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, August 30, 2013

article

ARTICLE

mary ann roser wrote an excellent article last sunday in 
the austin american statesman on alzheimers disease that has
struck a family when they are young

there is a video in the article that you can watch
but the written article requires digital access
(that sucks since the article is such a good one)

she is the one who wrote the article about me 2 years ago
that was published in the same paper
if you look at the top of this blog you will see newspaper article
on my story
click on it to read the article

in her latest article she tells the sad story about this family who
some of them
have inherited one of the dominate genes such that if you get the
gene you get the disease that dreadful alzheimers disease

in their case they get it so young
and they die from it so young
she has two sisters with the disease now

in the article the person who is in her late 30s who now has
the disease has to have her sister as her caretaker
then
one of the sisters with the disease has a 20 year old daughter
who may or may not have the disease
she hasnt been tested
at this point why do it

if she has the gene then the disease is actually starting up
in her now and she will be where her mom is in 15 years

when my younger brother was diagnosed everyone said
he is so young
and he was so young
he died recently with it
so young

this young lady this 20 year old if it was 2023 might be
able to get on medicine or injections so that 15 years later
she would not have the disease

we are headed to that point but we are at the early part of
that journey so help is not available yet

my brother missed that journey and i may be too late to
jump on for a ride when it gets here

hopefully it will be there for her

in columbia there are families with this dominant gene for
alzheimers
several members with the gene will be started on one of
the alzheimers vaccines and will followed for 5 years to see
if it slows or stops the disease
several studies using these vaccines are being done here in the us
i  am hoping to qualify for one of those studies

please support us in the fight
donate and or join a walk to end alzheimers in your area
at www.alz.org/walk

or

my team at the organicgreendoctor team at the williamson county walk 
on september 28th 2013

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, August 29, 2013

morbilliform

MORBILLIFORM

more than 300 dolphins have washed up on the shores of the
atlantic coast of the us

it was a mystery as to what was causing all of these dolphins
to die and wash ashore

now the mystery is solved
they died from a morbilliform virus
that apparently suppresses the dolphins immune system
so they are susceptible to other diseases
and they die

the last big die off was in 1987-1988 when over 700 died
more are expected to die as the die off of these animals
who at times seem almost human like will apparently
continue into 2014

i call it the measles of the dolphins
now thats not a scientific fact now
but
the measles virus is also a morbiliform virus

no if you pet a dolphin who has it humans apparently dont
get the disease
but
if you get within several feet of a human with measles and
you do not have any immunity or reduced immunity to measles
you have a  90% +chance of getting measles

the most at risk are the immune suppressed pregnant women
kids and infants

what could the disease cause this measles that should not ever
occur in the united states

fever cough runny nose a classic morbilliform rash
1 in 10 kids with it get an ear infection
1 in 20 kids with it get pneumonia
1 in 1000 kids with it get encephalitis and can have permanent damage
1-2 of 1000 kids with it die
folks thats they die
pregnant women can have miscarriages and have premature births
its the leading cause of blindness in third world countries
1 million kids die each year in the world with it

in a church near dallas a megachurch that has taken a stand against
immunizations an outbreak has occurred
over 20 people have developed measles
a third had been partially immunized
and hundreds have been exposed
if this grows to a 1000 people
then
1-2 kids will die
100 kids will get ear infections
50 kids will get pneumonia
1 child will get encephalitis and will be permanently disabled

vaccinations have not have not been shown to cause autism
despite the stuff you see on the internet and even on facebook
at times

what a disservice this fear is

i know that some of you that read this blog do not immunize your kids
thats your right i guess
but just for this disease those statistics arent real good if they get infected
with measles
plus your kids are infecting others
then could be  otherharming kids if it spreads
like the child did in the dallas church

this disease had almost disappeared from the us

we forget how bad these diseases can be until it hits us at home
without immunizations we would be losing thousands of kids
every year

i personally have witnessed the devastation eg of h.flu infections that
causes meningitis pneumonia ear infections and that dreadful
respiratory disease epiglottis that can quickly lead to a childs
respiratory death
those i have personally witnessed in my training
and those memories of those patients and their devastated families remain
with me today

a 15 month old with brain abscesses who had strokes
a two year old who had meningitis and had amputations of his fingers
and feet and penis
both permanently disabled

a 5 year who walked into the emergency room and was dead 15 minutes
later
today we never see those unless a child is not immunized
so
these are the reasons im such an immunization advocate

lets dont bring these diseases back please
and lets worry more about our kids and pregnant women than those
dolphins

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

now is your chance

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE
two of the goals of this blog is to raise awareness of
alzheimers and to encourage people to do organic gardening
so
now is your chance to do both next week
at
our silent auction at the reunion grille in cedar park 5:30-700pm
on september 4 2013

there is a 50 mile limit on this garden
thats 50 miles from the renion grille

i personally am excited
to be able to fulfill these two goals by building and installing
a four foot square raised garden for someone who
wins the bid for this garden

heres the ingredients
love for organic gardening
the need to encourage others to do it

i went to a local lumber yard and ordered 2 in x 12 in x 8 ft
cedar boards
i know by doing these several times that the foot width works much better
to hold moisture in and to provide more soil for the plants

in central texas they do better

here i the finished frame once the sawing and nailing was done

and added wire that separates it into 1 ft squares to make it easier to plant

then here is a side view which shows the depth of the frame
i will help prep the site by helping  you site the garden and prepare the
ground under the garden frame
it will look something like this without the composter
the ground will be scraped and dug out some
newspaper twigs cardboard will  be added at the bottom
to help cover up any weeds and to help hold moisture in the bottom of
the garden
worms will usually show up in large numbers eventually to eat the paper

i usually do a 1-2 foot border around the frame and cover it with mulch or
crushed rock

then we will add 1/2 cubic yard of the lady bug brand of hill country
garden soil
then on top of this we will add this stuff
this is lady bug brand square foot garden mix
it is about a 1/2 cu ft amount in these 4 large bags
it contains material organic of course to help the soil hold moisture

then
on top of this we add this stuff
this folks is what makes the garden work this top 2-3 inches of this lady bug
farm style compost
its the icing on the cake

then when we plant the garden well use cottonseed meal and worm castings to
give the plants a boost

then we give you a gift card to the natural gardener in austin to buy your plants

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO DO IT
you will be surprised this fall what you can grow in here and all winter long
remember the fall garden is the best time to garden here in central texas
lettuces of several kinds
spinach
broccoli
winter peas
carrots
beets
swiss chard
kale
asian greens
bokchoy
cilantro
arugula
oregano
cabbage
turnips
parsley
chives
garlic
onions
etc

i want you to be successful with this garden

if you want this garden but cant be there that night we/you can arrange for
someone to bid for you that night
just contact me

remember to donate or join our team that night or
you can do it online at this site for the walk to end alzheimers on
september 28th 2013

the organicgreen doctor

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

breakin apart, miley thoughts

BreakiN aPart
ok so im hooked
like millions of other americans
im not sure why since nothing good ever seems
to happen on this show

everyone makes the wrong decisions in life
and pays severely for their decisions

maybe
thats what this show is all about teaching us a lesson

my son and nephew stayed with us during the summer
a couple of years ago and introduced us to
BreakiNg Bad

when i heard the story line i wasnt sure it was a show i
was really interested in watching
but
when i watched a few episodes i was hooked

in fact we went back and got dvds of the past shows
and systematically watched all of them
yes we were and still are hooked on this show
and
are sad to know this is its last season

there is no way that any good will or could ever come out
of this show in regards to its characters
all will probably tragically be affected

however
im glad ive watched this show because this is a world that
exists that we dont see and it circulates around us all
sucking in our kids our college kids our young adults
and
flushing them all down the toilet

we need to know thats going on

the solution is
i dont have one

but i know that this is a devastating problem this met and
hard drug problem in the us
and
we seem unable to solve it

thanks to BreakiNg Bad for introducing us to reality and
entertaining us at the same time

i guess this is the theme of this show
im not really sure

i know it disturbs me every time i watch it
but i watch it every week

just what does BreakiNg Bad mean anyway

MILEY THOUGHTS

whats the big deal i thought
i watched a video this morning of her performance

whoa is all i could say
heck ive watched shows like this in vegas when i was younger

wonder if it had been a male doing that if everyone would be mad
think movie
mike

it should have been on hbo or showtime
and
the audience should have been prescreened for the performance
will smiths kids wont ever be the same
nor will hannahs fans
and
i guess her career will sky rocket now huh

the new madona

what happens in vegas should stay in vegas right

the organicgreen doctor

Monday, August 26, 2013

preschool, second chances

PRESCHOOL
yesterday was the preschool day
the day before school starts around here
kids are anxious or just dont want to go at all
parents are glad to get the kids back to school
the teachers have their rooms ready to go

so last night as kca was putting her son to bed
thats abbies younger brother
he says
i dont want to close my eyes because when i open
them summer is over

dont you just love kids
thanks kcc for the posting and thanks for the smile to start the day

my wife she is ready for school with her classroom all ready
those lucky kids
she teaches english reading and creative writing
at an alternative school or disciplinary school or opportunity center
or whatever you want to call it
if your child is at her school you arent happy about it since
they got in trouble at their school

but my wife she chose to teach there
she loves it like i loved medicine
its her calling
and
i think she does a good job

it takes a lot of compassion and patience to teach there
and she has a lot of both
just dont push her too far as ive found out many times since
weve been married
she will win in the end

she basically is on the kids side
sometimes teachers forget that kids are why they are there
in the first place

each semester more than one kid will be discovered there in her
class that no one  knows how talented or intelligent they are and
will leave there a new person with a new perspective for the
future

granted many of them are future writers artists musicians actors
and are quite talented

in fact here is a book written by the poet karla morton
that includes poems from her students

the drawing on the front is done by one of her talented students that
was lost in the system

my wife she is very tolerant with these kids
when you hear some of the stories of their lives
you understand why she is

but if she is  pushed too far they go to the principals office
and when she sends someone there the office knows they
have been bad
and the punishment may mean moving on to the next level
which is not a good place to be

but as the school starts today and the first group who start
the year there arrive
she is ready for them with open arms
we need more teachers like her and the other teachers who
teach with her

good luck everyone in school today

SECOND CHANCES
you have to give people second chances
like the ones at the school mentioned above

two of texas ex quarterbacks
probably two of the best that has ever been there
now have second chances
 
colt mcoy
was cut by cleveland
that harsh head hit that left him with a concussion and knocked him
out for the season
he never came back and played much after that the next year

i like colt mccoy
good texas name
from a little town in texas
not recruited much
a coaches son
he had it
but he made it at ut and did well

he is a nice kid very religious but doesnt push it on people like some
athletes do

he got a second chance as a backup at san francisco and it
looks like they decided to keep him as the number two quarterback
this year

good luck colt
you have always proven people wrong

then vince young
highly recruited
he had that special talented it that cant be learned

the ut texas hero quarterback
who had fallen from the graces of the nfl
well he did do some strange things
and
spent all his money he earned in seven years in the nfl
im talking millions of dollars
well he may have been swindled out of most of it

he was brought into green bay to try out
and did quite well
and was kept as the backup to aaron rodgers

he is saying the right things
working hard like he should have been doing when
he started years ago

sometimes adversity can make you contrite
and motivate you

may all have a good day today

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, August 23, 2013

penny for your thoughts

PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

it use to be aluminum
they thought
that caused it
now
they think that it may be copper
too much of it

we get copper naturally in red meat shell fish some vegetables
and fruits and multivitamins and from copper water lines
and i guess if you chew on pennies you can get too much
copper

copper is necessary to maintain the bodys health
too much may cause problems
it helps with nerve conduction and the metabolism of iron
not enough copper can lead to immunity and bone problems
like anemia and osteoporosis
too much can lead to kidney disease and intestinal disease

now a study has found that maybe just the trace amounts we
get now may contribute to alzheimers disease

as this copper accumulates if you get too much
it builds up in the vessels in the brain
and it affects the blood brain barrier
that barrier that keeps things out of the brain cells that doesnt
need to be there
it is the protector of the brain
this blood brain barrier

since the blood brain barrier is affected by the accumulation of
copper that bad old protein beta amyloid starts to accumulate
in the brain which is thought to be the culprit in alzheimers disease

they even have a new drug that works by removing copper from the
brain and by doing so may prevent alzheimers or treat it
its under study now
maybe
time will tell


of course these new studies were done on mice
so now studies will need to be done in humans to see if
this really applies to us

of mice and men
sometimes they arent the same

maybe this time though they are

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, August 22, 2013

its back, its back, its my back

ITS BACK
every summer it comes around in the hot south
when the weather get dry water gets stagnant
commonly growing in stagnant water in coves or rivers
its seems to usually hit kids who jump in the water
it is thought to get into the system by the force of the
water in the nose as the kids jump in
it takes them away so young

its called naegleria fowleri
the brain eating amoeba
primary amebic meningoencephalitis
its fatal
usually

there have been only two cases of people surviving the
infection in the united states ever
until now

i had one child who got the infection once when he was
with his family swimming in a nearby lake in the hot
summer
he started with fever headache that worsened
by the time the specialists figured out what was wrong
it was too late
the treatment failed and
he died
thats usually what happens
i think of him every summer when i hear these reports

here is a video of kali hardig from arkansas who apparently
got the infection from a water park

yesterday she said hi mom
she could be the #3 survivor ever recorded
she is one lucky girl
we wish her and her family the best

ITS BACK
on a more pleasant note











here is a picture of my cactus orchid blooming this year
several years ago my mother gave me a leaf from her plant
i stuck in a pot it grew and i stuck other leaves in other pots
some ive given away to other people

just in the last few years mine started to bloom
they last 1 day and then they are gone











this year my plants have bloomed several times
i guess the lighting and watering is just right for them
where i have them on my deck

ive learned to enjoy them when they arrive
please come back again soon

ITS MY BACK
this is my 3 month followup on my sciatica
today im glad i did not opt for surgery since i am
close to pain free and all of my neurological symptoms have
resolved except for some loss of the achilles reflex in that
right leg
you know when the doctor hits your heel with that reflex hammer
thats what he is testing
left good reflex right none    would be a good demonstration for
a student

some night time pain knock knock that is almost gone
its like a switch was turned on or should i say nerve turned on

hopefully i am now on the road to total recover
dont ever ever want this again  and would hate to have
the chronic version of this

the organicgreen doctor

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

its for a good cause

ITS FOR A GOOD CAUSE
many of you who read this blog know that i am a study
subject in three separate alzheimers research studies at
the ut southwestern medical center alzheimers research center

one of the studies is the alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative
the largest most important study ever been done on alzheimers
all of the tests i have done in this study are now available to
everyone if they know how to get them done

they also have done a complete human genome study of me
so that the answer to what is all in my genes is out there
somewhere i just cant access it

another of the studies i am in is one where they are measuring
proteins and inflammatory markers so that as of now the test
is close to 90% accurate in telling someone if they have
alzheimers disease or not

so if i could obtain all the results from these studies which i cant
since i had to agree to not being able to access the results
i would know to a great degree of certainty whether i have
alzheimers disease or not

again i feel that i have it

so now we are close to being able to definitely diagnose
someone with alzheimers disease or to tell them that their
symptoms are not alzheimers disease
but
we now need treatments for the disease

thats where more research is needed
there are a lot of treatment trials going on now that may be
promising using anticancer drugs and alzhiemers vaccines
i hope to become involved in one of those soon

so your donations and support for the alzheimers association is
important since they are the third largest supporter of research
in the world behind china then nih national institute of health

im doing my part and you can help me on september 4th 2013
by coming and participating in my team the organicgreendoctor
for the williamson county walk to end alzheimers 
silent auction at the reunion grille in cedar park from 530-700pm

100% of the monies go to the alzheimers association
10% of the dinner bill will be donated to the alzheimers association

come join us for dining music and silent auction that night

here is one of our items-the memory lane quilt

when i became a study subject for the alzheimers research study
i was given a quilt that was donated by a quilter to the research
study for thanks for participating
the quilter is from southern california

this quilt that was made for our silent auction was made by
a fellow classmate and friend of mine who is a plastic surgeon
who does quilting for a hobby
you can just imagine the quality of workmanship that went into
this quilt
weve had several quilters look at this quilt and thats one thing they
all have remarked on
is the quality of workmanship

she has quilted before for quilts to be auctioned for alzheimers research

here are links to her blog sutured for a living where she describes the
process of making the quilt and describes the quilt in detail

we look forward to seeing you that night
help us to support the fight against this terrible disease

next week item 2 the square foot garden for auction

the oganicgreen doctor

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

the transformation

THE TRANSFORMATION
i do the landscaping for the habitat for humanity houses that are built
or redone for the new home owners
the landscaping would always get whats left over at the end
which commonly is nothing
and there was no one volunteering who had an interest in
landscaping
until i came along

i watched non native trees and shrubs being planted
with no xeric thoughts into doing the landscaping

so i took over since no one else wanted to
heck i even went back one time and dug up a tree that was
planted and replanted it
so the root flare was well exposed


so now i look for things used in the construction that i can use
in the landscaping that use to be just taken to the landfill
cardboard is placed under the mulch or under the soil brought
in to kill the grass
and worms love cardboard and newspapers
i usually bring all my newspapers and use them also

i collect all the rocks that are dug up during construction
you know central texas begets these things like crazy
where they come from i dont know

i also scrounge other construction sites in the area for these
rocks since many of the builders just dump these off site
i use them as borders in the landscaping

i collect wood from the pallets that the tiles come on
they have 4 ft landscape timbers in the pallets
i remove them and use them also in the landscape

so far cost of all this is zero or $0

i use lots and lots of mulch on the sites
at least 4 inches thick
its cheap
cheaper than grass
you dont water it or mow it or fertilize it
you just look at it
you have to replenish it every 4-5 years
and in some of the cities we build it its free

ive found a site that makes the best organic hardwood mulch
thats made and buy it by the truck load
i buy a cubic yard but they usually give me 2 1/2 yards
so it comes out to about $10 a yard
thats my sweety wife she in the far right with the white shirt on
she worked harder than i did
thanks for being a good sport and helping

when i do rock i usually use it in difficult spots like at this last
house near the curb where theres a stop sign fire hydrant street
sign and a gas line marker
i use concrete rock which is cheap and add large stones randomly
collected in central texas to make it look good
sometimes the landscaping place donates the concrete rock since
its a habitat house

the plants ive started buying from a local landscaping place
that allows me to get my plants at wholesale with a discount since its a
habitat house

i try to get native plants that are real xeric that dont require a lot of
maintenance and after they are established will do ok even if
ignored

for trees i buy good quality trees that have been well cared for in
the nursery
i plant live oak or cedar elm or monterey or mexican white oak
if you kill these trees you shouldnt have a yard to care for

once established they do quite well
i mulch around them several feet out like in this house below
this adds nutrition to the soil holds in moisture and lowers the
soil temperature in the hot summer
all make the trees grow better

when i finish i give each home owner a handout on how to
care for the landscape and
give them the growing green book that has all the native plants
to plant in this area

if we were in austin or san antonio the home owners would get
some large credits for the xeriscaping

my rainwater brother got a $400 credit for mulching away
400 square feet of grass

i try to encourage them to use organic fertilizers like the ones from
lady bug brand or medina

here above are some before pictures and below some after pictures from
the last house we did
we landscaped away about 40%+ of the grass in the front yard

estimated costs for project was $125
estimated cost if you paid someone to do this $2000+

there is a spineless cactus planted around the three large rocks
it will eventually be 6 ft wide and 4-5 ft tall
donated from my property

along the beds in front of the house are 6 dwarf yaupon hollies 3 on either
side of the sidewalk that will get about 3-4 ft wide
and 5 salvia greggii or autumn sages on the right side of the house
that will be 3 ft wide and will have red flowers form spring until late fall
this area was mulched well since it was on the north side and no grass
would growalong the side of the house

now this is a totally maintenance free corner

i wish i could do more on each house but we are limited on our budget
at least we have done xeriscaping to help the homeowner some

the organicgreen doctor

Monday, August 19, 2013

they all are doing it

THEY ALL ARE DOING IT

you know they are doing it dont you
as i talked to my  wife she about her email at work
most employers can and many do spy on their employees
email
i use to tell employees all the time since they forget thats
going on
i personally only used the works email for work
no whining in those emails

i dont know if my wife she listened to me or not
since shes been known not to

you know how teachers are
they have to talk about each other or gossip
well they are not different than everyone else

now i asked my wife
arent yall on google email at work
yes she said

so she has admin looking at her emails
google monitoring all her emails
no you dont have the right to keep us from doing it
google said
then
nsa is storing all her emails im guessing somewhere in utah

talk about loss of privacy

then i read this morning on yahoo that these things in your home
could be  monitoring you and spying on you

the tv
they can on new tvs put malware on it and obtain data of
what you are watching and can even control the camera
on your tv and watch you watch tv

cable box
new boxes may have a camera and sensors in them
if kids are using it the ads will be geared to kids if
two romantic adults are watching it who knows what
will be showed

your clock dishwasher remote control toaster clothes dryer
why would they want to know all about that stuff but they can

lights security alarms
these are commonly connected to the internet and can
easily be hacked and altered

your ac and heater can even be controlled via the internet
my rainwater brother can raise his ac thermastat when he
knows his wife is gone and can lower the hot water heater when
he knows she is through using the hot water for the day

this could easily be hacked

medical devices like insulin pumps or pacemakers
a well known hacker has demonstrated that he can hack
these and control them
nothing good could come of this

smartphones
can be easily hacked
imagine what could be accessed on your phone
the military can take over a smartphone and using 3d
imaging can produce a 3d image of the  phones surroundings
now thats scary

heck you can now buy illegal drugs on line using this supposedly
secure website to order them
fbi hacked that system already

computer tablets
sorry there is nothing you have on your computer or you use your
computer for that can not be hacked or monitored legally by
google or the nsa

this is all sobering and 1984ish
so what can we do to protect our privacy

so i found an article written by the computer guru kim komando
about how to keep nsa from spying on you

her conclusion this expert was
if you dont want it read dont put it on your computer
thats the only way

i wonder if i could turn the thermostat up on my rainwater brothers
thermostat when my sisterinlaw is home
bet she would think she was having a hot flash
hahaha

the organicgreen doctor