against the odds

AGAINST THE ODDS
if your child was born without a hand or arm
what you do
would you overly protect them
would you try to keep them from doing things
like
riding a bike
swimming
playing sports like basketball soccer volleyball baseball
football gymnastics cheerleading
would you try to protect them

well
these three people were born that way
their parents didnt protect them
something we all probably do way too much
to our kids without any structural problems


wikipedia

the first was jim abbott
he was born without a right hand
he pitched left handed and yes batted left handed
he pitched for the university of michigan
he pitched 10 years in the major leagues for several teams
he pitched one no hitter
he pitched on the us olympic team

he was a successful athelete
against all the odds
some would say
but
not him and the other two below


another person was one i wrote about a few years ago
this little girl was born without a hand and lower arm
but
that didnt ever slow her down

click here to read my original blog on her story

she successfully played growing up
volleyball basketball track soccer softball
she was a fun to watch cheerleader at those
cheerleader contests

i have watched the videos of her tumbling over and over
again
amazed every time
like i was watching jim abbott pitching
how he could move that glove over to his pitching hand
in one fluid motion
i was amazed at abbie as he used her one hand and lower arm
to support and do those amazing flips that cheerleaders
do
you know the ones where they flip from one end of the basketball
court to the other
i always told my wife she
she
she is my hero

she when you see her you are struck by her beauty
and her intelligence
really not noticing anything else
her personality sort of shines through

she is nearing the end of her high school years
on to college soon
probably not as an athlete but as a student
a successful one im sure
maybe a writer or teacher or researcher or doctor or lawyer
whatever she does she will be good at it
its that drive that got her this far

then
now in the nfl
there is a player
a defensive one a successful one
that is now at the nfl combine
he has all the stats a player needs to be in the nfl
heck his twin brother is already there
the problem is
he was born with a damaged hand and fingers
that required amputation at 4 years old
like abbie and jim
he is without one of his hands now

sportingnews.com

his name is shaquem griffin
from central florida universtiy
he dominated their peach bowl on defense

like abbie and jim
he hasnt let it slow him down
like abbie and jim
he has that extra it
that special drive
to be successful
you cant teach that to someone
you cant make someone have it
they
sort of innately have it

he also has a personality that stands out in a room
he like on the football field
owns the room
he dominated the nfl combines

some lucky nfl team will get him
i look forward to watching him play on sunday

some lucky guy will find abbie
some lucky organization will hire her
some lucky kid will have her as a mother

what if we could get all our kids
to have that umf that it
that these three have

against the odds
they are making it
jim already did

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-dontcha remember

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-DONTCHA REMEMBER

well thats sort of what im being asked to do today
see what i remember

i know i wrote after the alzheimers panel i was on a
couple of weeks ago
dont use the word remember is what those affected said

well today i have to test my memory skills
at the one year follow up for
biogens aducanumab research study at ucla
aducanumab is an antibody against amyloid which attaches
itself to the amyloid and removes it from the brain
its given as a monthly infusion

one of the indications that it is working is
an improvement or no change in ones memory

to get in the study
you have to undergo a lot of testing
labs scans neurological exams and memory testing

so one year ago there was a lot of memory testing
memory testing is the part of the research study that
i dont like
i call it sort of torture testing

if you have any memory issues
its bothersome real bothersome to do the memory testing

so one year ago the original testing is the baseline
memory testing that future testing
gets compared to

i had memory testing about 6 months ago
it was not as comprehensive as the beginning testing

from looking at the schedule today i probably will
have about 2 hours or so of memory testing

if this stuff is working
if i am getting the real drug and not the placebo
my memory will not have worsened
it may not  have improved
it may have just stayed the same
which is acceptable to me

i read today that alzheimers disease may be like hiv
you will be able to take medications that will stabilize
the disease so that it doesnt takeover the brain
thats ok with me
thats acceptible

my guess
my memory hasnt changed
its hard to tell if it got better since im so early into the
disease as it wasnt bad to begin with

ok i admit trump had a better moca memory test score than i did
on my first one

heres hoping i do remember things

also
i have to have a repeat liver enzyme test
they were slightly increased two weeks agao
i think because of the excessive acetaminophen and ibuprofen
and naprosyn along with some hydrocodone i took while
fighting the flu and the dental abscess
i do expect those to have settled back down to normal
heck
when i had my molar tooth removed last week and
had a bone graft done
i opted to skip the pain meds completely
they wanted me to alternate the ibuprofen and acetaminophen
i smiled
i didnt do that
i did take a couple of pain pills the first night but none since

there is nothing i want to interfere with me being in the study
nothing
it has the potential to be life changing for my wife she and i

so
im one year in
i have at least 2 plus years to go
in 6 months i will definitely be getting the real drug
aducanumab

i think my remembering is ok

the organicgreen doctor

the best bbq

THE BEST BBQ

people are always asking me
are you on a special diet to slow down your disease
the recommended diet is the
mind diet

i say usually
i am a 90% vegetarian
we dont eat meat that often
but
sometimes you just want a good hamburger
or
if we are in texas
some good bbq

so if im going to eat meat i want the good stuff

now i havent eaten at all the bbq places around austin tx
but i have eaten at most of them over the years

the number one numbero uno is
who else but
franklin bbq

granted you have to wait in line a long while to get it
but
when you make it to the front of the line a few hours later
its all worth it
oh my
my mouth is watering like crazy right now

the second best bbq place that ive eaten at
well it closed down
it was in the small community north of austin
called bertram
it was only open a few years until it closed
we ate there frequently since we lived close by
heck
they were once rated the #3 best bbq in texas the
first year they were opened

those ribs were so good
the juicy meat just fell off the bone
all the sides were good like at franklin bbq

the previous owner still has the rights to the secret
recipe
not sure if he plans to ever use it again
maybe
at a cookout at his house


another one of the best bbq places in the austin area
is a short drive east of town
to the mueller bbq in an old building downtown
even the screen door as you go in has a big ole rip in it
when you walk in you can smell that good bbq smell
it seems to be reaking out of the wood
when we went i told my wife she
i think i could just lick the walls and taste the bbq
when we left that day i felt like a full tick on an ole hounddog
it wouldnt take much to make me pop open

so if i was going to get good bbq it would be franklin
or if i couldnt get in
i would make that drive over to muellers
no no kin to the prosecutor guy


austin chronicle
then there is another one
i hear that its to die for bbq
if you can get it
its further east of austin
in a small 3a town of lexington
there is this little ole lady aged 83
named tootsie
that starts cooking her bbq at 200am on saturday
she only cooks so much
somewhere between 1000-2000 lbs of it
when its gone its gone
she opens up snows bbq at 800am on saturday morning
they are open until its gone
i heard dont go there for lunch
there may not be any left

there is a long line out the door
rain or shine
if you have been to franklin bbq you know what
thats like

she works 30 hours a week at the local school district
the bbq is her weekend job

she is up as a finalist for the prestigious best bbq in the southwest
award
never heard of it she said but shes happy shes nominated

that puts her bbq up there with the  best of the best

her bbq is always up there with franklin bbq in the
texas monthly best bbq awards

here is a nice article on her and her bbq

its a feel good article
when you read it you will
feel good
and
want some of her bbq

the organincgreen doctor