its a quiet one

ITS A QUIET ONE

last year our walk to end alzheimers team called the organicgreendoctor
had a silent auction to raise money for the alzheimers association
we had it at a local venue a restaurant with outside seating with music

the auction was successful
we raised close to $1500

the two most popular items were
a organic square foot garden which i built
sited on the winners property
filled it with good organic materials
then planted a fall winter garden for her and her family
she won the bid at the last minute

the other item was an alzheimers quilt that was made by
my friend a retired plastic surgeon who you know must
do a perfect job on the quilt
she did
it was a popular item
and was won by a former patient who made a large bid at
the last minute to win it

since it was so successful as a fun raiser we have decided to
do it again this year
but
this time we will do it online
it will run for 6 weeks starting in the am at 700 am cst
and ending on sunday september 21st at 900 pm cst
if there is a last minute bid the auction will be extended
for 3 minutes to allow for a counter bid
this can go on for 30 min

so the items will be available to more people
over a greater period of time

here is the link to our silent auction

you can review the items now without registering
but to bid you need to register with your name and
email address
your name when bidding can be kept anonymous

i will be personally monitoring the silent auction
and will be the one who makes sure the winners
get their bid items
i have decided to cover any shipping costs involved
inside the continental us
the winners must pay for the item within 3 days or the
item will go to the next bidder
you can pay online

the money raised will be donated under my teams name
to the alzheimers associations williamson county
walk to end alzheimers that will take place on saturday
september 27, 2014

here are the items to be auctioned to start with
more will be added as the auction progresses

an organic 4ft square garden that will be made from
2in x 16 in cedar boards with 1 ft squares marked off
this will be filled with the best orgainc soil that can be
bought in the austin area topped off with the best
organic compost also
the garden will be sited on your property by myself
then using a gift certificate from the natural gardener
i will personally have you and your family plant this
garden
last years winner grew in her fall garden lettuces spinach
beets carrots swiss chard asian greens onions garlic
winter peas cilantro oregano parsley etc
the gift that will give and give for years to come



childs quilt one

childs quilt two

two childrens quilts quilted by my friend the retired
plastic surgeon who has this quilting blog sutured for  living
these quilts were made for a relatives children but
the decision was made later to donate them to raise
money for alzheimers research
she doantes her quilts to a blog that auctions off
quilts for alzheimers disease and this blog has
raised thousands of dollars over the years for the
alzheimers associaton
she has decided to let me have these two beautiful
well quilted quilts for our auction
so
if you have a child or have a child thats planned for in
the future you should take a close look at these quilts
below are the links from her blog that describes them in
more detail
the pictures dont do them justice
i can see them on a grandchilds bed and it be
one that becomes a night night or a keepsake
i have the luxury of having held these in my hands
and admired them
they are good quality quilts verified by several local
quilters
these are two items that will be shipped to you if you
win them
they are being bidded separately

here is her blog entry for quilt one
here is her blog entry for quilt two

the next item if you like food and food choices
is for you
if you live in this area you may know the monument cafe
in georgetown texas
if you dont know about it thats your loss

this item is gift certificates  that can be used at


the wonderful monument cafe
with its home cooked meals and the best
pies ive ever eaten and the best pinto beans ive eaten
this restaurant even if it was in the food capital of texas austin
would still be a popular place
plus

or the monument market
which is like a local farmers market with
produce from local farmers eggs meats olive oils salsas wines
from local growers vegetable plants and its open every day
plus

or the biergarten 
an outside venue with music and food
plus

or the el monumento 
my favorite mexican food place to eat
even when comparing it to all the places in austin
which is saying a lot for the food and its venue
overlooking the san gabriel river

then there is the big organic garden out back of the
monument cafe where a lot of the food they cook
is grown

so this item should be the best bargain of them all
with all its choices

then as the time period progresses we will be adding more
items for the auction

all these items i could easily bid the max on them and be
quite pleased with what i bought

so after 700am cst in the am you may start bidding
its for a good cause
and
the winnings will be worth it for you and for future generations
as we fight to end this terrible disease

here is the link
www.32auctions.com/ogd

please share this link

the organicgreen doctor

are we there yet, silent auction

ARE WE THERE YET

as many of you know i am in an alzheimers research study
at the university of texas southwestern alzheimers research
center
in this study i receive a lot of testing
some not available yet to the general public
some that are available but not readily available to the
general public
i dont get to see the results of the tests but when i take
the neuropsychological test i know how im doing when i
take the test

but
there is no treatment part to the study
just monitoring
this all helps progress the knowledge base of what happens
in alzheimers disease as it progresses
but
nothing is offered or really available to slow it down except
for managing my health and taking aricept (donepezil) to slow
down any symptoms

but
im at the point where i know that i have a window of time
maybe 5 years maybe 10 years or
maybe im too late already

as this disease starts years before any symptoms start
so that the time to attack this disease eg in me would have been
20 years ago when i first moved to texas in 1989

so im monitoring new developments and i keep a close eye
on new possible treatments

here are a few

the alzheimers vaccine
they give you a vaccine that ends up inducing antibodies that
attack the beta amyloid in the brain by binding it up and preventing
it from accumulating or binds it and removes it from the brain

it seems the time to do this is years before symptoms start

a new study will be doing that
it appears that i may qualify for this study later this year
if so i will get a beta amyloid pet scan of the brain called amyvid
and if its positive i will either get the vaccine for 3 years or get
a placebo
i plan on doing this study if nothing else shows up

if im in the treatment group i will get the vaccine for 3 years
if it helps ive benefited from the treatment
ill take what i can get
if im in the placebo then im not worse than i am now
since im on nothing already

keeping my fingers crossed on this one

several anitcancer drugs some new ones and at least one old generic
anticancer drug are starting or are in studies now
the bexarotene study is starting soon
its an old one that is available now since its fda approved already
there are reports that some people are already taking it by getting
a prescription from their doctors

my thoughts on this
is whattheheck
there is nothing to lose by taking it
the end result of doing nothing is not a good one

my problem with the bexarotene study is that im not far advanced
enough to qualify for the studies

another new drug is an enzyme that was discovered in a group of
people in iceland that do not get alzheimers disease
this enzyme inhibits the production of beta amyloid
thought to be the culprit in alzheimers disease

i hope to qualify for this study when it gets started

there is a study thats starting where a drug is given that prevents
the destruction of tau protein that occurs in alzheimers disease
ive applied for this study and again im not far enough
advanced to qualify

this all seems cruel somehow
they are treating people in some of these studies who may not
benefit as much even though they are early in the disease
since the treatment may turn out to work better if you start it
before the symptoms occur

so are we there yet
no
but we are getting closer to treatments that will work
maybe not for my generation but for the generations behind me
my kids my future grandkids my nieces and nephews

SILENT AUCTION
the organicgreendoctor team in the walk to end alzheimers has decided
to have a silent auction to raise money this year
we plan to have just 5 good items

two of the items have already sparked interest

one is a 4 foot square organic garden that is 4 ft x 4 ft x 1 ft
that will be built by this organicgreen doctor
all good organic soil will be used and will be obtain from a well
known local organic garden place
the garden will be built and placed on the buyers property by
the organicgreen doctor
he will also assist the new owner in planting their fall/winter garden
using a gift certificate to a local nursery for the plants

if youve ever wanted one of these and didnt know how to do it
nows your chance

more details of the silent auction will be posted here and on my
facebook page in the next few weeks
we may even take online bids

the other is an alzheimers quilt being hand made by one of my
medical school classmates who is a plastic surgeon who does
knitting and quilting for a hobby
folks you can imagine what fantastic work she must do
she also has a blog called
sutured for a living

today her post will be on making the quilt for us to sell
at our silent auction
those flowers on the quilt are forget me nots which are
the official flower of the alzheimers association


ive talked to several quilt  people and im amazed at how
much this quilt will be worth
there are already people who plan on bidding on this
quilt

read her blog today to find out more about this
alzheimers quilt

support us by bidding on these or the other items
more later

the organicgreen doctor