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

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

my story revisited #44-the lost lady

MY STORY REVISITED #44-THE LOST LADY
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i see the sign on the freeway frequently called silver alert
it has a license plate and car description about a missing person
sometimes it doesnt end well

ive heard stories and known cases of elderly usually demented folks driving and just keep on driving until they run out of gas
some are found like the case below off a cliff or in a river or in a wreck
hopefully they wont turn out that way

my mothers car got disabled so it wouldnt start
thats how she accepted not driving
she had a dangerous intersection near her house she had to turn onto the highway
i was glad when she no longer drove her car

we had an elderly neighbor once who was pulling out of his farm onto a busy highway
he was killed instantly

i dont want to be one of those persons who has that happen to them
or
get lost somewhere
or
worst hit some family with my car

i have already started become more defensive
driving slower
watching closely for pedestrians and bicyclist
avoiding bad intersections

like i wrote 9 years ago when my time to quit driving happens i want to quit driving without any argument

here is a link to the alzheimers association websites section on dementia and driving
if you are worried about yourself or a loved one take time to read this dementia and driving section
__________
11-29-2011
LOST LADY
at a town near here a lady who lives in an assisted living home
got into her car and drove off and didnt come back
friends and family notified the police and
she got her car information put on those big highway signs on the
interstate

usually those are child abductions, lost children, or a lost old person

luckily she was found not too far away driving lost on a road near the
town where she lives
sometimes it doesnt work out this well

a few years ago a couple near here got into their car and just
disappeared
they were an elderly couple
they were found 500+ miles away off a cliff in the hills of arkansas
where they had missed a curve on that winding road and had
gone over the cliff
they were accidentally found by a hunter/hiker

a family had lost both parents and grandparents because they
were lost and kept on driving

on the alzheimers association  website-www.alz.org-there is a
section on dementia and driving resource center at this link
if you have a family member who is at risk read this link
you may save their lives
dont be afraid of offending them

my wife she and i have an agreement that when my time comes that
she will take my keys away from me
i am sure i wont resist

dont let them be the lost lady or lost man and get their names and
car license numbers on those signs on the internet

i am glad not being able to parallel park is not on the list of warning signs
__________

since i wrote that blog there have been a lot of news stories about these silver alerts that didnt end up with a happy ending

dont let your loved one be one of them

the organicgreen doctor

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