already on a federal
national plan and really shouldnt be involved in opposing this plan
as you are already on a national insurance
apparently that eliminates over 50% of us

if you dont agree with it then just drop your insurance coverage and 
go without it
youll pay and then well have to pay

i hope the supreme court leaves this law alone
it was long overdue
more needs to be done

from a taxpayer, physician, and patient

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, March 23, 2012

pat summitt my buddy revisited

PAT SUMMITT MY BUDDY REVISITED
 

pat summitt is my buddy
after she announced that she had early alzheimers i posted a blog
about her called pat summitt my buddy
and got warm responses from people about that blog
it was sent to her office by several people and i got a nice
response from her pr person

we are buddies because we share the same diagnosis
we are buddies with the rest of those millions in the united states
with this diagnosis

it was hard to watch her this year on the sidelines
i recognize that stare
its the stare my mother my father and my younger brother
had and has
its part of the disease
the disease attacks parts of the brain and one thing that
happens is that facial expression or lack of one

i have a stare or so my wife she says and my sons they say and
the nurses that worked with me say i have
but thats not the stare im stalking about
thats the im pissed off stare

since writing this blog i have made contact with people all over
the united states and several countries who have the diagnosis or their
family member has or had the disease

one thing that happens to people many times is that they stay
in their jobs too long and either get fired or realize they cant
do their jobs any longer and quit
they stay too long

i chose because of my occupation as a physician and because i
was able to find out i had a problem before i made mistakes or
before anyone else noticed to quit as soon as i found out
i could not live with myself if i had stayed and harmed someone

in the adni study and via this blog and because of the two articles written
about me (see the upper right side of this blog)
ive made contact with a lot of
people who are still working because they have to or because they
want to but know that the day is coming when it will all end

there is a lot of people out there like this
many know and many dont know
as we are able to diagnosis people earlier the numbers we do
know about will increase greatly
we as a society will need to figure out what do do with all these
people
many like pat still have a lot of potential left and a lot to give

yes pat its time for you to go and stop coaching
it was obvious watching you
you are now a hindrance to the program it needs to move on

but pat you still have so much you can give to your university
i sure hope that they take advantage of this time you have where
you can still help them before the disease takes the rest of you
away

pat
i watched you for years read books about you and love to watch
the fire you have for your job
thats how ill remember you
we wish you the best
we wish you the best in the fight with this disease
we both know though that it wins eventually
but youll go out as a winnner though

pat summitt my buddy
we all love you

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, March 22, 2012

whats for lunch mom

WHATS FOR LUNCH MOM
 


yum
looks like a good ole strawberry soft cream that would
be great on an ice cream cone
wonder if its made from real strawberries

wrong

its pink slime
doenst sound good does it

whats pink slime
its the rejected fat blood left overs sinew left over bits from carcasses
that come from slaughter houses
thought that was what bologna was

all this junk is thrown into a machine spun around and whats left is
this stuff called pink slime

its also treated with ammonia then processed as an additive to
hamburger meat

makes me what a veggie burger

its then used in burgers at restaurants supermarkets and yes even
your kids cafeterias
well many fast food restaurants have quit using this stuff as the
word is out now

why dont they just microvave it and serve it on a cone and call
it hamburger cone like the famous chicken cone sold in austin
well the chicken cone is better and uses good parts of the chicken

whats bad is that even though many restaurants have quit sliming
people the school cafeterias continue to use this stuff

pink slime ingredients are what use to be used to make food for
dogs and cats

maybe serve dog food cereal at school since its probably healthier

its also called mechanically separated meat or boneless beef lean
trimmings
think pink slime or snot or slop is a better word

isnt that what they use to feed pigs in the old days
slop
go slop the hogs billy bob
now
go slime your kids

bet your kids will want to take their lunch to school today
just dont send them with a hamburger thats been slimed

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

rain water heaven, however dont drown turn around

RAIN WATER HEAVEN
i am in heaven
thats rain water heaven
if you are  are a rain water connoisseur then you
know exactly what i mean

we got over 5 inches of rain here last night
i knew when i got up this morning that we
had got enough rain to fill up my tanks
i knew because i could hear the roar of the
river a quarter of a mile from our house

(little did i know that that river almost made a
devastating capture of several lives-see below)

when i went out to look at my tanks i was so
excited
for there was water oozing from the overflow pipes
on every one of my water tanks
that means they are full and cant hold no more

since we have put in all of my tanks and have had
them properly hooked up they have not all been
full before
at least not since we entered the drought

my calculations are that we have about 15 months of
water left without any rain
surely there could not be a drought that bad

heck even the lakes are expected to rise a few feet
with this rain as this time it fell in the right places

then it dawned on me that if it rained again that
i would not capture any of the rain and it would
just run off into the landscape and into that
cave under our property i always dream about


if you are a rain water connoisseur then you know
what this picture is all about

HOWEVER DONT DROWN TURN AROUND
we see this all the time and hear it on tv all the time
dont drown turn around
but people dont listen

my wife she and i understand that urge to not turn around
but we have decided that we will always stand up to
that urge








here is  a low water area on the highway near our house
(those of you who know where we live its the area between
the white country church and the entry to the cemetery)

its the one that has prevented my wife she and i from
going to work sometimes
yesterday it prevented my wife she from going to work












here is picture of the water level sign
see that piece of debris at 4 feet
thats where the water level went to last night

sometime at about 100 am a mother and her three kids
were driving down the road and hit this water
(dont know if they had the barrier up yet)

guess i cant be critical of her for going through there
it was stormy lightning and raining hard
she probably couldnt see where she was going
(early on they dont put up the barriers)
those of us who live out here know not to drive there
when it rains hard
she didnt know as she was from a city 3 hours away

once it rained hard one night for a few hours
i for some reason did not realize it had rained that much
and took off to work in my small car
as i drove through this area i did not see the water on the
road as it was dark
when i hit the water i felt my car momentarily
start to float then
my front wheels hit the pavement and gripped and
pulled me forward
i had a moment of terror hit me
you know you sweat and your heart rate goes up

i can not imagine the horror that that mom and her 3 kids
felt as the water swept them off the road and down the
creek now a raging river spinning around for 3 quarters of
a mile to get lodged against two trees
the car a small suv took in water up above the side mirrors

the mom managed to crawl up on the roof of the car with her
three kids and then called 911
she had no idea where she was
then she lost phone contact (she must have had att)
one of our neighbors could hear them yelling but couldnt
locate where they were because of the rain and storm and
darkness
here is where they were


















(the pink and white item on the roof is one of the girls
small tennis shoe)
eventually the rescuers found then after an hour
but could not reach them as the water was 4 feet higher
than in this picture

her and the kids had to sit on that roof in the cold rain with
lightning and high winds for a total of 3 hours
they were all huddle together on top of that roof with the
rushing dirty cold water at their feet

they had to call in a high water rescue team who arrived and after
two hours were able to rescue all 4 of them

when you read this and if you are like me when i wrote this and
saw the car i got chills all over

PLEASE DONT DROWN TURN AROUND

the organicgreen doctor

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

rain, bucket list

RAIN
this rain we are having right now could be the one that tops off
my rain water tanks
thats where they get full and run over which
for those who are rain water savers
will drive you crazy
as you cant stand to lose any water at all

ive got 30000 gallons of water tank storage and
i still have 6  5 gallon buckets put out to catch rain
and would have more if i had more buckets

after this rain we are having
seems like a lot of rain maybe 4-5 inches
my tanks should be full and ill have enough rain for
two years without any rain

i now have $3000 dollars worth of water if i had
to have it trucked it
wont happen this year or the next
maybe this is the drought buster we need

the rain is actually falling on the headwaters of the multiple
lakes around here that supply the drinking water for many
cities and
provide recreational areas and jobs associated with the
lake activities

wonder if all those boats sitting on the dry beds will
start floating now

BUCKET LIST
when i retired i developed a bucket list of things i wanted
to do before i couldnt
some of these are local things that weve always wanted to do
but just havent got around to doing yet

this summer we will knock off three of the large ones but on
spring break we knocked off several of the smaller ones

we spent 2 days in fredricksburg texas
weve been there several times but there were things we or i
havent seen before



weve never gone through the admiral nimitz museum there
its an awesome museum of the pacific war from ww11
admiral nimitz was from fredricksburg
it was well worth the trip
still though couldnt see it all so guess ill have to make
another trip



we also found a place called the herb farm which is
a restaurant with a large garden area and with several of
the sunday houses that can be rented to stay in

it reminded us so much of our country n that we enjoyed
our 3 hour stay there
we sat out on the back porch area eating our lunch and
having a nice glass of wine
i got to spend an hour talking with the on site gardener
and swapped gardening and chicken stories with her



the other place we went to there was the wildseed farms just
east of town
they had rows and rows of wild flowers planted
sure was pretty
cant wait to see the area later in the year

our or my bucket list is still full so i
hope to work harder at emptying it this year

the organicgreen doctor


Monday, March 19, 2012

busted, habitat, thanks

BUSTED
no i didnt get arrested
my brackets for the march madness got all busted up on
the first day
dang duke and mizzu
you really screwed up my brackets

then that guy who plays for syracuse got removed off the team
really screwed me up
i had picked them for winning it all

is it ok to pick a new winner

my sweet 16 is a sour 16
i picked correctly 9 of the 16
thanks to ky, indiana, baylor, michigan state, louisville, syracuse
ohio state, north carolina, and kansas for helping my brackets out

ohio how did they get in there
oops they have to play north carolina

my final four picks were duke michigan state syracuse and kansas
maybe ill get one right

HABITAT
i am still working on the habitat house
the future home owner is excited
its really looks like a house now
at least from the outside
inside we still have to finish the floors
do the final painting inside
the cabinets are almost all in place

estimated move in is about 1 month
my wife she and i will put in her keyhole square foot garden soon
will post pictures of it when its done as well as post
a picture of the house

you should consider volunteering at your local habitat where
you live
the ones who seem to really benefit a lot are the high school
kids and college kids who work there

sure makes me feel good about the future of our country
when i work with these kids
i know some of these will be leaders wherever they end up
living

THANKS
thanks for the response to last weeks blogs
i actually took the week off from blogging
and posted my most popular blogs from the last two years

the blogs were hard for me to read as i realized how i was
blindsided by all what happened and how much it really affected
me and how much it still affects me when i read about it

although im sad all this has happened im not sorry it happened the
way it did as i probably would be drifting along in life not knowing
until something happened that would be tragic for someone else
and for myself

the future is being planned and my wife she and i will be as
ready as we can be
it will be harder on her as i probably wont know whats going on
just what things to be ready for her
help her out when the time comes

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, March 16, 2012

neurology visit

NEUROLOGY VISIT
this was a surreal visit

she handed me that prescription for aricept (donepezil)
i had just written that same one and handed it to a patient
the day before for his alzheimers disease
and had reviewed the same side effects with him and his
daughter

here with the neurologist she was reviewing the same
side effects with me

so surreal
its hard to believe this all happened

there were two other surreal moments during this time

the first was when i was taking the first neuropsychological test and
was sitting in that room with that stone faced tester
and i was looking up at the blinds out that window at that
tree with its leaves blowing in the wind
i couldnt remember those words she was asking me to recall

so surreal
the last time i took that test last october i sat in that same chair
looked at those blinds looked out that window at that tree
and the leaves were all gone

the second surreal moment was when i saw a well known patient
to me
her mom and i are from the same small town in southern arkansas
i knew the patient well
told mom she looks sick we need to do more testing
mom said you did testing the last time you saw her
this is the 3rd time youve seen her in the last 6 weeks
i did not recall seeing her

so surreal

here is that neurology visit blog

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, March 15, 2012

dreaded visit

DREADED VISIT
bear with me this week
this is helpful for me to repost and revisit these events

these blog entries were written but were posted after
it was all over with
as i did not want any one to know what was going on
until i had received the final word

this is the visit that my wife she and i were dreading
we knew at least i knew what was going to
happen

the dreaded visit

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

the posting

THE POSTING
this is the one
my most popular posting
the one i cant reread and
havent reread before i post this blog today

here is the blog entry

last day thanks

thanks
the organicgreen doctor

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

follow up adni visit

FOLLOW UP ADNI VISIT
the next day after i went to the alzheimers research study and
had my intitial evaluation i posted this blog

after reading this blog entry from 18 months ago i realized i
was in denial that there was a problem or that i just didnt
want to write about it

at this time i had taken the neuropsychological exam and thinking
back i knew right then i had a problem
but didnt not let it sink in until i received that fateful phone call
a few weeks later

here is the blog from that day after

click on followup on adni study

tomorrow i will post the hardest blog i have written
and the one that makes me teary eyed every time
i read it
thanks to you for your response to this blog entry
over the last 18 months

the organicgreen doctor

Monday, March 12, 2012

how it all started

HOW IT ALL STARTED
this is how it all started
in november of 2010 i tried to enter an alzheimers research study
as a normal subject

this posting seems so innocent
little did i know what was coming

im reposting several of my blog entries to retell what happened
for my benefit and to some of the readers benefit who have
family members friends with this disease
thats all of you

here is the blog titled alzheirmers disease neuroimaging initiative

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, March 9, 2012

rip, rosemary, update, whew


RIP
rip leslie cochran
the iconic keep austin weird guy
there will never be another one
we have pictures of him in his thong and high heels
heck he even got 30% of the vote for mayor once
wouldnt that have been fun if he had won
talk about keeping austin weird
it would have been downhill after that

do rip leslie
you gave us all memories
helped us forget for a few minutes what else was
happening in the world
well all miss you
well try to keep austin weird in your memory

(for those who dont know who leslie was here is
an article from the austin american statesman)

ROSEMARY

this is about the plant and not some person
a researcher took people and put them in a room with the
scent of rosemary in the room
the chemical is called 1 8 cineole that makes that distinctive odor

those who were in the room with the rosemary did better on
math quizzes than those who did the quizzes in a room without
the rosemary chemical

in one test they did those subtract seven tests
100-7=93-7=85
oops didnt smell my rosemary this am

maybe using rosemary might help someone with
mild cognitive impairment or alzheimers disease

think i reach over and grab a rosemary branch as i walk out
my door each morning
and
maybe ill put a sprig in my pocket when i go back for my
annual followup for the adni study next month in dallas

UPDATE
was asked a lot recently how im doing so heres an update

i still notice some subtle changes on memory that are not
noticeable to others even my wife she

i function normally doing all the things i like to do and some i
dont like to do like dishes washing etc

i am still on aricept (donepezil) and have noticed fewer of the
side effects as i use to-no nausea, less leg cramps, less restlessness
but still have some problems with sleep which i compensate by
doing a short noon nap (just try to call me after lunch)

hopefully this is not the calm before the storm or
hopefully im not gettting a placebo pill that the manufacturer
is screwing up on

i keep up with alzheimers research and whats happening with
alzheimers and try to write about some of it here in this blog

my annual visit is next month where i will do a 1 year follow up on
the alzheimers disease nuclear imaging initiative
adni
it was started about 6 months after i was diagnosed
so i have a baseline that was done 18 months ago

i will have a neuropsychological exam, blood work by the gallons
a neurological evaluation and a mri scan

its another year before i get a spinal tap again
(know my wife she is looking forward to that one since
she fainted last time-how could she do that when she
was way down the hall and didnt ever see or hear
anything-guess she just cares a lot)

also in a year i will get the beta amyloid pet scan and the
glucose metabolism pet scan done
well something to look forward to there

what i realize is clichéc but
you have to seize the moment
each day i do what i like to do (except for the dishes) and try to enjoy the day

maybe thats what everyone should be doing huh

WHEW
well i know i told everyone dont get your plants yet and
stick them in the ground cause the cold weather will come
back and get your plants
dont succumb to the good weather fever

i went to my favorite organic nursery to get some good garden
soil for a project here and for the square foot garden im doing for
the habitat home owner

oh my goodness omg those tomato plants were so beautiful
just run your hands across those plants and then smell your hands
man i could do calculus in my head after doing that
didnt need no rosemary for this

those peppers egg plants herbs
sorry i just couldnt help myself
i bought all the plants i needed for my garden then went home
it was so nice and warm then
i said to myself
dont do it dont do it
remember your potatoes just got nipped by the frost this week
so
i didnt plant them in the ground but instead put them in my little
greenhouse with my heater and decided to wait

am glad i did or they would look like my taters do now
all black and shrivelled up (dont worry theyll come back out)

guess i learned my lesson after the last 10 years of planting my
maters too early
maybe ill plant them next weekend or the next

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, March 8, 2012

tax refund, habitat, contraception

TAX REFUND
im so excited were getting a tax refund this year
dont think this has ever happened before
as i always try to keep our federal income tax withdrawals
so that we owe them money
they dont pay interest on the money of yours that they keep
but my accounts in van guard does








wow so this is what it feels like to get a refund
i excitedly open well i tore it open and there it
was a check for $3000+

then i got to thinking
if i had put that in my ira last year i  would have
made 5% on that money and made $150
but instead uncle sam had my money and probably
used it for something that i didnt agree with
maybe they used it to pay for contraception for
some needy person
that would have been ok with me
or put it on the national debt but
more than likely they just lent it to china
bet china had this money last year

last year since i was paid only for 4 months work i had tried
to figure out how much withdrawals to take to keep from
getting a refund this year
it was difficult to do because my long term disability is tax free
and i miscalculated

oh well it did feel good to get that check though
even if it cost be $150

probably be the last time i get to experience this again
guess ill just enjoy it

HABITAT
the roof and outside are all done except for some
2nd coating of the outside trim around the doors and
windows
it sure looks good
will try to post a picture after i obtain the owners permission

the sheet rock is being done this week then well move inside
to do the painting cabinets doors flooring and molding
am looking forward to learning how to do the cuts for the
molding
never could seem to get that done just right

feels good to be working on this house

CONTRACEPTION
yesterday i wrote about the attack on womens health and
contraception
thanks for the response

in my practice i also had patients who did not use contraception
for various reasons
some worried about the side effects of the pill the iud and the shots
some objected to using these methods for religious reasons

i always respected their beliefs and didnt try to influence their
decision on what to do but
tried to provide the best available information on what they
wanted to do

as a family physician your patients were always doing things
that you didnt agree with politically or religously or personally
i just tried to be there for help when it was needed

granted some of them had large families

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

women war, primary

WOMEN WAR
why is there this war on womens health
i find it disturbing
this contraception issue i thought was settled years ago

first there are more women than men in the us
and as people age the women to men ration gets higher
so if you are a politician you sure dont wont to tick off
the women

these are issues that transcend politics religion wealth social status
well thats not quite true since the poor are affected the most

i practiced medicine for 30 years and almost all my catholic patients
used contraception
well i got their insurance to pay for it because they used it for
menses control or dysmenorrhea painful periods and not for
birth control wink wink

why this attack on women and womens health
rush is finding out thats not a good thing
those women will go after you
granted he was very inappropriate
bet he doesnt get any for a long time now
hes lost a lot of sponsors
they are hitting him in the pocket book where it has its
greatest effect

contraception prevents pregnancy
which prevents unwanted pregnancy
which prevents abortions

are we becoming a contraception third world country
sure seems we are

many of my patients utilized heath clinics and the family planning
clinics for their womens health care as it was cheaper for them to
get it there
they got their breast exams pelvic exams pap smears mammograms
and their prescriptions through these clinics

the years i practiced i did have women have abortions
a tough decision for them to make
none ever used a family planning clinic for this
but used it for their female care

now the funding is being jerked for these clinics
especially in texas
we already lead the nation in teenage pregnancies
things will not get better
were number one but its not football
dont be proud of that

women war
ive been married over 30+ years
i know when not to p%$$ my wife off
or ill pay for it big time

the politicians are p%$$ing women off
they will pay for it this fall in the elections
dont mess with women

PRIMARY
mitt just cant get that knockout punch he needs to make
the other candidates quit running
well ron pauls not going to quit

mitt is going to be wore out before he gets to the
real presidential race
obama is loving this im sure since hes not spending any money
and the republican candidates are beating each other up

as soon as mitt can get enough delagates then hell
probably turn back to his moderate side where he needs
to be if he is going to won

saw a picture on facebook of the romney kids with large letters
on their shirts
they were to line up in a row with ms romney with an r on her shirt
to spell his name ROMNEY
the o and the m got out of place
as they lined up
they spelled R  MONEY

that is probably one of his biggest problems in this election
his money
but you have to have a lot of it to win nowadays

the organicgreen doctor

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

bluebonnets, snakessssssss

BLUEBONNETS
as preditcted the bluebonnets will be good this year
especially as we have more rain coming this spring
here is a picture of a area of bare ground that bluebonnets
took root in











here is the same area 3 months later











this use to be a 3 foot circle of bare ground that the bluebonnets
have taken over and covered the bare area
this is how they work in nature to stabillize the bare areas to
keep them from erosion

here is part of my front yard that is mostly all bluebonnets
with some clover mixed it











this is how nature does grasslands
a lot of this was bare because of the drought

should be a beautiful showing this year

this is our first bluebonnet here at the country n











we hope to have thousands more
this is the year of the bluebonnet
be ready to tour the hill country this spring
as it could be awhile before they are this good

interesting that this bluebonnet planted itself in my crushed
granite driveway-the worst soil on my property
now have to drive around it so it can continue to grow

SNAKESSSSSSSS
ok my best medical school friends wife
if you are reading my blog you need to stop now
i know how much you are scared of snakes and snake stories

do you still have that realistic rubber snake we gave you for christmas
that year that came in its own aquarium and was wrapped
so pretty

i have written several blogs about snakes
they all seem to involve my wife she
some of the snake events i dont dare let her know about
she would not live here anymore if she only knew

once she was in our hot tub on our deck











she was sitting in the tub looking out towards the river just
enjoying herself in the mid day while i was working in the
yard to her left
see that rain water tank next to the hot tub

(thats our movie star tank that was in a movie made
in austin
it was painted to look like a corroded industrial tank
we managed to buy it after the movie was made and left
it as it is)

as i was working and she was chilling out i looked up and there
on the top of that rain water tank was a big ole chicken or rat
snake just coiled up looking down at my wife she in that tub

i kept my moouth shut and went on working in the yard
she never knew until i did my blog on this uneventful event

it would have been fun to watch though if they snake would
have fallen into that hot tub

talkin about streakin
that would have been some streakin to watch and of course to
listen to
or
she might have just had a heart attack there in the hot tub

recently in the blog world i made contact with a new blogger
she has only written two blogs
she is a photographer who is deathly afraid of snakes
like my medical school best friends wife (are you still reading this)
and like my wife she

her best friend has pet snakes
and wanted to have her photograph the snakes
so she did

she must be a brave lady
heres the blog littledeerphotography.blogspot.com
telling what happened that day

sure would like my medical friends wife and my wife she to
get a picture like the last one in her blog

the organicgreen doctor

Monday, March 5, 2012

habitat, tanks done, kites

HABITAT
each week as i work at the habitat for humanity house i have
more respect for those skilled people in the construction
industry and the adverse weather they have to work in

it was cold on saturday am
it was at 32 degrees and was windy
but there we were our there working
they do this every day in the winter
we do it only once or twice a week

thanks skilled craftsman and workers for the work you do

now i remember why i dont like to put up insulation as
i helped put up the insulaton in the walls
its now 48 hours later and im still itching

ive done a lot of building stuff and thought i knew a lot
about carpentry painting insulating tools
but after a few weeks i realize how little i knew

have learned a lot
how to use tools and power tools ive not used before
how to cut those dang angles on things i couldnt figure out
the one skill i have not worked on though is roofing
my wife she said no getting on the roof
(she better watch out or ill throw a snake on her)

she didnt want me to be on that ladder list or be one of the
ladder guys
(my patients usually males would fall off ladders and i would
call them ladder guys and tell them they were on the ladder list)


















there was a big pile of concrete that was about to be broken
up and thrown in the large dumpster to be hauled off
but i rescued it
my wife she and i went up yesterday to the site and broke up the
concrete with a sledge hammer
well i did the sledge hammer work

we took the good pieces and made a bed for the home owners
flower bed
the flat pieces and small pieces ive brought home to use in a project here
at the country n

just need to recycle stuff as much as we can

i also dumpster dived at the site and pulled out what cardboard i could
retrieve to use in making the owner her square foot garden
wasnt easy as the dumpster is one of those tall ones that require
a ladder to climb up on it
no i didnt join the ladder list

TANKS DONE
my wife she and i and a teacher sponsor and student put in place
a rain water tank that holds 2500 gallons at a building on campus
at one of the local large high schools


















think everyone was skeptical that it would fit and work
but ive done several of these large tanks
usually by myself

we dug out a pad for the tank
moved it about 30 feet to sit under the down spout
leveled it
put in the faucet for the hoses
put on a screen on the top opening for the water to go through

now just add rain and they are ready to go

KITES
this weekend was the kite festival here in austin texas
its located at the large park
the one where the acl music festival is every year
there are usually 20000+ people that show up
here are some pictures from the local paper and some from
a local tv station

there are all kinds of kites and people there
the kids have a great time

here at the country n we would have an annual party and
the kids (of all ages) use to love to fly kites
its just something special flying a kite

this years festival was being threatened by a lack of funding
there was concerns that it may have to be discontinued
but they managed to pull it off again this year
hope they can continue to fund it as
so many people enjoy this weekend and festival

lets keep those kites flying
before a generation goes by and never gets to experience
kite flying

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, March 2, 2012

no pat thats not right, benefits help, the gospel

NO PAT THATS NOT RIGHT
thanks to joanne my friend for posting this on facebook
pat robertson should have kept his mouth shut

this blog tells a different story

if you have a friend or family member with alzheimers disease
you should read all of this blog
kendavis.com/commentary/what-would-pat-robertson-have-done-with-my-dad/

BENEFIT HELP
in the sunday austin american statesman there was an article about
benefits for seniors
well im not a senior even though i have grey hair
its been there for 30 years

i entered my information and came up with 5 hits of areas that i
might qualify for help
they were pretty generic ones that all of us have access to
mostly educational stuff

so i put my moms information in there just to see what she might
have qualified for when she was living in her house before she
moved to the senior apartment

the site came up with 25 different programs she qualified for
some she was on but most she had not taken advantage of

if your are a senior or have senior parents you might go to this
website www.benefitscheckup.org/ and enter your information or
your parents to see what they may qualify for

no personal information is entered except for the zip code

there may be help available for you or your family member

GOSPEL
my dad preached the religious gospel
i like to preach the gospel
not the religious kind
the gospel of organic green living

one of the gospels is rain water collection
i hope to influence as many people as possible to start
collecting this free water










just start with a five gallon bucket and place it somewhere
under the roof line or a gutter
let it fill up
no explanation will be needed
you will be infected with the rain water virus once you do this

warning!! its very contagious

have four rain water projects in the future

at my wife shes school we donated a 1500 gallon tank that
will be hooked up to water their raised garden beds

at my wifes former high school she worked at the environmental
club has a 2500 gallon tank that we will be helping them set up
they will use it to water the landscape at the school
hopefully some of the kids will get infected with the rain water virus

at the habitat house im helping to build my wife she and i
are donating a 50 gallon tank to the home owner
she doesnt know but she is about to be infected with the
rain water virus

then the best one is one of my former patients who is in elementary
school started putting 5 gallon buckets along the house to collect
rain water and he would like a larger tank
we have an extra 50 gallon tank that well donate to him and
help him set up
hes already infected

why dont you get your inoculation of the rain water virus
we need all the water saved we can

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, March 1, 2012

oil prices, habitat

OIL PRICES


this story sounds a lot alike those we heard in 2008 and 2009
why is the price of oil going so high
when the consumption of gas has actually dropped in the us
some say we are now actually becoming a net exporter of oil

well here we go
its due to speculation by wall street financial speculators
that are driving up the price of oil so that they can make
profits off the rise

im sure they hope iran continues to stir things up over
in the middle east

apparently the government use to limit how much of the oil
they could speculate with but now its not limited
attempts to regulate this is failing
seems someone has a lot of influence in congress and with
regulating groups

we know who always pays when this happens
you and i

some estimate if you drive an energy efficient car that you
pay $7+ a tank of gas for that speculation
or about $700+ a year for those wall street financial
speculators to take home from your pockets to theirs
sucks doesnt it

drill baby drill wont fix this problem
it will take some stronger regulations to right this wrong
so we all wont be continuously screwed by the financial
guys again
who doesnt have the cojones to do this

the answer is your congressman
probably not the president or the next president
they need to feel the heat as they are not re-elected or elected
this year

$5.00 a gallon is going to really make us all mad
lets do something about it

HABITAT
finished all the siding finally
almost all the outside moulding is finished
the outside is about 75% painted
the roof is almost 100% completed
the central heat air is in place
the electric lines are all ran
now most of the work will go inside and
will probably seem to slow down

as the house is going up its seems to move so
fast as its being built but
as the more detailed things have to be done then the
speed seems to slow down a lot

thats kinda how life is

the organicgreen doctor