alzheimers news-caregiving to the forefront

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-CAREGIVING TO THE FOREFRONT

yesterday as i sat with a large group of mostly caregivers
i thought to myself
caregiving needs to be pushed to the forefront in this
alzheimers battle

as i looked at each of the caregivers talk about their situation
i realized
their loved one has the disease
and
for the most part are getting some of the best care you can get
for this disease at the stages they are at

however
those caregivers representing one person at the meeting
really represent several sometimes double digits folks
who dont get the care they need as a caregiver
either because its not available
or
because they dont know how to reach out and find it

we as an alzheimers community need to make whats
out there
get that information to folks who need help

really taking care of an alzheimers patient from the medical
point is almost cookbook in its approach
there arent a lot of options available
most of these patients cant be made better
they will only worsen and eventually die from their disease

but
the caregiving lives can be made better and helped
its seems though each ones situation and social situation
is different
the approach for each may have to be handled differently
no prescription drug can fix their issues

as i realized also sitting there thinking of my mom and my brother
things linger emotionally and psychological up in your head
even years after they are gone

in this area central texas
there are a lot of resources for people
there are a lot of caregiving groups readily available to folks

reach out to the area agency on aging in your location
reach out to the local alzheimers organization
here in central texas its the new named alzheimers texas
they know whats available around here
reach out to some of the memory centers
most will have caregiving groups respite programs

caregiving folks
dont try to do it alone

one of the caregivers there takes care of his dementia mom at home
he uses the service of a local hospice program
that helps him
even providing some respite relief every 2 months
yes
medicare is actually paying for a lot of services now
then
as i sat there i realized how helpful that would have been
for my mother and my brother as they worsened down the
awful alzheimers slide

this gentleman you could see the fatigue the depression ooze from
him
but he seemed refreshed by the interaction at the meeting
realizing this meeting helped him
realizing that more is available to help him
that others care

i think this meeting was good for me to attend
i was there to answer medical questions
but
i realized as i had flashbacks
that i learned a lot from listening to the caregivers

yes they laughed some
laughter is the best medicine you know
and
cried some
as they told their stories

so
i think like early treatment and diagnosing of alzheimers is very
very important
so
is the early preparation and treatment of the caregivers
they need to be pushed more to the forefront

there are two seminars that are mostly focusing on caregiving
coming up in this area

i would say
if you see caregiving in your near future
if you are soon to start caregiving or in the early stages
get yourself prepared now
these seminars are good ones
if you are in the throngs of caregiving overwhelmed
get some respite and go to one of these seminars

the first is the one i am presenting first
my talk is on research
it wont help you much if you are a caregiver
but the presenters after me are caregiving talks



the second
is the annual alzheimers symposium in temple
i spoke at the first one four years ago
this years symposium is all on caregiving
from the start to the end
so
if you see caregiving in your future or just starting or doing it now
you should find this symposium
extremely helpful
i highly recommed it
i may attend
although any caregiving ive done is over with
i probably will be the caregived one

here is the link to descriptions of both conferences
www.txalz.org/education/conferences/

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-raptors aint gonna win

COUNTRY N NEWS-RAPTORS AINT GONNA WIN

thats what i said yesterday
as i looked in the mirror at my face
the right cheekbone is swollen slightly
there are two superficial cuts down my right face
all scabbed
plus all the bruising i have elsewhere on my body
from falling

i looked closely into my eyes
like i did that raptors eyes last saturday
thats when i said to myself
they arent gonna win

there was determination in my eyes
i could see it

now we have lived here at the country n for almost
15 years
i would say to anyone that those are the best 15 years of
living somewhere out of all the years we have been together
40+

its stuff like that raptor attack that makes you think
if i lived in town i wouldnt have to deal with this stuff
when the water pump dies i cant just call the city to fix it
out into the weather i go

then
in the mornings when i sit at my seat looking out at the sun rise
i think
this is the best place to be living

in the early morning
we can sit on our porch or in our hot tub
along with the beautiful sun rise
listen to the orchestra of birds
the what seems like hundreds of turkeys down by the river
if you are a turkey hunter
like my older brothers brother in law was when he visited
you would be mesmerized by the sound
hear other peoples roosters crowing in the distance
hear the horses talking to each other
hear the donkeys heehawing
even hear the coyotes in the distance

it makes you feel content
isolated but you really arent
everything is within 20 minutes away

no
as i tell my wife she
there are two reasons i leave this place
i die
i get demented so i dont know where i am

no
those raptors aint gonna win

now we pen our chickens up in a chicken pen
that is 40 ft x 10 ft
chicken wire encloses the whole area like a cube
even underground
the coop itself is 4 ft x 10 ft x 6ft and is enclosed inside the pen
varmints even raptors cant get in

the chickens can live in this space forever
without ever getting out

but
they have a job to do
eat bugs
make our compost
be pasture decorations

our chicken run is 90 ft shaped like an upside staple
the left side is 10 ft wide the rest of the sides are 3 ft wide
thats where we let them run when we are at home

when we are around we aso let them roam in the pastures

i must say
its picturesque to see your chickens roaming your property
scratching eating things like weed seeds ticks fleas bugs
grasshoppers
doing their job

thats what a free range chickens life should be like

we have never had hawks or these eagles go after our chickens
in our pastures
they have been around here for several years those raptors
why they went after the chickens in the chicken area now
im not sure
maybe they were running out of prey elsewhere

so
i plan to cover the chicken run with bird netting
to keep the raptors from landing in there
or attacking like a dive bomber from the air

yes
our plan is
to
win this battle

the organicgreen doctor

organic this but not that

ORGANIC THIS BUT NOT THIS
its kinda scary when you start reading about the
pesticides that are put on our food
which you really cant get all off the food
no matter how hard you try

its sort of like taking a tsp of a pesticide and sprinkling
it on your food
go to this website
www.whatsonmyfood.org
click on the food
see whats on it
wonder what this does to a baby if they eat it every day

the average child eats 5+ pesticide servings a day

atracine is in over 90% of drinking water systems
not in europe since its banned there
not at the country n since we have our own rainwater system
atracine is that stuff in weed and feed that some of you
put on your yard so you can poison your kids
god forbid poison your pets

peaches have over 20 honey b toxins on them
not here at the country n
we go el naturale

strawberries have over 45 pesticide residues on them

there are 3 lbs of pesticides per person in the us per year put on our food

apples those fruits that are suppose to keep the doctor away
has over 47 pesticide residues on them
many are hormone regulators

now what i try to do or like to do is to buy organic as much as possible

now if i grow it here at the country n
i dont worry at all
i know its organic and chemical free

here is an organic pesticide free country n salad

one of the problems at the grocery store is that the organic stuff
doesnt last long
now if we get it at a local farmers market then it was picked that day
usually or the day before and will last like it does when we harvest
produce here at the country n

the price seem so high at the store also
so
what i do is sort of a compromise sort of

here are the dirty dozen of contaminated foods
try to farmers market those or get organics at the market
heres a good link on the dirty and less dirty ones
www.ewg.org/foodnews/

dirty ones
apples   celery   cherry tomatoes   cucumbers   grapes   nectarines
peaches   potatoes   snap peas   spinach   strawberries sweet bell peppers
also hot peppers kale and collard greens

ive read that celery is really loaded with stuff but apples are bad too

we grow some of these here at the country n but just seasonally
its hard to find them organic out of season locally

'clean 15'
asparagus   avocados   cabbage   cantaloupe   cauliflower   eggplant
grapefruit   kiwi   mangoes   onions    papayas   pineapples  
sweet corn    frozen sweet peas   sweet potatoes

so now you know which to get organically
and
which to buy non organically
sort of

do you want to eat a lot of poison or just a little poison

i guess
you just have to choose your poison
level

the organicgreen doctor