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, June 29, 2012

health care, more on sushi

HEALTH CARE
so the law that passed congress on healthcare was unpopular
all of one party and some of the other party opposed it
it was a political issue in the november elections
it was taken to the supreme court and ruled constitutional
it was deemed unamerican and would be the downfall of america
it was a tax and forced on americans
it was unamerican

however now years later if you are 65 and older and no matter your race
religion or political views or your health status you are on
it and are probably glad you have it
its accepted that that will be your health insurance as you get older

its called medicare

now fast forward several years
the affordable health care act or obamacare or now
we all get to have health insurance no matter what law
these same things are being said that were said years ago about
medicare

i predict if you fast forward years and as you your kids and your
grand kids look backward they and you will say
what was all the fuss about
we all are covered now
the health care system will be accepted as we now accept medicare

here is who should be happy that the health insurance law is going forward
almost all of you
remember over 50% of you are already on a single payer system ran by
the government
not many of you will be taxed for not having health insurance
very likely no one that reads this blog will be

if you are a female (which is over 50% of you) you should be happy
you are now not a preexisting condition
you can can get those preventative office visits that yall all have to go to
and now your birth control is covered
your rates wont go up because of your gender and that baby you are
having or will have  will have to be covered

if you have a child with a preexisting condition-that could be asthma
allergies  any surgery  any injury  any belly pain  headaches  add
aspergers  autism  seizures  frequent ear infections and numerous 
illnesses kids get-then previously your health insurance could be denied 
or coverage for these things could be denied
and your child could not get insurance

it happened to us
our son had some surgery and because of this when he was no longer
on our policy he was denied insurance from many companies and those
who did insure him refused to cover anything dealing with that part of the body
now he would not have had any problems getting insurance

if you have a preexisting condition and you are a adult
remember all of you if you have gone to a doctor have a preexisting condition
you may not be able to get coverage or can be dropped or if you get
coverage your premiums will be higher

i am able to hike 4 hours down into the grand canyon  hike 9 miles in the
hills of lost maples  work eight hours on a construction site  work here at 
the country n and have a normal blood pressure  a normal cholesterol 
and a normal bmi
but im uninsurable because of my diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment
thats likely due to alzheimers disease
if my wife were to lose her health insurance at work i could not get any
health coverage
now with this law in 2014 i would be able to get insurance

if you have a serious health problem have a premature newborn have
a long term bout with a terminal disease such as alzheimers  huntingtons
als  cancer  emphysema  heart failure etc you could easily go through all of
your annual or life time maximum that is placed on your coverage and you 
would be left with no insurance coverage for that illness
the new law prevents this from happening

if you have a son or daughter in college or just getting out of college or
just starting a new job or just getting out of the military they can now
get on your health insurance until they are 26 years old
then they will be able to buy an affordable policy on their own

much of the opposition to this health care law is about problems with
medicare  medicaid  increase drug costs  increase in health insurance premiums
folks those problem were here before this law
they will still be there after the law is in full swing and
if the law had been disallowed would still be there
that is a big smoke screen

also i have noticed that many of those who are opposed to this are not
really affected in any way
theyve got coverage-many are already on a government insurance
most are males
but their wives and their children benefit from the new law
none will probably ever pay the tax for not being covered

in summary
all this political rhetoric is really all a smoke screen to get rid of obama
we all know its true whether we are a republican  democrat or independent
and thats your right as an american citizen to try to oust a politician that
you dont like
i do the same thing when i vote
but not at the expense of so many americans

how could so many people benefit from a law and people be
opposed to it

when we all look back to this time sometime in the future
we all are going to wonder what the heck was the big fuss about
just like what happened with medicare

we will all be on the health insurance system in some way
and will all be glad we are
much like we are with medicare when we turn 65

thank you john roberts

MORE ON SUSHI
whoa those sushi lovers
they got in a uproar like those against the affordable health care act

but i will say that tammy and mary are right in the comments to my
blog yesterday on sushi
you can read it by going down the page to yesterdays blog

points well taken
be safe in what sushi you buy
but sorry i want my meat cooked well done with black crust
on the edges

the organicgreen doctor

Thursday, June 28, 2012

no sushi, expensive gas

NO SUSHI

theres no sushi or raw oysters for me
i only eat raw vegetables or raw fruit

my wife she loves sushi and raw oysters
think she eats it just to make me sick
wont kiss her after she eats that stuff
unless she brushes her teeth and waits
24 hours

now after reading this news report
i know that i wont ever eat either one

here in the austin area a family wanted sushi
so they went to the grocery store and
bought some raw salmon to use in their sushi

as they were eating this sushi they noticed
small worms wiggling between their teeth
and on their tongues
i almost threw up reading about it

there were 23 people who ate the stuff
many of them got sick also

the salmon can also carry parasites and worms
who can only be killed by cooking it or freezing it
then you can eat the salmon with its dead worms

sure hope my wife she reads this blog today

EXPENSIVE GAS
here at the country n i have one acre that surrounds my house
that i keep mowed
when its dry like this i only have to mow it twice a year
once after all the wildflowers have bloomed and all
gone to seed
then
sometimes i mow in the late fall if we have had a lot of rain
didnt have to do that last year

so my riding lawnmower sits for months without being used

here is a tip from a gardening magazine newsletter i get each week
if you use use regular gas it has ethanol in it which will attract water over
time and you will get moisture in your tank
when it gets in the carburetor and fuel line it will overtime clog it up
you can prevent this by using the most expensive gas
the premium super unleaded gas which has no ethanol

so thats whats wrong with my lawnmower and weed eater and chainsaw

the oganicgreen doctor

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

its hot and dry

ITS HOT AND DRY

yesterday it got up to 109 degrees here
for central texas thats hot
at 900 last night you could still feel the heat
there was no breeze

i lived in the desert for several years and it
would commonly get over 100 degrees every day
but there was usually a breeze and it would cool off
at night
and the humidity was low
all this made that heat more tolerable

here in central texas 109 degrees is intolerable
our humidity is higher
and there is no breeze
the dogs are a panting and the chickens are too

at 400 am today the temperature is 90 degrees on
my front deck
that doesnt not bode well for a comfortable day outside

how did i ever grow up in a house without air conditioning
in this summer heat
must have been miserable all summer long

in the afternoon under my nice air conditioner which kept
my living room at a comfortable temperature of 78 degrees
i read  an article in this months texas monthly on the drought
past and future and on the water situation in texas

did you know there are huge amounts of water in east texas
that is not allowed to be taped for use in other areas
politics are involved
there is this fear that what will happen to east texas will be like
what happened in owens valley in california where los angeles
got the rights to all the water there and sucked it all out of
the river which is now dry

i think about water conservation a lot
as did those people who were in the droughts here in
the 30s and the 50s
we do waste a lot of water
watering our lawns and gardens to keep them green
why do we do this
showering bathing brushing teeth washing dishes washing clothes
with no concern for reusing some of this water or restricting the
amount used to do these things

some of you in your lifetime will see the restriction on all this
water use and the limit on growth because of the lack of water
much like what happened with the droughts of the past

we need to learn from the past
read the article or read it online
or listen to npr pbs/texas montly online
or the npr pbs show on it

this will affect you significantly in the future

we at the country n are ahead of the game as
we limit water use
grow only xeric plants
have no lawn grass
catch rainwater
generate some of our own electricity

but
this is what we all need to be doing

the organicgreen doctor