one and only flower

ONE AND ONLY FLOWER
several years ago because i love cacti and succulents
i took a large area
covered it with black plastic to keep out the grass
covered that with a layer of crushed granite
then
i planted several cactuses or cacti trying to space them
so that when mature they would be spaced just right

now 10+ years later they have grown and filled
in the space well

in the spring each year they all bloom
with spectacular bright blooms of pinks reds and yellow

one plant i planted
was an agave
you know thats where they get tequila
agave

its also called the century plant
as it shoots up this stalk
thats like the jack and the bean stalk
it keeps growing and growing and growing
just like the bean does in the kids story

then
when it reaches its peak height
it begins to push out with its flowering

here above its not at its final blooming stage
standing so high in the sky on our property
its almost the tallest thing we have on our 10 acres
here at the country n

the bottom is ugly all gnarled up
but now
the stalk and its blooms
are beautiful

this plant only gets one chance at getting it right
it does a magnificent job
taking advantage of this once in a lifetime event

its just beautiful

now
i wonder what am i going to do with this 20 ft + stalk
one day

make it a pasture decoration i guess like
our neighbors horses and their longhorns
the wildflowers in the spring

the organicgreen doctor

its not fair

ITS NOT FAIR


life isnt
fair
is it

the other day as i was talking about my story with possible
alzheimers disease
as i was going over what happened to me and how i was
diagnosed
some would say its not fair that it hit mid stream when i was just
getting my stride
when i was really getting good at what i do
being able to sort out what was important as i assessed
each patients visit based on my knowledge of the patient
and their social situation
the workup and treatments were different for folks
with the same complaints

thats whats called the art of medicine
i had just gotten good when
bam i was broadsided
just redirected i guess

wish i could do a do over
but we dont get to do that do we

so as i was talking about this alzheimers graph that i have
posted several times i put myself on this graph
knowing that
i have some early short term memory issues i only notice
short term memory loss on neuropsych tests
abnormal levels of beta amyloid levels and tau levels in the spinal fluid
the possibility of an abnormal amyvid pet scan for beta amyloid in
the brain

throwing that on the graph you can almost predict when i will
start to go down hill in the next 10 years
hopefully the aricept (donepezil) is slowing that some

i dont feel sorry for myself
im active doing things i like to do
gardening blogging volunteering traveling seeing family and
doing those talks

i feel like my wife she says in the video at the top of the blog
we have a good life we take one day at the time

as i was telling the group all this and was telling them about
my friend who died two years ago with huntingtons disease
a friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer

i feel like im lucky as things could be a lot worse

i have time to enjoy life and time to extract what i can from it

as i was talking to the group a young lady listening
someone i didnt know
had tears rolling down her cheeks
her eyes were red
she was wiping those tears away as fast as she could

please dont feel sad for me
its not fair
i know
but
im luckier than most

the organicgreen doctor

sites

SITES
yesterday i did an alzheimers presentation titled
my story with possible alzheimers disease
at a local memory care assisted living facility

here are the links to places to get more information on alzheimers
disease
and
here are the links for online memory quizzes for yourself or
for a family member or friend you are worrying about having
memory loss


for a friend or family member do this
21 question questionnaire
fill it out
score it
copy it
take it with them to see their doctor


here are the other five best online quizzes
go to this link to read about them


here are the links for more information on alzheimers disease

alzheimers association website   www.alz.org
you can find your local chapter also on that site
and information on your local walk to end alzheimers


alzheimers disease center at ut southwestern medical school
in dallas
here is the link
if you or a family needs evaluated for memory loss or if they want
a second opinion or if they want to enter a clinical trial
contact them


here is the link to the new booklet on clinical best practices
for alzheimers disease
its in a pdf format
see what new workups are recommended and what treatments
are being done
see if you or your love one has had the proper treatment and
workup
this is the new standard in texas for alzheimers or memory evaluations
and treatments

the organicgreen doctor