the rain was good but...

THE RAIN WAS GOOD BUT...
who would have thought  in the heat of july in central texas
heck on saturday it was 103 degrees here and it was
miserable
then in the last 36 hours its all changed
we have had our house opened up like we do in the spring
and the fall every year
then we got this nice slow rain for hours that where we lived
came to 3.25 inches with more possibly on the way
my rainwater tanks are almost full
had i cleaned one of my gutters correctly
i would have filled all my tanks up
this never ever happens in july

heck one year i was buying water like everyone else was
when i ran out of water
ok that one was my fault too as i left a valve on and lost
2 big water tanks full
equal to how much i ended up buying from the water tank
delivery company

i know have enough water to last me until through next summer

im happy about all of this rain and nice temperatures
so dont get me wrong
but its also sad too

sad too
why
see the fig tree above its about 10 ft tall and a few weeks ago
it was loaded with leaves and figs
within days the grasshoppers devoured all the leave on this one
and now they are working on the peach trees and pecan trees
why wont they eat weeds and cedar trees
and of course they have really chomped on my garden

had this grasshopper infestation not happened i probably would
still have a garden that was booming and blooming
especially with all this rain

i do get some revenge every morning as i go into my garden and
shoo all the grasshoppers into the beaks of my awaiting chickens
who surround my garden space
i love to watch the chickens attack and devour those hoppers
justice is served as the hoppers devoured my garden plants and
my fig tree

sad too since all this rain we got is apparently not going to make a
difference in the lake levels that are the major water source for
the cities around here

so this am im recovered enough from the gis and since my sciatica
is better with the bed rest i plan to reassess my garden and make
a definite decision on what to salvage

i have my summer garden under row cover
ill see how well thats working
i plan to replace the old row cover with new pieces that will
be cut to fit each bed better

then tomorrow i plan on getting my fall tomatoes from the natural
gardener in austin and plant them this week as soon as the soil dries
out
ill cover them well with the thin row cover so the hoppers wont
get to them

yes nows the time to plant fall tomatoes and its the best time
the fall to have a garden in central texas as the season sometimes
extends well into december

try the fall garden this year if you live here
heck you can even bid on the 4 ft square garden im building for
a fundraiser for our walk to end alzheimers team
more on that in the future

another sad thing is that i know that with the next rain that comes
my tanks all 30,000 gallons will start overflowing
if you are a rainwater connoisseur you know thats something that
is hard to tolerate

yes rain is good but it can be a sad thing too sometimes

my motherinlaw was here for 2 weeks
although i hardly saw her or my wife she as they disappeared all
day every day
i always wanted to follow them around like a detective to see what
they did all day
but i didnt
and its best i probably dont know everything

one thing she does along with my wife she is they string up my onions
that i grow
by putting them in panty hose tying a knot then putting in aganother onion
then tying a knot etc until that leg of the hose is full
last year it was easy as the harvest was small but
this year the harvest was bountiful and many of the onions were huge

here are some of these onion chimes
the large ones will fit in my hand like a softball

so i would say the spring garden was successful
just wish it would last longer

the organicgreen doctor

viral treatment, the trial

VIRAL TREATMENT
this sciatica has been a real pain in the buttocks down the leg
to my big toe and foot
the meds i take help but if i max them out i feel like im stoned

this weekend i may have found a treatment
it was 100% effective

on sat am i went to the habitat for humanity house on which i will
help do the landscaping
its a repossessed house which actually was well cared for
i discussed the landscape plans with the future owner
then i helped cleans the walls and doors to get ready for
repainting next week

the standing and getting up on a stool seemed to really flair
up my sciatica
so i went home early got in the hot tub
took a hydrocodone for pain
and i didnt really get up sat evening all day sunday and this am
except for rapid trips to the bathroom
fever chills and no appetite
you know its bad when i dont want a cup of coffee

its interesting though that my sicatica  has not hurt me since sat
morning until this morning when ive been up more than the last
two days

maybe bed rest is better for sciatica than previously known
or
maybe its the virus thats causing the gi upset thats making it
better

ive enjoyed the pain free two days but sure dont like the nausea
body aches fever the lack of appetite and the frequent trips
to the john

i hope this viral treatment works as i about to enter phase 2 of
my treatment regiment
an epidural injection which i dont mind doing if it helps
i realize the chances are about 50+% chance it will work

well see

THE TRIAL

ive thought about the zimmerman trial a lot
and not sure how i would have voted if i was on the jury

the jury is isolated from the social media and new media so
they arent influenced by any of that

the question was was zimmerman defending himself

we only wish that zimmerman wouldnt have got out of that car
and that trayvon would have hauled it home then this fight that
resulted in his death would not have happened

so the question is was zimmerman defending himself

the jurors thought he was

that is the end of the criminal legal side of this story
there is a social side of this story though that appears not covered
by the legal system very well
i dont think it will ever go away
maybe it shouldnt

im just glad i wasnt on the jury

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