ladder guys, salud, degrees

LADDER GUYS
this holiday season dont become a ladder guy
whats a ladder guy

when i was in practice i had a list of people who had
fallen off ladders and had gotten injured some severely
even some were repeat offenders
we called them the ladder guys

so when they would come in to see me i would
say hey youre a ladder guy
some didnt think that was funny and others did
they got the point
they also heard from that from their wifes and family
the wifes really liked it when i told them they were on
the ladder guy list
since they wouldnt listen to them

two of the worst was a man who fell off his ladder
punctured his lung
fractured his back
broke multiple ribs
had internal injuries
spent weeks in rehab
he learned his lesson and stays off ladders

another patient the only female on the list
seems men always do the stupid things
was on a ladder hanging a picture and fell on to
her back and permanently disabled her
she had back surgery but continued to have
severe pain that required daily pain meds via
pain management

these meds masked the symptoms of cancer she had
it was not discovered until it showed up as a metastatic
lesion on the skin
she eventually survived all  of this but still has daily pain
and must take pain management meds

so men and women stay off those ladders
dont be a ladder guy and
definitely dont be stupid enough to join the list twice

i saw some of you on facebook putting up lights
the only way you could have gotten those lights up
was to be on a ladder that could put you on the
ladder guy list

be safe
dont ruin your holidays

SALUD
salud is the name of mary rosers blog
she is the one that wrote the article in the austin american statesman
she wrote a blog about the zen book that was mentioned in the article
click here to read the blog
also will add her to my blog list

DEGREES
the degrees of separation between you and someone else
use to be 6

now it is 4.73
thanks to facebook
and that number is expected to decrease as more social media develops

so if you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who
knows kevin bacon youve reached that degree of separation

actually i know someone who knows kevin bacon
so if you know me then you have a degree of separation of 3 with
kevin bacon

there thats better than facebook

the organicgreen doctor

lost lady, find em

LOST LADY
at a town near here a lady who lives in an assisted living home
got into her car and drove off and didnt come back
friends and family notified the police and
she got her car information put on those big highway signs on the
interstate

usually those are child abductions, lost children, or a lost old person

luckily she was found not too far away driving lost on a road near the
town where she lives
sometimes it doesnt work out this well

a few years ago a couple near here got into their car and just
disappeared
they were an elderly couple
they were found 500+ miles away off a cliff in the hills of arkansas
where they had missed a curve on that winding road and had
gone over the cliff
they were accidentally found by a hunter/hiker

a family had lost both parents and grandparents because they
were lost and kept on driving

on the alzheimers association  website-www.alz.org-there is a
section on dementia and driving resource center at this link
if you have a family member who is at risk read this link
you may save their lives
dont be afraid of offending them

my wife she and i have an agreement that when my time comes that
she will take my keys away from me
am sure i wont resist

dont let them be the lost lady or lost man and get their names and
car license numbers on those signs on the internet

am glad not being able to parallel park is not on the list of warning signs

FIND EM
look at this picture and find the man in the picture



if you find him within 3 seconds your right brain is more
developed than most
if it takes less than 30 seconds your right brain is
developed normally
if it takes more than 60 seconds then your right brain
is slower to react

well guess im a left brain person

the organicgreen doctor

googled, tebowed, zen book

GOOGLED
this blog has been googled
go to google
type  dr dewayne nash alzheimers

the story or the article from the austin american-statesman last week
was picked up by a lot of newspapers and internet news sites over
the weekend

the sites are from across the united states and from other countries
some of the newspapers did stories of local people fighting the
disease and coupled it with the article from the austin american statesman
that mary roser wrote
have gotten a lot of response and questions from those readers

have read stories and received stories of people in various stages
of this disesase
hope their stories are being told and hope people will listen

one of the goals is to touch as many people as i can to get out the
story of alzheimers and put some faces on this disease and to let
people know that early treatement and early diagnosis is important

thanks to all the new readers and to the older readers of this blog
keep the story going

TEBOWED
am not a broncos fan and never have been one
but did like to watch john elway play in his day

like to watch tebow play
is not a religious thing either
he doesnt fit the mould of the nfl quarterback
whatever that is
but know that he and his teams win though

those tv announcers just wont give in will they
they cant accept the fact that they are winning
isnt that what counts

at least his coach accepted the fact he was the quarterback
and changed the offense so its tailored to his skills
now they are winning
he cant pass
his passer rating was 90+ yesterday and was better than rivers
low number

tebowed
a new word
isnt tebowing what made america great
thinking and acting outside the box
what entrepreneurs did this and we all benefited

tebowed
maybe more of us should tebow things we do
and we would be more successful

ZEN BOOK
in response to multiple questions
the book is
zen shorts by john j muth
the short story is in this blog from jan 3 2011
its called farmers luck
and the reason why it was mentioned is in that blog

the organicgreen doctor

black friday, football

BLACK FRIDAY
am so glad i didnt do it
go to black friday
noticed a relative got a good deal on a 42 ich tv
in the middle of the night
hes skinny and probably just slid right between everyone
to get to that tv
not sure how he got it out though
guess itll be worth it later when he wakes up

cant imagine being out there today in that traffic and
in the middle of all those people
think id rather just pay the higher price and shop on
a wednesday morning at 1000
in fact thats what i do and its just me and the clerks
in the store
somethings are just worth paying for
was traumatized once by black friday but not again

FOOTBALL
was a great thanksgiving if you were the fan of the horns, cowboys
or the ravens and less if you were the fan of the aggies, dolphins
or the 49ers
good games
sorry to see the aggie-horn rivalry end
it wont be replaced by other teams
at least texas still has oklahoma to dislike
aggies dont have nobody

today the lsu plays arkansas
#1 vs #3
hogs win and they may be in
the final big game
lose and lsu is probably in
unless les screws up somewhere
alabama is waiting to just take on the winner

now aggies get to play #1, #2, #3 next year and every year
their record will probably be worse than this years record
but they still will get their payout at the end of the year anyway
isnt thats what this is all about anyway

maybe harvard yale game should be the one we should be
watching
no scholarship schools well not on paper
football at its purist in college

go hogs

the organicgreen doctor

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING
want to wish you a happy thanksgiving



the organicgreen doctor

thanks, moment of zen, dark thanksgiving, thanksgiving

THANKS
thanks to the warm response to the article yesterday in the
austin american-statesman
thanks to mary roser for doing a good job
thanks to those of you that have been touched in some way by
the article
thanks to those who plan on getting involved with the alzheimers
movement-lets call it occupy alzheimers

thanks to austinregionalclinic for posting a warm notice about
the article on their website and the warm response to that
posting from patients

thanks to jeff carlton for helping with getting the media exposure

thanks to my wife she for being there over this last year

thanks to the disease for not having progressed much over this
last year

MOMENT OF ZEN
people have been asking about the zen book my wife mentioned
in the article
did a blog on it january 3 2011
here is the farmers luck blog that explains what she was talking about

DARK THANKSGIVING
why are the retailers trying to make thanksgiving darker by making
a black thanksgiving
whats next a black halloween or black veterans day
is there no end in site
black labor day
guess a black halloween would go along with the orange color

leave thanksgiving along please
its for turkey getting together with family being thankful for what
you have and for watching football all day

leave the darkness to black friday
my only experience with black friday was very tramatic
never to be repeated again
here is the black friday experience blog

THANKSGIVING
tomorrow on thanksgiving my wife she and i will be getting together
with family
our two sons both live in california and will be together with my
smiley daughterinlaw she tomorrow
we will be together with my white on white relative now called
my historian brother he and his cowgirl wife she
my rainwater brother he and his wife she who i havent named yet
for fear of retaliation
and my nephew he who did not really fall in the rainwater tank
see this blog on his falling in the tank?

after all these years i am going to cook my first turkey
hope it comes out better than my black friday experience
will be using a recipe from the abc show the chew
it looked good on tv

then we (the males) will 'watch' football after the meal
if you are kin to us you know what the 3 amigos will be doing

do have a happy thanksgiving
and a bright black friday

no blog tomorrow

the organicgreen doctor

the article

THE ARTICLE
the article in the austin american-statesman was published today
here is the link to the article

this article was written after a 2 hour interview with me at my house
by mary roser the reporter for the american-statesman
she is very good at doing interviews
and seems to understand the essence of my story and captured it well

thanks to her for a good job

have decided not to do a regular blog today but to let this article be
my blog today as it does capture the essence of what i am and what
i want to do

if you are new to this blog read last fridays blog about how to
navigate some of my past blog postings

thanks to jeff carlton for writing the article for the ut southwestern
alzheimers research center and for helping arrange the interview
with mary roser
here is his article at this link see pages 2 and 4

am impressed with the professionalism that both these reporters
have and how well they seem to reach the essence of my story

in these times where newspapers and internet news and television
news are not using reporters any more to do stories
ive realized how important they are to getting the stories right

take the day today to think about alzheimers disease and how it
has affected your life and how it will affect your life in the future

get involved in some way

the organicgreen doctor

rip, fb, article

RIP
our oldest chicken ms roundrock (click here to read her story) and
her protector red the rooster was attacked this weekend by a
marauder and both were killed

we think that it was a possum as we found one in the coop the next
night and was able to chase him around until he escaped back
through the hidden hole where he had snuck into the coop
(the hole was repaired)

a88 hole i tried to catch him and get revenge on him but i couldnt
catch him
wanted to chop off his head

ms roundrock and red the rooster both had started to sleep on
the ground since she had gotten too old to climb up to the
roosting area
red had damaged his foot and couldnt climb
up there either

they would sleep together snuggled up on the floor of the coop

red was always taking care of his girls
he made sure they knew where the bugs were and where the feed
was
he would come to their aid if they were threatened
he was the gentlest rooster ive ever seen

am sure he tried to protect ms roundrock from that attacker
but lost his life in the battle

rip ms roundrock and red
the life cycle goes on
the hard part of having backyard chickens

FB
longhorns couldnt pull that game out at the end
they just need to pick a qb and stick with him and
go through the season and quit jerking both of them
around

one bright spot is the fact that most of their players will
be returning next year and that season should be better

the horns and aggies play the last time on thanksgiving day
thats like ucla not playing usc
alabama not playing auburn
michigan not playing ohio state
sad to see that rivalry go away
no more aggie jokes

the hogs pulled it off saturday so now with everyone else loosing
they have a chance to be 1 or 2 if they beat lsu this week
come on hogs get those tigers

sad to hear about their tight end
he was found dead in his room
know it will be hard for them this week
what a tragedy

boys lucked out and beat those redskins
wide right again for the skins kicker
maybe the boys will continue on and make the playoffs
will watch them on turkey day
come on boys

ARTICLE
was called and told the article would be published last saturday
it wasnt
will post it on my blog whenever it is published
the good thing about the article is that it puts alzheimers disease out
there for people to talk about
and shows early diagnosis is important and
talks about research
this is beyond my control

the organicgreen doctor

welcome, article, talk introduction

WELCOME
welcome to this blog if you are new or even if you are a returner
i began this blog about 15 months ago to write about organic
gardening and green living and to write about medical and
health issues
i also added some of the experiences i had in the office and
in previous practices

then 1 year ago my life changed when i was diagnosed with
mild cognitive impairment amnestic type possibly due to
alzheimers disease
i stopped practicing and have changed part of the focus of this
blog to educate people about alzheimers and to chronicle my
story as time goes on

if you would like to catch the essence of this experience read
some of my popular postings that are listed on the right side
of this blog
you can also look at the labels and look up blogs on the topics
listed also on the right side of this blog below the blog archives

follow me on this journey into the future
learn about alzheimers on the way
but also learn about organic green living and
other things that may make you smile or chuckle

welcome

ARTICLE
the article on the interview is suppose to be in the saturday
austin american-statesman
i will post the link when its published

TALK INTRODUCTION
i recently gave a talk to a group of about 50 family doctors last week
on my story and about alzheimers disease
here is the introduction

i want to thank you for allowing me to come here tonight and tell my
story of what happened to me and to talk to you about alzheimers
disease

how many of you have a family member who had or has alzheimers
disease (2/3 raised their hands) and how many of you treat a patient
with alzheimers disease (1/3 raised their hands)

i am coming you tonight from those two perspectives
i am coming to you as a family member whose parents
had alzheimers disease and whose younger brother a year younger than
me has alzheimers disease
i also am coming to you as a family physician who has actually treated
patients with alzheimers disease although i did not do a very good
job

i am also though coming to you tonight from another perspective
i am coming to you tonight as a patient
my diagnosis is mild cognitive impairment amnestic type possibly due
to alzheimers disease

alzheimers disease is a devastating progressive neurological disease
which is fatal and for which there is no cure
alzheimers disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the united states
of the top 10 leading causes of death it is the only one for which there
is no cure and for which the numbers are rapidly increasing

1 in 4 of the females in this room if you live long enough will get
alzheimers disease
1in 10 of the males in this room if you live long enough will get
alzheimers disease

the congress committee  is trying to trim 1.5 trillion dollars out of the
budget over the next 10 years
however
the new cases of alzheimers disease over the next 10 years will offset
that by costing medicare and medicaid 1.5 trillion dollars

there are going to be so many new cases that there will not be enough
neurologists, psychiatrists, memory clinics, and alzheimers research
centers to handle the numbers
so
you family physicians will have to be the ones to take care of  these
new patients
you need to learn to know how to evaluate and treat them
i only wish i could go back and practice again and i would take
care of more of these patients and do the evaluations and treatments
myself

my goal tonight is to tell my story of what has happened to me over the
last year and use that as a vehicle to tell you about alzheimers disease
how to evaluate a patient and what treatments are available
and what new things that i have had done to me that are going to be
available soon to your practices

remember
listen to your patients and their families
diagnose early and treat early
the goal of treatment is to change the angle of decline
dont forget the caretakers

the organicgreen doctor

whoa not fun, (un)flex accounts

WHOA NOT FUN
forgive me father for i have sinned
i didnt brush my teeth like i should when i was growing up
i never flossed my teeth until i was an adult
i never went to the dentist unless my teeth hurt or was injured
we were too poor to afford dental care
i never drank fluoridated water as a child
i love candy
i love candy
i love candy

i now pay the price of my sins
but will do better

thought of that yesterday as the dentist was i swear was standing
on the dental chair with both hands in my mouth with sweat pouring
off his forehead
he was also using these big old instruments that i couldnt see well as i
took off my glasses cause i didnt want to watch any more
just know my head was moving up and down and he was mumbling
words i cant publish in this blog or ill start getting hits from weird sites

so this is what went on last time when i was totally knocked out when
he chiselled and chipped and whatever else he did to remove my
wisdom teeth
glad i was asleep then and wish i had been yesterday

felt ok afterwards until that novacaine stuff wore off
oh **** that sure hurts
thank you vicodin and that merlot and that ice bag
that sure makes it feel much better

hope today is better
will pray each day to the dental god
and will promise to do better

(UN)FLEX ACCOUNTS
do you have an (un)flex account
you know they take your money tax free and put it into their
accounts then as you need it for medical expenses not covered
by insurance you can get reimbursed
its suppose to work that way
however
they seem to try to make it hard sometimes to get your money
back

have had a several months long battle with them
they have a thousand dollars of mine they want to keep
so they wait until just before the dead line to deny my claim
so need to find a thousand dollars worth of claims to submit
wonder if they try to screw everybody this way

here is what happened
in march i had special diagnostic labs done for my genotype for
the apoe 4 gene for alzheimers
i used my (un)flex card to pay for it
as my insurance would not pay for it
the (un)flex card paid for it and was ok with the receipt i sent in

in may i had more special diagnostic labs done for beta amyloid and
tau protein
which was not covered by insurance
i used my (un)flex card again (was at the same lab as before) and
submitted the same receipt
nope not good enough
need a eob from the insurance company showing they denied payment
didnt bill insurance as they specifically say on their website they wont
pay for this test or the last one
they continuously refused to reimburse me the thousand dollars
with the final decision just a few days before the dead line

how do i come up with that amount of money in medical charges in
a few days
i was afraid the (un)flex account people had won
wonder if they waited that late to do a final denial on purpose
so they could keep my thousand dollars

well i am retired and have extra time on my hands
i started looking for deductions i could claim
there it was on their website
medical travel
you can claim mileage for medical visits to also include trips to the
pharmacy and xray
we do live in the country and have to drive 50+ miles to get our
prescriptions
thats 50 x $0.23 per mile deduction = $10.15
thats 104 x $0.23 to the dentist = $23.92
thats 412 x $0.23 to the neurologist = $94.76
(4 trips last year to the neurologist)
(we had multiple pharmacy and medical and radiological visits last year)

when all added up it was equal over $1000

so i won eventually
they even had to send me a check for $12.95 that they owed me also
those (un)flex account folks tried to win
but i won instead

now ill just take that one thousand they refused to reimburse me and
just write it off on taxes

won twice didnt i
feels good to beat them at their own game

now wonder if i can win this year

the organicgreen doctor

dental care, mri, nba

DENTAL CARE
am doing my least favorite thing today
thats going to the dentist
last year i had two wisdom teeth removed
that sucked big time
glad i wasnt awake when they got them out
something about a chisel and pliers was spoken
but i never asked questions
sure hurt like hell for several days
he told me it wouldnt hurt much but gave me a prescription
for 30 vicodin
that should have been a sign of what was coming

then last year i had to have a new crown put on then after
that had to have a root canal on that same tooth
again that sucked big time
glad i had some of that vicodin laying around

well today
i have to go back to get two new crowns put on
except i remember last year and am not looking forward to
when that numbing medicine wears off and when i stop
slobbering and slurring my speech
then the real pain begins
got me some vicodin left over to use if i need it
maybe that oral surgeon just knew what was in store for me
over the next year

just sayin

seriously
dental care is the entry to good health
brush twice a day
floss each tooth  each day
talking to you my wife she
seek dental care annually or twice a year
we do twice a year dental cleaning
promised my last now retired dentist i would do this after i
waited 5 years to see him and came in with a mouth full of problems

it is sad though that less than 50% of americans get regular dental care
of course a lot of dental insurances are not very good
like the one we have

take care of your teeth they are the soul of your health

MRI
had the 6 month followup mri last week and got the report today
this is the 4th mri ive had in the last year
it was normal
this mri for the study is a volumetric mri that is officially read
as part of the adni study using a special computer program that
measures the volume of the brain and especially the hippocampus
where atrophy can occur early on in alzheimers disease

this mri may be one of the tools that is used soon to pick up early
changes in mild cognitive impairment amnestic type and early
alhzheimers disease

next one is in 6 months then will have one every year after that

NBA
beware beware
remember what happened to he nhl
when they lost the whole season
remember you are the number 3 sport in the usa
you have a lot to lose
you dont want to be number 4 or 5 in the future

people are having a lot of financial issues themselves and
are not real tolerable of watching you fight over money

remember you are in the 1% not the 99% like the rest of us

think ill just enjoy those other professional basketball teams
college basketball

just sayin

the organicgreen doctor

square foot garden, stop squash borer

SQUARE FOOT GARDEN
a novice gardener asked if i would tell them how to plant a garden
they know nothing about how to do it
this is for the newbies to gardening

this is the kiss method
the keep it simple stupid method
the stupid is for the instructor not the student

its written for central texas
our soils and climate may not be the same as yours
but the principles are the same

you have to have at least 6 hours of sunlight available
to grow a garden
if you dont grow it in pots instead and put them where the sun is

this will be instructions for a 4 ft square garden

find a 6 ft x 6 ft area of ground to plant
scrape all the grass off
if its bermuda youll have a tough battle in the future to control it
in your garden

lay down at least 10 sheets of newspapers over the area
overlap them

make a frame of untreated wood (cedar is the best) that is 4 ft
x 4 ft square
use 12 inch wide wood if possible although 8 and 10 inch is ok

place the frame in the middle of the 6 ft x 6 ft space
place a rim of cardboard or plastic around the 4 ft x 4 ft box
you have made tucking it under the boards
cover this with mulch such as native hardwood mulch or cedar
mulch
this will block grass and weeds from sprouting around your garden

inside the box add the best garden soil you can get
i use the ladybug hill country garden soil from the natural gardener
at www.naturalgardeneraustin.com
you can also buy bags of it at most local nurseries but not the box
stores
at the natural gardener you can bag your own in 5 gallon bags
also a trip to the natural gardener is worth it as they have demonstration
gardens there also as well as chickens, donkeys, goats etc

you have to start with good soil or your garden wont do well
dont skimp on this or you will fail

after the soil is in place you are ready to plant

divide the 4 ft x 4 ft garden into 1 ft squares that you will plant
with your plants
would use transplants instead of seeds to start out as they are
easier to use until you get better at this

put the taller plants on the north side of the garden

here are plants that are close to fool proof planting
and will last through the summer into next fall until it
freezes

1 ft squares     1   2   3   4
                        5   6   7   8
                        9   10 11 12
                        13 14 15 16
1 is the northeast corner and 16 is the southwest corner

in 1 5  and in 9 13 plant a sweet 100 tomato in mid march
whenever the last freeze has happened
it will grow until it freezes in november
it will need a trellis like the simple tomato cage

in 14 plant a malabar spinach-a vine that will grow well
all summer and provide spinach for salads and dishes
will need a trellis to grow
not all nurseries will have this
its worth finding it as its fool proof once you get it going
the natural gardener will have it
plant april 1st or afterwards as it doesnt like cold weather

in 2 plant an egg plant april 1st
would recommend ichiban but any egg plant will be ok
it wont do much once the summer hits but will take off
in the fall
same with the peppers

in 6 plant a bell pepper in late march
in 10 plant a jalipeno pepper in late march
they make hot ones and mild ones

in 3 and 4 plant onion plants that you can get in
late january or february
plant the first of february
each plant should be 4 inches apart
i poke my finger in the ground and drop it it
you should only need one bunch of them
1050 onions are a good choice for this area
as they grow you can pick them for fresh green onions
i usually pick every other one or just let them grow into
large onions

in usually june the tops will die and fall over
thats when you can pull up the onions

you will probably have a few extra onion plants just stick them
in the corners around other plants and eat the onions as
green onions as the other plants grow bigger

in 15 and 16 plant a red potato in each square
thats just two potatoes
plant them whole about 6-8 inch deep and make a hill of soil over
them like this ^
get the seed potatoes in february and plant around the 1st two
weeks of february
in early june the potatoes plants will die some and thats
the time to dig them up
usually those two potatoes will make 8-10 potatoes or more

in 7 plant a swiss chard
as it grows cut the leaves off to use in salads
you can plant them now or in the spring

in 8 plant arugula
as it grows cut the leaves off to use in salads
i let my grow in the late fall until it flowers as the
bees love its flowers
you can plant them now or in the spring

in 11 plant lettuce from transplants every 6 inches
thats four plants in this square
in 12 plant more lettuce or spinach
you can plant them any time now or the spring
but they will not grow through the summer
but you can replant in the early fall around october

in 14 plant whatever you want
or consider basil planting in early april
it will last until it freezes in the fall

you will need a liquid fertilizer like johns formula or medina or
another organic liquid fertilizer
dont use miracle grow
it does nothing to make your soil better
the salts from the miracle grow will accumulate over time in your soil

you will need an organic liquid seaweed to use
use a solution of this whenever you plant a transplant

new transplants may need to be watered every day until they get
established
remember plants die from overwatering or not watering
if the soil is wet then dont water it
watch out for overwatering from sprinkler systems

every two weeks apply a solution of the liquid fertilizer to each plant
the directions are usually on the bottle
i use johns formula

the other weeks apply a solution of the liquid seaweed to each plant

when it gets hot mulch your plants with mulch
i use pine straw but chopped up leaves etc will work ok

the garden needs one inch of water a week
a tuna can in the garden when a sprinkler is on can be used to
measure that one inch
drip irrigation is better
use your finger or a stick to tell if the soil is dry
again if you overwater or underwater the garden will die

when you harvest a crop then apply 2-3 inches of compost
to the square and work it in to the top 2-3 inches of soil
i use what i make or use the natural gardeners ladybug farmstyle compost
which is sold at most local nurseries

why this doesnt work
not enough water or too much water
dont start with good soil
neglect

pests
on tomatoes they can get a big green worm called the tomato worm
just pick it off and feed it to the chickens or squash it
most of these plants do well without much pests or disease

if you have questions send me a comment or use the facebook link above
and ill try to answer it

good luck
its all worth it
bon appetite

SQUASH BOER
another reader wanted to know how to stop the squash boer
the only 100% way to stop it is to not plant squash



techniques to try
cover the squash with the thin row cover that you can get at most
nurseries
as the plant grows it will not be to heavy and will rise with the plant
open the tent of row cover in the afternoon so the bees can pollinate
the flowers then cover the plant back up

inject a solution of bt bacillis thuringiensis into the base of the
plant stalk
the bt is a bacteria that will kill the larva as it grows

this year i wrapped my stalk with wet newspaper strips and
then placed diatamaceous earth on and around the stalk
the squash lasted longer this year but eventually was smitten by that
boer

when you see these eggs on the squash leaves then slit open the stalk
and remove the larva



or plant winter squash or butternut squash which are somewhat
resistant to the boer
or plant pumpkins and eat them when they are small

good luck

the organicgreen doctor

lost maples, article, football

LOST MAPLES
every fall my wife she and i and my rainwater brother and his wife
and my historian brother and his wife go to the lost maples area for
the weekend

we rent a cabin on the frio river and enjoy the weekend together
enjoying the rustic environment
no cell phone we have works there
had some withdrawals but made it ok

my wife she and i go up early on friday and do a lengthy walk at
the lost maples state park
(see the lost maples website)
there are very few people there when we get there so we usually
have the trails to ourselves
(on the weekends in november they actually have traffic jams at
the park entry)

its so nice to be outside walking on the isolated trails up the hills of
the canyon where the maple trees grow
up to the plateau on the top of the canyon walls and look down
over the trees and lake and river

the funniest part of the trip was when my wife she backed into
a cactus (wont tell you what she was doing-it was isolated up there)
and had to have cactus spines removed from that area
ouch
sorry dont have a picture of that
too bad we were only half way on our hike

the maple trees found there are like the ones found in new england
this years colors were better than what was expected because of
the drought
here are pictures from past visits there

we also had lunch saturday at the the laurel tree
a restaurant near utopia texas that is in the middle of
nowhere
but
the atmosphere and food was fantastic
there are grounds around the restaurant that has herb and
vegetable gardens that are used in the meals
5***** recommendation



overall it was a great weekend with bros and in a slow paced
environment with great scenery
will do it again next year

jr thanks for the walking stick


ARTICLE
the article on the interview with the organicgreendoctor was not
published this weekend
whenever it is published will post the date on this blog


FOOTBALL
well we did manage to squeeze in some games on saturday evening
helped with the withdrawals
horns didnt look good-didnt help that their first 3 running backs
were out with injuries
hogs got it done-what if they beat lsu
those cowboys why cant they play like that all the time
they have found themselves a new running back for sure

one of my favorite players to watch this year is robert griffin
the qb at baylor
hes called rg3
recruited by texas to be an athlete
he said nope i want to play qb so he went to baylor
bet texas wishes he had gone to their school now
they could use him

he also is a junior and is working on his masters
if he doesnt go pro next year he will be starting law school
his senior year
my advice is go pro
he is a running quarterback and a true pocket passer
he should do well in the pros
think vince young talent who can play the quarterback position
like it should be played

its nice to see a player like this in college football

the organicgreen doctor

follow up, veterans day

FOLLOW UP
that dang neuropsych exam got me again
its the same one that got me last year
in fact i sat in the same room where i had my neuropsych exam
done last year at about this same time
i can remember sitting in that same room looking at the window
when i couldnt remember those words she asked me to repeat
back to her
thats when i knew i had a problem

so i dont like to take those exams as i know whats coming and
i know that i wont do well on them
i didnt
the problem is still there but doesnt appear to me to have worsen
much over the last year
of course ive taken one of these every 2-3 months over the last year
now i get to go 6 months without doing one

although most people cant believe i have a problem
when i do the moca test that is administered now in some doctors
offices as a screening test i have a problem with memory that shows
up on that screening test
it definitely shows up on that dang neuropsych exam

they also drew 9 or 10 large vials of blood from me also
told them why dont they just draw it into a blood donor bag
as it would be easier
guess ill have to take extra iron this week to replace that  blood

then i had that jet engine sounding mri yesterday
dang its noisy and i had ear plugs on and ear covers on
would hate to be in their without those on

next follow up in 6 months for annual visit

the future is looking better for alzheimers disease as a lot of
research is going on
the prediction is that in the next 10 years they will be treating patients
with medicine to prevent alzheimers disease
meds will be given to hi risk patients before they show symptoms
exciting times in alzheimers research

glad im around for the ride

VETERANS DAY
today is 11-11-11
veterans day
thanks to those who are serving and who served in the military

now lets take good care of those who served
a large group are coming back from the middle east wars and
will be entering schools and the job force
lets take care of them properly
many of their kids have not seen their mom or dads much over
the last few years because of the multiple deployments
many of them have mental health issues that need proper medical
treatment to help them enter back into the private world
the unemployment rate is higher in this group of vets than in the
general population
lets give them the extra help they deserve
weve done it in past wars
these guys and gals sacrificed a lot for us
lets take care of them

they will be our leaders and
have a lot to offer society
lets do whats right
come on congress take care of them
make your cuts somewhere else

thanks veterans
this is your day

the organicgreen doctor

the study, jopago ne

THE STUDY
the interview with a local dallas television station is cancelled
today so that all my wife she and i will be doing there is the
stuff we do for the adni study

the adni-2 (alzheimers disease neuroimaging intitiaitve) is a
5 year study of 4 groups
normal cognitive patients with no symptoms
early mild cognitive imparment patients with mild symptoms-thats the
group im in
late mild cognitive impairment patients with more advanced symptoms
full blown alzheimers disease patients

each patient has the same evaluations and are followed over the 5 years
of the study
this is an important alzheimers disease study-probably the most
important one that has been done
it will define how patients are diagnosed and probably treated and
how new biomarkers will be used to diagnose and mange
patients in the future

what i am having done in this study is probably what patients
across the us and the world will have done to evaluate them
for alzheimers disease in the future

there are important research papers being published every week
from data that has been collected from this study
each year over the next 5 years more and more information will
be available for doctors and patients to use
will keep you in touch with some of the findings as they occur

today i have to have fasting labs done
these tests some i dont know what they are include a biomarker
test for beta amyloid and tau protein that is being used to
diagnosis and follow the severity of a persons disease
in the future this is the test that your doctor may be using to help
make the diagnosis of alzheimers disease
probably before this study is over with
it help take some of the guessing out of making this diagnosis

i also am having that damn torture test-the neuropsych exam that
i hate to take
give me blood work or give be a spinal tap
thats my preference

you should try one sometime
why i dont like to take it is because i have done enough of these this
last year so i know which parts i cant do real well
its frustrating to not to be able to do these things that your
8 year old can do
thanks goodness im only mild now
know how frustrating it must be if or when i get worse
at least i dont have to do it again for 6 months then after that just
once a year

the next thing i have done is a volumetric mri
the one that sounds like youre inside a jet engine
at least it doesnt involve an iv this time

this volumetric mri is mainly looking for the volume of the hippocampus
which is affected first by alzheimers disease
the study uses a computer program to measure this volume so that
early changes can be detected
sadly i wont ever get the official reading of this scan as its part of the
study like the lab and the neuropsych exam where it enters the
black hole of the study for me to never see the results
its part of the deal of entering the study

soon your primary care doctor will be able to use this volumetric
mri along with neuropsych exams and other tests to help diagnose or
rule out alzheimers disease with more accuracy

dont mind it all
feel like im doing my contribution to finding a solution to this
problem-that terrible disease alzheimers

JOPAGO NE
well jopa is gone
agree with the decision
if the longhorns mack brown or razorbacks bobby patrino
(both teams are the ones i follow) had let this happen on their
watch then they should be let gone and not be allowed to
finish the season
telling your bosses in sexual abuse cases and not personally
reporting it to the legal authorities when nothing was done
about it is your responsibility
the finger was  pointing at him
he did not do the right thing
he needed to pay the price

if it was your 10 year son being abused am sure you would
agree with me

what a tragedy for everyone involved

ive had to report abuse myself when a patient told me about it
or if i found evidence of abuse
i broke that sacred patient doctor relationship that is so protected
by the ethical and legal system to do what was right

i simply walked out of the room and called the police or the
appropriate legal  person and reported the abuse
my responsibility was fulfilled
it was then up to the legal system to do what was right
many times they did not do their jobs well
then i made sure the victim the patient was properly cared for

thats what missing is all this debate right now
how traumatized those boys are and will be forever
no money or therapy will make it go away
how many of these cases could have been prevented
how many other times did this happen

so sad
for everyone involved

think of the victims in this
the abused boys, the penn state football players, penn state
students, the pennn state fans

the right thing is now being done
that abusive coach as we all know will get what he deserves
when goes to prison

the organicgreen doctor

frozed, post interview, bluebonnets

FROZED
every fall i battle the temperature as it starts to fall
trying to inch out a few more days of growth so that my
tomatoes, christmas limas, peppers, basil, egg plant and
malabar spinach can provide a a slightly better harvest

we live here in the country n in a bowl where the land
slopes as it goes down to the river
because of this the night time temps can dip down several
degrees more than nearby communities

should learn my lesson watching the news and seeing the
predicted temperatures as we also always get slightly
colder than they do

this year saw the temp was going to go down so went
out and covered my maters, peppers etc with good thick
row cover that gives 7 degrees of protection

was afraid to look for several days but when i peeked under
that row cover
i was real disappointed because all of my nice green tomatoes
were mushy and light green
should have picked them and wrapped them up in newspapers
like i did last year (had maters past christmas last year)
wont happen this year
chickens loved the frozed maters though

my christmas lima beans  i was so proud of them were growing
great and had a lot of maturing pods on them
they look so sad now
wilty light green drooping bean vines
no limas this year

next year im determined to grow those damn limas i nurtured since
april and used a lot of precious rainwater on them this summer
to keep them going
disappointed but more determined as ever to grow those thangs

(did give some seeds to my rainwater brother he  maybe hell grow
some next year in his slightly warmer climate and share with me)

glad im not farming for a living

do have cole crops, asian greens, arugula, swiss chard, lettuce,
spinach, turnips, carrots, beets (for my wife she not me) and
garlic in my winter garden

all is not lost

POST INTERVIEW
have been interviewed twice about azheimers
the 2nd was yesterday and will be interviewed again on
thursday in dallas

am impressed at how good these reporters are in the jobs
they do
in both of the interviews which lasted about 2 hours each
the reporters were able to understand and get the essence of
what i feel, my family feels, my patients feel, my fellow employees feel
by asking the right questions and picking up sometimes on a single
word then developing more about it

am impressed
we dont give these talented reporters enough credit
these are real reporters not just someone who spits out
what others have written
we need more of them in the news industry not less of them

am pleased with yesterdays interview as the essence was caught
it should be published in sundays austin-american statesman
here is their website www.statesman.com

BLUEBONNETS
this year was an awful blue bonnet season here
was the worst since we have lived at the country n
the drought took its tool as we got little rain last winter
i was disappointed as i had put out a lot of new bluebonnet
seeds last fall

guess they saved themselves for this coming year
we got 4 inches of rain here last month and the bluebonnets
have responded like i have not seen here before

they are so thick in my pastures that i hate to even walk
anywhere because they get crushed
individual plants were so rare last year i tried to protect
everyone of them that came up

if we get enough rain this winter we should have a bumper crop

cant wait
know lady bird would be happy

the organicgreen doctor

the caretaker, post talk, interview

THE CARETAKER
in this blog im always writing about the caretaker and
how important it is to remember the caretaker as they
get lost in the discussion of alzheimers disease sometimes

this article at this link is about the caretaker roll that carol ann
from the boggy creek farms took recently as she cared for
her 17+ year old chicken
she is such a witty writer

we have a 10+ old chicken called ms roundrock that we
are providing the caretaking for her
we like carol ann watch out for ms round rock as she is blind,
has grey feathers, probably had a stroke and flops down from
her roosting perch to eat

she has been moved from the head of the hens to the lowest
member of the group

thought of her when i read this article
caretaker role is rewarding sometimes

POST TALK
whew thats over with
gave a talk on telling my story (much of what is in this blog)
and about what is happening in alzheimers
the 40+ family physicians seemed interested and attentive
much better than at most presentations

(if you are a teacher and youve been to presentations to a
teachers group then you know what i mean)

they asked a lot of good questions after the talk
remember everyone is worried about getting the big a
these docs are interested because as i told them the big a
will become a primary care disease in the future as the
numbers will be too large for specialists to care for

these were the points of the talk
put a face on the disease-me and others eg pat summitt my buddy
early diagnosis and treatment is important
dont forget the caretaker
it will be a primary care disease
how to work the patients symptoms up and what treatments
and preventative things are available now
whats happening in research now

hopefully the talk was helpful and hopeful it will end up
helping some patient to get an early diagnosis and
be able to get early treatment

INTERVIEW
todays the day
get interviewed by the newspaper today
about this blog and the advocacy for alzheimers
more about it tomorrow
will post a link when its published

the organicgreen doctor

talk, andy, football

TALK
tonight i give a talk to the group of family physicians that i use
to work with before i retired
its the first time ive seen most of them since i left almost a
year ago
the talk will be telling my story about what happened to me and
using it as a vehicle to talk about alzheimers disease

those of you who know me well know that i hate to get in front
of a group to talk
but
when you know the subject well and feel like you know as much
or more than the people you talk to then talking to a group
doesnt bother me any more

my points tonight will be
that alzheimers will be a primary care disease soon as the numbers
of new cases will be too great for specialists to handle them all

that early diagnosis and early treatment is important to change the angle
of decline of this disease

how to evaluate a patient for alzheimers disease

what new biomarkers are/will available to use in these evaluations

what treatments are available and will be available in the future

what can be done to prevent or delay the onset of this terrible
disease

then to remind them to not forget the caretaker

more in am on how this talk went

later this week an interview with a local metropolitan newspaper,
an interview with a local dallas tv station, the 6 month follow up
with the adni study in dallas then our annual trip to lost maples
more on all this later

ANDY
may he rest in peace
was one of the high points of the weekend to listen to his 5 minute
talk on things we probably noticed but didnt think about

hell be missed

FOOTBALL
what a great football weekend
hogs won sorry old ball coach
horns just dominated the raiders
run run run  is what they did
hopefully the rest of the season goes well

then how about them cowboys
they looked good yesterday

those aggies
they continue to go south
what great expectations their fans had
of course their season was always complete if they beat texas
so on thanksgiving day well see
that will be the final game of a series that has being going
on for years
now they will play lsu, alabama, south carolina instead of
texas, okla, okla state
ouch

lsu alabama what a great game
to bad that wasnt the national championship game

the organicgreen doctor

the mirror, advocate, the talk

THE MIRROR

i look in the mirror and do i see my future

my younger brother he is the mirror i look at everyday

we have the same genetic make up and are one year apart in age

he has alzheimers disease and was diagnosed officially 

5 years ago after he had helped me move my mother

who had alzhiemers disease out of her assisted living

apartment 

during the move i noticed he had problems moving the 

furniture out of the apartment and he got lost driving us 

to moms new nursing home (we had grown up in that 

small town)

afterwards i notified his wife to have him re-evaluated for 

alzheimers

he was evaluated properly and was diagnosed and was

started on aricept (donnepezil) and stopped working

he was handed samples for this two years earlier 

when he complained to a doctor about memory problems

no work up was done or follow up was done

he had side effects like all of us do who start aricept the 

first month and discontinued it 

he continued to work and his memory problems gradually 

worsened

since diagnosed in stage 3 alzheimers he has progressed now

in five years to late stage 5 alzheimers

(go to www.alz.org and look up 7 stages of alzheimers)

the reading ive done says early diagnosis and treatment is important

sometimes it can alter the angle of decline so that sometimes you 

can gain extra time of near normalcy with your family and friends

or at least where you can know who they are and appreciate them 

thats what i hope as i peer into the mirror

will the early start of aricept make a difference for me

will doing the preventative things im doing make a difference

mirror mirror on the wall.......

ADVOCATE

since my family has a strong history of alzheimers disease and 

because i have been diagnosed with early mild cognitive impairment

amnestic type that could be due to alzheimers disease i have tried to

be an advocate for alzheimers disease as much as possible and hope

to do so while i am cognitively able to do so

i have personally seen the emotional and financial devastation this 

terrible disease can do

its easy for me to be an advocate

here is a link to a recent article from an interview that was published

in the quarterly newsletter from the alzheimers research center at 

ut southwesterm medical center in dallas

go to this link to read this article see page 2 and page 4

THE TALK

next week i will be giving a talk to a large group of family doctors

about my story and what happened to me and will use it as a 

vehicle to talk about alzheimers disease

i realize how little i knew about all this when i was practicing

i hope to talk about those things i should have known 1 year ago 

that would have made me a better doctor caring for the few

alzheimers patients that i had in my practice

if i can connect with just one of those doctors next week so 

that they become better at caring for their patients then i

will have been successful

more next week

have a good weekend

the organicgreen doctor

beware, nascar, oa

BEWARE
beware the new credit card deals
they are fraught with gothchas

have always had a credit card that has to be paid off
each month
but because of the new credit card deals i decided to try to
make some money off the credit card companies with their
new 3% and 6% deals
so i signed up
$75 a year to have the card
it will take $2500 of gas to pay for that $75
this is about half of what i pay for gas in a year
so 3% of the 2nd $2500 would be $75
6% of groceries would be worth about $450 a year
so i should make about $500 a year on the deal if
i pay the balance off each month
the first month i had $1000 on the card and the minimal balance
staring at me on the bill was $35
if i pay just that then i pay 22% interest on the other $965
thats where the hope on their part is that i pay the minimal amount
and the money making shifts to their side

sorry im more disciplined than that
will pay off the $1000 and make $30-$60 on the deal
dang that feels good
(plus my credit union is paying me to keep my money there with
out any fees)
must be how that 1% feel all the time

better be careful it may be contagious as i dont want to become one
of them

my suggestion to you is dont do this unless you are absolutely
disciplined enough to pay these cards off each month
failure to do so will make you their financial slaves again

beware

NASCAR
love nascar
love those uniforms and cars they have
am surprised the cowboys havent got logos all over their uniforms

thomas friedman in a new york times article came up with this great idea

us congressman should have to dress up like nascar drivers and wear
all the logos of the banks, investment companies, insurance companies,
and real estate companies that they are taking $$$ from
wouldnt be much uniform left to see on most of them

yes nascar congressmen
we know who really drives this country
most of us dont like it either

OA
the occupy oakland was successful
interesting that a lot of business down town had signs up supporting
the march
teachers, union workers, students, government employees, and school
children all marched that day
it was peaceful thank goodness
the port stopped working later in the day
the message was sent
we in america those 99% are ready for a change

this movement will probably affect the next election
especially for those who are incumbents on both parties
change of fresh faces probably will be evident in the new congress

we need change its time for this to happen
working americans need some breaks

get involved some way in the next election no matter what party
you are with and ask for some changes to take place

tomorrow the mirror, the advocate, the talk

the organicgreen doctor

live longer, the march, did it

LIVE LONGER
here are things you can do to live longer
some dont need explaining

do yoga
go to the dentist
move to the country-my wife she and i can guarantee this helps
be checked for diabetes
grope yourself-no thats not a sexual suggestion but do self
          breast exam and self testicular exams
keep your brain active
walk-cost is zero for this gym membership, fresh air is good for you
stay married and youll live longer-well sometimes it just cant happen
laugh
be optimistic-know thats a tough one right now
get good sleep-dont take aricept if you want this one
limit portions-we eat too much
mediterranean diet-fruits, veggies, nuts, fish, olive oil, etc
get a pet-maybe not a python since they eat deer in florida
dont bring work home with you-a rule i followed the last years
          of my practice
strong relationship with your mom
drink red wine with moderation
control your blood pressure
protect your skin from the sun
get a good nights sleep

dang i feel better after writing and rereading this
i do all of these except for the good nights sleep which is affected
by the aricept-its a trade off im willing to make
im retired so i definitely dont take work home with me
maybe thats why i feel so laid back all the time

live longer its this easy

THE MARCH
today in oakland the occupy oakland march will happen
it will be a significant one
can it be done without violence
there are varied group of people involved
          school kids, school teachers, public employees, retired
          veterans, iraq/afghanistan war veterans, union workers,
          retired people, aarp types, collegestudents and other
          normal people
the whole nation is watching this one as it may be a good thing today
for the nation or it could turn into a bad thing for the nation
lets hope that everyone stays peaceful

cant wait for the campaigning next year
cant wait to see the tea partiers and the occupiers at the
campaign events together making sure the politicians know how
both sides feel
do it to both parties please as they both deserve it

this is the way our democracy works
just do it peacefully please

DID IT
well i did it
i am no longer banking at a megabank
dang that feels so good
i now have all my banking stuff at a local credit union
even dave ramsey uses a credit union for his banking
if its good enough for him its good enough for me
he did it before it was cool to do it

also dont forget your local and state banks as they are
usually not in the same class as the megabanks

i feel like i did when i quit smoking years ago
and it feels good

the organicgreen doctor

survivors

SURVIVORS
we are still in the drought here in central texas
we did have some rain recently that helped
it greened things up well and caused some of the fall perennials
to bloom

it looks like i lost a lot of plants this fall from the drought
as i was not able to water things since we were short
on rainwater

i just let nature take its course
here is what survived without supplemental watering in the
worst drought in this area in years
and the hottest summer on record here

rosemary
salvia greggii (autumn sage)
zexmenia
black foot daisy
4 nerve daisy
american beautyberry
plumbago
shrimp plant
turks cap
oregano
sage
germander
lavender
cactus
firebush
lantana
agarita
trumpet vine
passion vine
cedar sage
four oclock
mexican oregano
jerusalem sage
cedar
elbow bush
pride of barbados
lady banksia rose
esperanza (yellow bells)
engelmann daisy
chile pequin
cast iron plant
texas sage
native grape
agaves
flame acanthus
youpon holly
butterfly bush
cat mint
ruellia
texas persimmon
texas plum
anachacho orchid tree
vitex
mountain laurel
possumhaw holly
mexican buckeye
crepe myrtle
burr oak
cedar elm
pecan
maple
huisache
mesquite
native grasses

this fall color is provided since the rains by the zexmenia, blackfoot
daisy, 4 nerve daisy, salvia greggi, esperanza, turks cap, plumbago
firebush, 4 oclocks, mexican oregano, flame acanthus, butterfly
bush, texas sage, and lantana

this is the true xeriscaped plants
no irrigation
no water from the aquifer, lake or collected rainwater

need to use more of these in your landscape as water becomes
in such scarce supply around here

now plant buffalo grass, blue gramma, curley mesquite as your yard
and you will never have to water again

its not that hard to do
we just have to think different about our landscapes
those landscapes you have now may die without water as the
restrictions around here on irrigation gets stricter

these plants wont die
they dont need irrigation once established
they belong here and have been in the landscapes here for
hundreds of years without supplemental care

rethink your landscapes
fall is a good time to redo them

the organicgreen doctor