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

Showing posts with label organicgreen doctor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organicgreen doctor. Show all posts

Friday, December 7, 2012

remembering, its in the name

REMEMBERING


today is the 71st anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor
that killed 2,402 people
its my parents 9/11
remembering those who were lost that day
hopefully this day will be remembered by future generations
as a reminder like 9/11 that evil is still out there

ITS IN THE NAME

i participate in the alzheimers discussion groups as i feel
like i have a unique perspective on that disease that
maybe others do not

i am a doctor who treated patients with alzheimers disease
although looking back probably i didnt do a good job of it
sometimes i do wish i could go back to get a second chance
at caring for them

i am a family member whose close relatives mother father
and now younger brother had or have the disease

i have the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
that may be from alzheimers disease

its from those three perspectives that i contribute to that
community of folks looking for answers or support in dealing
with the disease in themselves family and friends

i hope that my input has helped some in dealing with this
awful disease

some are intrigued by my name the organicgreen doctor
wondering if i have some magic potions of diets and pills and
supplements to cure or help this disease
a question that ive been asked several times

so no i dont have any magic potions
just these things
some call it best practices in the alzheimers community
the diet is the mediterranean diet minus the fish
since i dont always like the smell of fish

the organic comes from the fact that i grow all my garden stuff
in a totally organic fashion using organic made compost some
i make myself using no pesticides except organic ones that
will not hurt the environment or anyone who eats my produce
i only use rainwater on my garden

its this organic produce that i eat that i recommend as one of
the treatments and as a prevention for this disease
its better if it started at a young age

the green is from my belief that we need to maintain a green
environment because somehow this may all be involved in many
of the diseases we have to deal with
eg mercury is bad    
atrazine for weed control in your yard is bad
when frogs get three eyes or 5 legs it cant be good for us

producing solar electricity is a green energy source without pollution
recycling plastics and paper and glass saves the environment
and helps empty the landfills

the doctor comes obviously from the fact that i am a
family doctor who is now retired

i offer no magic potion
but
good healthy living is part of the answer
no special vitamins or concoctions
i personally take no vitamins or supplement
i dont do juicing
i do eat a lot of vegetables from my garden and if not available
from the grocery store
we cook them all our self and eat very few processed foods
i do eat meat but on a limited basis
i eat a handful of nuts and fruits every day
i eat 2-3 pieces of fruit every day
i use olive oil in as much of our cooking as possible
i drink a lot of rainwater every day
i drink two cups of coffee a day
i drink 1-2 glasses of wine a day
i do not smoke
i get plenty of sleep but aricept does some interfering with it
i do not have blood pressure but if i did i would aggressive treat it
i take two cholesterol meds and eat the healthy diet to keep my
cholesterol levels at normal levels
i dont feel like i have much stress in my life
i exercise every day in some way either hiking or working here
at the country n or at the habitat for humanity
i am not depressed and if i was i would aggressively get it treated
and am screened once or twice a year for depression
i stay active mentally
as i read every day do this blog which can take anywhere from
1-3 hours to do based on how much research i have to do
and i communicate people regularly through this blog facebook twitter
and email
i have regular interaction with people at least 3-4 times a week for
several hours and the other days i usually reserve for myself or for my
wife she and i together
i do take aricept (donepezil) as i feel like its the only thing that has
been proven to help the symptoms but not the disease but its
most effectiveness is for a limited amount of time

so thats how i approach this healthy living thing and how im approaching
dealing with my diagnosis

my sign name below is organicgreen doctor with the separation
between the organicgreen and doctor because when i started this
blog and used facebook and twitter and google i had to separate the
organicgreen from doctor in order for them to accept this as my
signature

the organicgreen doctor

Friday, October 26, 2012

stories arose from walking

Walk to End Alzheimers
we are also walking in the bell county/temple 
walk to end alzheimers on saturday november 3 2012

you can walk free but a donation to and or joining
my organicgreendoctor team is appreciated

join us there

many of us will be walking in the austin walk to end alzheimers
join us this weekend

STORIES AROSE FROM WALKING













several stories arose from our team at this years
walk to end alzheimers

these stories are the reasons we are all walking
to end alzheimers

all of these stories are from people who are associated some
way with the clinic i was associated with in austin
austin regional clinic

if you read this blog much you know my story
my mom died in the final stages of alzheimers
it sucked away her personality and was devastating to us
to watch its progression
my dad luckily i guess died of a heart attack before his
alzheimers advanced (he was not diagnosed officially but
i think looking back that he had it)
then my younger brother is progressing now with alzheimers
its sad to watch this happen to him and his family

then i may have it also
time when tell but all tests point to that as my diagnosis
wish i could somehow spare my friends and family all this
whats coming

one of the nurses mother has a rare cancer that requires treatment
out of state
she has had to deal with all this then this year her dad was
diagnosed with alzheimers disease
what a double whammy to have happen to your family at the same
time
thats why shes walking










another employee my right hand helper with our team and our
involvement with the walk her mom recently died after a lengthy
battle with alzheimers disease
this was my friend mr bs grandmother
she had to deal with all this from a distance of hundreds of miles
requiring frequent trips back to the northeast
her sister decided to stay home with her mom
and care for her throughout the final stages of this disease
her sister learned a lot from caring for her mom and realized
there was a great need for companies to provide good home
care for alzheimers patients and started her own company that
does for clients what she did for her mom
jos angels named in honor of her mom is the name of the company

one of the doctors from our clinic walked with us this year
he was affected directly by alzheimers disease
you see his uncle raised him
supported him through school college and medical school
and now his uncle is not around as
alzheimers stole him away








then little michael who gave me the letter last year that made me
cry and who gave me one of the pillows he made and sold to
raise money for alzheimers
this year he and his younger brother and sister sold lemonade to
raise money for alzheimers
he raised over $500 this year
hes only 7 years old
his mom started working  for the clinic in high school and used
this job to support her way through nursing school
her mother in law michaels grandma works for a local long term
care home thats provides a home for alzheimers patients
thanks again michael
this year i gave him one of my dr duck hats we wore in the walk












then the final story is josh who sang the national anthem
for the walk
he made all of us cry listening to him sing
his mom works for the clinic and has had relatives
with the disease
she started there in high school and is working there still
thanks for letting josh sing for us
what an inspiration he is

these are just some of the stories from our team
there were more and more of them from the other teams
some very heart wrenching stories

i personally want to thank austin regional clinic for being a
sponsor of this walk this year and for letting its employees be
involved in the fundraising

we have over 50 team members
we had over 75+ donors this year
we raised $4800 and raised another $2500 in sponsorship money
the austin area walks will raise $250,000+ for the alzheimers association
this money will be used to fund research for education about the disease
and for caretaker resources

use your local chapters where you live
they are there to help you
and support them with your donations

thanks to all who donated and supported us this year
special thanks to austin regional clinic









the organicgreen doctor