that was tiring, dreams, draft, playoffs

THAT WAS TIRING

i worked over forty hours last week on the habitat for
humanity house
that was tiring
the mornings were ok but as the day went on it got hot

i now have a lot of respect for those construction workers
who do this every day all year round in all kinds of weather
especially those guys who are older

i will say that i slept the best i have slept in a long time
the aricept insomnia was overcome with marked fatigue
(interesting also was that i did  not have any of my aricept
dreams last week)

so now ive found a drug free treatment for insomnia
no rx, no cost
work your a$$ off every day or substitute a good exercise program
it worked well for me
no side effects except for sore muscles and some scrapes and
bruises and some areas of sunburn
but it was worth it

DREAMS


if you read this blog some you know i have aricept dreams
thats vivid dreams that are the side effect of aricept (donepezil)
that i take for my diagnosis

heck yesterday i took a noon nap and i ninjaed a whole room
full of intruders in my bedroom

but last night i had an interesting dream
i went away on a retreat where a lot of my old medical school
classmates were there
interesting was that i recognized them all and they all had been aged
so that i saw them like they would look today 30 years later
you know like what you see when you take a computer program to
age someone

wonder how accurate it was

DRAFT
i enjoyed the nfl draft
ok i was so exhausted from working at the habitat house that i slept
through it all but i did read about it and watched the dvr of some of it
the cowboys did ok in the draft
they got an animal for their defensive backfield
a honey badgers buddy

i cant wait to see andrew luck play and rg3 play this year
sorry andrew youre going to take a beating this year
rg3 you should fair better in the trauma area

it just seemed to be a better draft this year and seemed more
exciting to watch

now we have to wait 4 months until we can watch it on tv again
thats the hard part

PLAYOFFS
the nba playoffs started this weekend
the two teams to beat it seems now that chicago wont make it
is miami and oklahoma city
unless the lakers really kick in good
and if the spurs age hits them in the later rounds

the most valuable player is lebron james
why
he does everything for his team and plays all positions
kevin durant is the second choice

cant wait to watch the playoffs as they progress

the organicgreen doctor

best test(s), arbor day

BEST TEST(S)

the new amyvid beta amyloid pet scan recently was approved by the
fda to scan for amyloid deposits in the brain for helping diagnose
alzheimers disease

thats helps to diagnose alzhiemers
because you can have amyloid plaques form in the brain and not have
alzheimers disease
so the test is not a definitive test for alzheimers
it just adds icing to the cake to make the diagnosis

for example
if my younger brother had a neuropsychological exam done when he was
first evaluated it would have shown then that he had definite defects in his
short term memory
all of the blood tests and mris and depression screens would have been
negative
a amvid scan would have probably been positive
his diagnosis then would be as definite as a person could be in 2012
now several years later we know he definitely has it as he has progressed
a lot over this period of time

he did not have the spinal fluid analysis and the apoe 4 genotype done
but more than likely he would have been positive for both

for me
i had a normal mental status screen that was normal then two years later
a full neuropsychological test showed the development of early short term
memory changes
all my lab tests and mris were normal
my apoe 4 gentotype was posistive for the double gene
my spinal fluid tests for beta amyloid and tau protein were borderline
my fdg glucose metabolism test was normal
my beta amyloid test similar to the amvid test was done but again i dont
know the answer to the results

if i had the amyvid test and it was positive then my diagnosis would be
more certain
although it would eliminate any hope for my future
i would know what i was facing for sure

so in summary the neuropsych test and the mri of the brain are the most
important tests to have done in evaluating someone for alzheimers disease
as well as ruling out other causes with labs and a good medical history
and examination
the amyvid scan just adds more certainty to the diagnosis

folks if you appear to have alzheimers or if you have a family member in
this situation
please dont resist taking medication as you want to be on this stuff as soon
as you are diagnosed
as it slows the symptoms of the disease for awhile
failure to take the medication may make your love one progress quicker

it may save a few weeks or few months or if you are lucky a few years of
slowed progression of this terrible disease

thats why im taking aricept (donepezil)
i know it has no effect on this disease at all but only just slows the symptoms
for awhile
but there is nothing else available
yet

ARBOR DAY

whether you believe in global warming or climate change or what ever you
call it there is pollution of the air
i think most reasonable thinking people can agree at least on that
but im sure there are people who dont even believe that

not sure then what all that stuff is in the air that wont let you see across
the grand canyon or see the mountains in the distance or here where
we live you cant see the hill country  across the horizons
you cant dump all the stuff we dump into the air and have it be good
for you-just ask asthmatics or emphysema patients

one thing you can do is plant a tree
today is arbor day
the trees will suck the carbon dioxide out of the air to help
purify it
the more we plant the more gets cleared out of the air

here at the country n over the last 10 years we have planted
at least 30+ trees
besides sucking out yalls pollution from my air it provides
shade to cool things down, leaves for my compost pile, seeds for
birds, flowers for bees and humming birds, nesting spots for birds
and other animals, fruits for us humans, and they just look good
in my yard

plant a tree today and help us all

the organicgreen doctor

salt, draft, tour

SALT

it sure is good on food
like salt on my food as it improves
the taste

both my parents and some of my siblings have high blood pressure
because of this i eliminated extra salt in my diet years ago
and sometimes use a salt substitute that his made up of peppers
and different herbs

i eat right 90% of the time but those other 10% of the time is my
reward for being good
last night we had take out bbq
sure was good
but this morning i can feel the tightness of the hands and some
swelling although slight of the ankles
ok that may have been from working outside in the heat on the
habitat house

there is so much salt added to food that we dont cook ourselves
and bbq obviously at least to me this morning has a lot of added
salt to it

a recent study showed that the average intake of sodium in the
studied 7000 participants was 3200+ milligrams mg while the
highest recommended intake is 2300 mg
those on restricted intake are recommended to only take in 1500 mg

those of you who have health problems requiring 1500 mg know that
youll swell up like a toad if you overdo it

here are the top 10 food categories that make up over 44% of our
sodium intake
bread, cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches,
cheese, pasta mixed dishes, and those good ole snacks we all buy
(guess that covers my bbq)
most of the sodium comes from foods we buy from the stores
when we add salt it just increases our intake more

if you  decrease the sodium content of these foods by one fourth
you would decrease the sodium intake by 10% and would save
28000 lives a year
and  reduce the cost of spending on healthcare by $7 billion each year

many countries have already set stricter standards on how much of this
extra salt is added to their foods

and dont shake the shaker

DRAFT
tonight is the nfl draft
am looking forward to it
if i can stay awake
working at the habitat for those long hours in the heat sure
makes me go to sleep early and sleep well
think ive found a new treatment for my sleep problems
caused by the aricept (donepezil)

we know andrew luck will be first and rg3 will be 2nd
then well see what happens after that
so the excitement doesnt really start until after the 3rd pick
looks like its a good year for the quarterbacks

all the coverage though on the sports shows sure wore me
out after awhile
i finally just quit watching them as there was too much information
and guessing-much of which is all wrong anyway

TOUR

reminder the hill country chicken coop tour is next weekend
on saturday may 5 2012

basically you go to the cedar park farm to market at lake line mall
to pick up your map (and bet you cant resist the local produce and meats
that are sold there)
then you go on your tour of the coops

here is the website for the hill country chicken coop tour 2012

the organicgreen doctor

debit cards risk, habitat house

DEBIT CARD RISK
i never have cash with me any more
the first time they gave me change with the new
$20 dollar bill i thought it was a counterfeit one

i use to always use my debit card for everything
until the banks started screwing with us on those
debit card fees

then i also read this article from bankrate.com on 4 risky places
to swipe your debit card
oops i was guilty of three of the four
ok i have done the fourth one too

one place i never ever use my debit card is the
gas station to buy gas
apparently its a common place for scammers to steal your
debit card information

outside atms are risky
ok so im guilty for that one too
the recommendation is use an inside atm in a high traffic area

next is online
dont ever use your debit card online as there
are too many ways your information can be stolen

if youve ever had it stolen and then had to fix things then
you know what a hassle it can be

had $500 jerked out of my banking account once
yes it was guaranteed
but its not like a credit card where you can refuse to pay
with a debit card its already taken out of your account
and it can take months before the bank will put it back
it took several weeks for my account to be corrected
in the mean time you just go without that money

another place is restaurants
basically if the card leaves your sight then use a credit card
not a debit card
before you get out of the restaurant your debit card info can
be in the hands of someone  half a world away who is
emptying your account as you are starting up your car

even when you use your debit card at a large retail store there
is still a risk for fraud
there have been a lot of reports of personal information stolen
from thousands and some cases millions of people

heres what i do
i use my debit card to get cash only at my bank but i do use
the drive through atm
i use my debit card to do purchases inside stores where i can
see my card at all times
i use my credit card to buy things online and to buy gas
i keep only the money each month in my checking account
that i need for that month
i monitor my account regularly to make sure its accurate

even when you do all this correctly they can still steal your money
so be careful

HABITAT HOUSE
we started this house last saturday
the slab was done by a concrete contractor
we do the rest except for the plumbing, electricity and the
sheet rock applications
thanks to the economy there are sheet rockers that put it up
at a low price and do a good job so its cost effective to just
pay them
although i was hoping to learn how to do this

here is a picture of the house with the walls put up
osb siding placed and all the trusses installed
all done in 3 days with volunteer work

thats not me on the roof to the left but i
was in that spot a few minutes before i took this picture

no we didnt build the house crooked
i just had the camera at an angle

the organicgreen doctor

in the garden, jetexting

IN THE GARDEN
here in this area we have had a lot of rain this winter and spring
but we havent had any rain in the last month
so if you havent watered your garden any you may need to start

i do the finger test
i stick my finger down into the soil and if its dry all the way down
the length of my finger i water it
i use a drip system off my irrigation rainwater tank so i
drip my garden for about 3 hours
i do this for each of my 4 x 12 ft raised beds and will do this
about every week until we get rain

sure hope this doesnt end up like last year where it just simply
stopped raining for weeks and then it got hot early and stayed
hot all summer long into the fall

also most people think that the bugs will be worse this year
so be ready
caterpillars
spider mites
aphids
tomato worms
stink bugs
squash bugs

so be ready and have your organic regimen ready
i use dt diatamaceous earth bt bacillus thuringiensis garlic spray
hand vac sprays of water and simply picking them and squishing them between
my fingers or feeding them to the country n hens
all this stuff is the organic way to do gardening

JETEXTING
texting is a great way to communicate with people but
not when your are moving where you need to see where you are
going
would you ride your bike with your eyes closed or ride you car
down the road with your eyes closed or
walk down a crowded side walk with your eyes closed
thats what texting while moving is like

the worse is probably texting while driving since it causes more
deaths than the other moving while texting people do

recently a jetstar flight had to have its landing aborted because the
pilot did not let the landing gear down in time to land so the
plane had to abort the landing and try again

why

the pilot was reading text messages that came in on his phone just
prior to the time he was suppose to put down the landing gear and
he didnt do it

thought we had to keep our cell phones turned off while we were
on the plane
heck the actor got kicked off for not turning his off

the plane eventually landed but think the pilots were in trouble
for jetexting
may be more dangerous than texting while driving


the organicgreen doctor

new house, dream, dr b

NEW HOUSE
last saturday we started a new house for the habitat for humanity
this one is larger at 1500 square foot with a 2 car garage
its is a nice neighborhood in a town near the location of the
first house

the family is a working mom with three children who has waited
for 3 years to get this house
she stated the process you go through is a long gruelling one to
be the one to qualify
but she feels like its all worth it now that she is about to get into her
new house with her kids
the economy downturn really delayed the process at the habitat
for getting loan approval
yep even they were affected by on the mess caused by our financial
institutions and by our congressman both democratic and republican
(both sides are equally responsible)

so the mom is excited
the same workers are there working
many have thousands of hours donated to building these houses
also the first day the same large group from a local company was
there to volunteer
the house was completely framed and squared off
now today we put up the osb sides and the trusses
we are working every day for 7 days to get a jump start on
this build as there is grant money that was donated but has
to be used before july 1

this one is number 50 for this group
congratulations mom

i learned yesterday ive been using the wrong hammer for years
no wonder it was so hard to nail all those hundred of nails over the
years
dropped a hint for a new hammer for fathers day
hint hint

DREAM
whoa had another aricept (donepezil) dream last night
thats one of the side effect of the medicine usually not a bad
one though
the dreams are so real
it sometimes takes me a few minutes to leave them and realize
that they are only dreams
the other side effect i have is insomnia that comes and go
(also is a side effect of the disease)
and seems to run in several day batches
im on one of those several day batches now
am glad im retired so i can catch up with the sleep im missing

just wonder if they have put too much aricept (donepezil) in those pills
sometimes i think thats what happened
just have no way to prove it without spending a lot of money
to find out
i just take the pills and go on

the dream last night was about 6 of my former patients who i
cared for when they were born and for several years afterwards
each one was vividly the same as in real life
these kids are all in their early 20s now
even their parents were in the dreams just as they were then
not now as they now look like someone who has been a parent
for  20 years

i opened a day care just to take care of babies who had been my
patients
one of my sons and my wife she helped me run the day care
after this dream i know i wouldnt want to run a day care or
work in one

thanks aricept (donepezil) for letting me see some of my former
patients
was better than facebook

DR B
dr b was one of my classmates from medical school
he was 6 years younger as were many of my classmates as i
started my educational career later in life after floundering around
for a few years
(parents dont give up on your kids)

dr b was remembered by me as a real nice guy
he had this talent that ive not seen before
we rotated in groups of about 15 people
he was in another group that got joined together to do our
obgyn rotation

we would stay up all night monitoring ob patients in labor and if
we were lucky they would let us deliver them
then the next morning we had to have all our rounds done
and all had to be dressed in ties and our pretty white jackets
to listen to a lecture from one of our professors
the head one was a jerk and he would go after you if he saw any
problems
dont dare go to sleep while he was talking or you would suffer

dr b's talent came into play very well for this situation
he could sit up and sleep with his eyes opened
you could flash your hands over his face and he would not blink
dont know if he ever got caught
he always got that extra hour of sleep on those days

dr b died suddenly last week of a dissecting aortic aneurysm
when they happen its sometimes hard to detect
dr b seems to have been loved by his patients
he was a good family doctor
if you liked me you would have liked him

condolences to his family

i think about dying a lot more now that i get older
i hope that when my time comes i go this way and
i and my family dont have to suffer with the end stages of alzheimers like
ive seen happen in my family

the organicgreen doctor

pat, wtea, 4/20, coop tour, earth day

PAT

pat summitt has left her job as head coach at the university
of tennessee
she was allowed to stay on this year as head coach after
coming forth with her diagnosis of alzheimers disease
if you watched any of the tennessee womens games you could
see that she was not the same
luckily she has been surrounded for years by great assistant
coaches who carried things this year

she will now be the emeritus coach of the womens team
and will no longer do the coaching of the team

i am on the same meds she is on and know just the side effects
of the medicine on sleep habits and on fatigue can interfere with
your day to day activities
it must have been tiring and stressful for her this year dealing with
everything

hats off to the university of tennessee administration for taking care
of her into the future so she can continue to be a productive person

many dont get that chance
they get fired or are asked to resign
they just stay to long

congratulations to pat summitt on her new job
stay now as long as you can
womens basketball is better having you around

WTEA

its walk to end alzheimers time again
this is the annual major fundraiser for the alzheimers association
so become involved with your local walk and donate or form or join
a team
go to the alzheimers association website to find the team in your area

my team the organicgreendoctor.com team will be in the central texas
chapters walk at georgetown texas on saturday september 29 2012
you may join our team or donate by going to this site

this year my 12 chickens has joined our team and will be laying eggs
to sell for donations to the team
thanks to the country n hens

4/20

i know its the date today
but it has other meanings
just ask willie
or ask your kids theyll know what it means
willie will be at a ceremony today to celebrate his new statue in
down town austin
yep its timed to be at 420 pm today
am sure the smell will not be from bluebonnets

COOP TOUR

if you went on the austins funky chicken tour try this first annual
hill country coop tour
go to the hill country coop tour website to look at the coops and
to get more information

EARTH DAY

we only have one of these
we all need to take care of it or we will all be in trouble
lets celebrate on sunday and make this a better place to live

the organicgreen doctor

rethink the drink, seriously, bye

RETHINK THE DRINK

when you are thirsty you should drink water
thats what your body is programmed by nature to drink
to satisfy your thirst

if you get up and drink a latte then have a soda for lunch
then have a sweet tea for the afternoon then have a
ginger ale for supper
you have consumed close to 800 calories of sugar

do that for a month and youll get 24000 calories from
sugar
that means for you
fat on your behind and belly and thunder thighs

its this excessive sugar in many forms that is contributing to the
health problems in america
ie obesity
just look around its easy to spot

sugar comes in many forms
many times its hidden in the ingredient so us stupid consumers
wont know its there
heres some
high fructose syrup
fructose
fruit juice concentrate
honey
sugar
syrup
corn syrup
sucrose
dextrose

honey sweety its all sugar no matter what you call it
it is what it is

heres some sugar calorie content of things you drink in 12 oz
fruit punch 198
apple juice 192
orange juice 168
regular soda 136
sport drink 99
bottled sweetened ice tea 135
bottled water 0
organicgreen doctors rainwater 0

drinking a regular soda every day for a year can make you gain
14+ pounds
stop drinking that soda and youll loose 14+ pounds
what if you stopped drinking all those sugar watered drinks everyday
how much would you lose
you do the math
could it really be that easy

just stop the sugar drinks and drink water
and lose weight

dont drink fruit juices
eat the fruit instead
youll get more nutrition and fiber that way

it really is simple to do

SERIOUSLY
rick perry is thinking of running for president in 2016
seriously
hasnt he embarrassed us enough in this state
although he did provide a lot of material for the news and comedians
none of it good for him the state of texas or the republican party
surely he wont do it will he

BYE

well miss you
dick clark died
remember those days of watching him on american bandstand
got to see all those bands and singers
we didnt have the internet and all those cable stations
his show was watched by teenagers and young adults everywhere
and he did this for more than one generation
the show brought  all of us together with all of the new bands
miss you dick clark
thanks

the organicgreen doctor

birds 5 togd 1, wildflowers

BIRDS 5 TOGD 1
we have lived peacefully here at the country n now for the last
10 years with the birds
snakes lizards and other varmints around here
until recently

the birds have decided after 10 years that they like the rafters on
our upper deck to use to roost on at night
we have no problem with that
however it became quite messy so
i decided it was time to get them to move on to another site

i asked them to please not roost there any more
that was like talking to your kids and asking them
to keep their feet off the furniture

birds 1 togd 0

next i scared them off whenever they came up to roost
they were quite persistent
after i went back inside they would drift back up to the rafters
and have a good nights sleep

birds 2 togd 0

next i took netting and waded it up and placed it that is i stapled
it to the rafters

they just pulled the loose ends out or just nested on top of the netting
we now have black netting adorning much of our shrubs and trees

birds 3 togd 0

next i did a google search as google as the answer to everything
how to get birds off the rafters
hang an owl it said
so i ordered a realistic looking plastic owl and hung him off
the rafters

the wind would blow him around
heck he looked real
it even scared me more than once when i
went outside on the deck and saw that scowling owl at my
face level
even my wife she got scared when she woke up one morning
and there that owl was staring at her

the first night the birds flew in and saw those owl you could hear
them hit their brakes as they flew in
you could hear them shreak when they flew into the area where
the owl was

well this only worked for a few nights then they figured it out that
that was a fake owl
at least they didnt land on him

birds 4 togd 0

next i went back to google again
google know it all said try fake snakes
so i ordered these fake snakes

dang they look real and put them in the rafters
scared the heck out of those birds
you could hear them shreak again a they flew in to roost
i think they said oh  ^*#(
but again after a few nights they came back and actually pulled the
snakes out of the rafters

birds 5 togd 0

then i was talking to my friend on the phone and told him about the birds
he said i went down to ace hardware and got this sticky stuff and put
on the rafters and those birds wouldnt land on the rafters any more
got rid of them that way

so i went down to the ace hardware and got this stuff and
applied it on the rafters

and dang that stuff works great
no birds in over a week

birds 5 togd 1

and i scored last so i may have won this battle

WILDFLOWERS
the bluebonnets are beautiful this year
although not the best weve ever had as i had thought earlier in the year
but there appears to be so many other wildflowers that are doing good
that the combination makes the fields even more beautiful
heres a view of one of my pastures

the organicgreen doctor

tax man cometh, per gallon cost

TAX MAN COMETH

well todays the day
its the day the tax man cometh
at least it got delayed by a holiday that ive never heard of

for a lot of people that did allow them to have another two
days to get things done

my taxes have been done now for 2 months
usually i wait until the last day to mail in or now
electronically send in my tax forms and would
send my check so that the letter was post dated
the last day

this year was different as my situation changed last year
so that we got a refund instead of having to pay
dont really remember that ever happening before

it did feel good to get that check and not have to send
one to uncle sam

is it better to have more deducted than what you owe so youll
get  a refund
always thought it was better to not do that until this year
when i got this refund

before you could put the money in a money market and make
2-5% on the money during the year then pay your taxes on
april 15 with a check from the money market account and
make a few bucks on the interest
but now
the money market rate and savings rates are 0 or almost 0
so
many people recommend you just have more withdrawn than
necessary for taxes so that on this day you dont have to pay and
will have a refund from uncle sam for use by you for what you
want to use it

my times have changed havent they
so
the tax man cometh today
maybe next year he wont have to come at all

PER GALLON COST

doesnt it tick you off to have to pay for that printers ink
heck
i even tried buying one of those kits-did it twice-to refill
my ink cartridges for a very reasonable price
the only problem is i got ink everywhere
i even still have ink around my nails that i think has been
tattooed permanently
almost that gothic look

recently i read where printer ink costs $10,000 per gallon
makes gasoline feel cheap doesnt it

ive decided that sometimes in life we are just all screwed and
thats just the way it is

one is printers ink

another is smartphone cell phone cost-they just have us where they
want us and we cant do anything about it

another is gas prices-were at their mercy arent we

and then
theres taxes
unless your the top 1% youre just screwed again when it comes to
taxes

the organicgreen doctor

HABITAT HOUSE FINISHED
after i retired i decided i wanted to do volunteer work 1-2 days
a week
since i was busy with my work here on the country n and with the
alzheimers association and the alzheimers research study and
with some travelling the 1-2 days would fit well into my weekly
activities

we all need to give back in some way
since i had to give up my medical license and discontinue medicine
i couldnt do volunteer medical care
its a shame i spent all those years going to school and practicing
medicine and left medicine at the peak of my abilities as a practicing
family doctor and not be able to use that skill and knowledge to
help others by volunteering
but since the decision was made to discontinue medicine because of
my diagnosis my medical license dea number board certification, and
dps certificate as well as my medical malpractice were all discontinued
(i do have what they call a tail coverage on the medical malpractice
that covers me until i die and probably after i die)

thats done and i cant go back so
i volunteer in non medical ways
ive chose the habitat as one source of my volunteerism

the way habitat for humanity works is it depends on donations and
volunteerism for it to survive
its an international organization that has branches everywhere
i just googled habitat for humanity and found the local branch
i contacted them and started volunteering when this latest
house was started

ok i also always wanted to watch a house be built from the beginning
to end
thats what i did on this house
from the walls being constructed to the landscaping being placed
i learned to use tools ive not used before
how to do cuts on boards and molding so they would fit right
a problem i always had when i did things at the country n
how to put up tyvek siding paint properly and put down flooring

i did use my influence as an organic green person and added a
keyhole square foot garden and recycled all the concrete that
was broken up and used it for the edging of flower beds and
beds around the house and recycled some of the cardboard

i also helped with doing the landscaping and made sure the
oak tree which my nurse she and her husband donated to the
land owner and other trees and landscape plants were properly
planted
(the soil has clay under the topsoil so i made sure everything
was planted with small raised beds with good soil so the plants
would get a good start
the trees were also planted high enough so the root flares were
all visible-a big problem with a  lot of trees being planted)

this weekend we finished the house
all the landscaping was done
the closing ceremony was done on sunday
the house will be hers later this week
another good deed done

shes a single mom with a 10 year old she is raising on her own
she works and is active with her sons activities
the deal is she went through a lengthy screening process that
requires a lot of screening
when chosen she has to do a certain amount hours of work on the
house and after she moves in may have to do more to get all her
hours in
she gets a no interest loan for 20 years for an amount that is
probably 40% of what the house would cost if she had done
this on her own
(the labor was on donated except for some skilled persons like
plumbers and electrician and concrete work)

this house is in a good neighborhood and should only increase
in value over time
in fact it will increase in value by 60% the day she moves in
eg a $40000 note on a house that will be worth $100000 when
an assessment is done

not a bad deal is it
so yes there is good in this world
we just have to look for it and
hopefully we all will try to be a part of this good
and
yes there is hope for the future
and im getting to be part of that good and hope for the future

the organicgreen doctor

amyvid the final answer

AMYVID THE FINAL ANSWER
amyvid
this is the test that ive been waiting for
its florbetapir
a radioactive labeled chemical that when injected in the vein
attaches itself to that sucky sticky protein called beta amyloid
thought to be the culprit in alzheimers disease

if you have alzheimers then you have a lot of beta amyloid in
the brain
and when amyvid is injected and a pet scan is done
the beta amyloid will show up as a bright red area on the scan

the worse you have it the more red stuff you will have on your scan
if you are early in the process like i am then you will have some
beta amyloid showing up on the scan but not near as much
as someone with full blown alzheimers

well i guess its like being pregnant though
either you are or you arent
you got the big a or you dont
thats the answer im after
do i or dont i

theres no real treatment
so what difference does it make
experts are hesitant to recommend this test for people to have
obviously they are not in my shoes or the thousands of other
people and their families who are the same situation im in

i want to know so i know what the future really is
its like being told well maybe that mass is cancer but we have a test
that will make the diagnosis more certain but we dont recommend you
have it cuz this cancer is probably not treatable
i want the test i want the final answer
it the final piece to the puzzle

ive had this test a year ago
its part of the adni study
and i will have another one next year
the problem is i will not ever get the results of either one
its part of the deal of being in the study

the evidence is against me on this alzheimers thing
ive had all the tests you can have to be as sure as you can be
(remember theyll know for sure when i die and they autopsy my brain
but i wont know)

these are the tests ive had
lots of labs to rule out other causes
3 mris that are normal
numerous neuropsychological tests including a lengthy 8 hour one last year
that shows some short term memory loss
a lot of blood work that ill never see the results of
i had the apoe genotype done myself which was positive for the
apoe4 apoe4 genotype for alzheimers
a fdg pet scan a glucose metabolism test that shows a defect on pet scan
if there is a decrease glucose utilization in the brain-mines normal
another is scheduled next year
i know my beta amyloid in the spinal fluid and my tau protein levels in the
spinal fluid as i had these ran myself-these are not normal but are not
where you see them in alzheimers
they are borderline numbers

my results are not all abnormal but are what you see as the disease begins
to kick in early on-remember most people dont know they have the problem
but may be noticing subtle things like i do and others definitely dont know
theres a problem-my wife she doesnt notice anything yet

the missing piece to this puzzle is the beta amyloid pet scan
brand name amyvid
i want it
to know where im at
i will be first in line for the test

if my amyvid scan is positive it will look something like the
scan of alzheimers disease below but not as severe
all the red stuff is the beta amyloid-thats what alzheimers
looks like

if my amyvid scan is negative it will look like the elderly
(im not elderly) control-no red stuff

my younger brothers scan as he is more advanced and is in a
nursing home will look like this



i know the limitations of the test
but when put together with everything else
its the final peace that i want

the organicgreen doctor

begetting rainwater collection

BEGETTING RAINWATER COLLECTION
at the country n we have been collecting rainwater for over
ten years and
have been using it as our sole source of drinking water for
8 years

the goal is to influence others to do the same
and i have tried over the last ten years to infect as many
people with the rainwater collection virus as possible

here are some of my victims

the first was my rainwater brother
i gave him a 300 gallon tank as a gift
his wife didnt know he had it as she was gone when it
was delivered
if you dont want it then just move it yourself she was told
he got the infection bad and ended up with multiple tanks

the infection spread even beyond this
if the hoa only knew

then the next victim was my nurses husband
heres where it started and it also spread
so now there are several tanks around the
house

my nurse she tried to vaccinate him against the
virus but it didnt take
am afraid the infection will just continue on
unabated

then my neighbor saw my system
doc he now calls me doc water
i want one of those systems
so he put in a gravity ran system of over
15000 gallons of collection to water his paint
horses he raises and to use in his garden
doc i need more tanks
see hes got the disease also

then my wife shes fellow teacher bought her a new house
and we infected her and her husband with this tank
(we also donated them a 4 ft square garden to go with it)

then we infected two local high schools
the first was a school of 2000+ students
a teacher and student helped us
hopefully this rainwater collection virus will
spread to some of these other students

then we donated a tank and put it in place at
the school where my wife she works
hope the infection continues
know the staff there is getting the infection
more tanks please

then theres the habitat house we just finished
the one where we donated the 4 ft square keyhole
garden and the tank which is in the background
it will soon be in place and will im sure make
her want more as it does everyone else

then finally theres this one
this is the one im the proudest of
its mr b
my walk to end alzheimers buddy

sorry mom but he got the infection
it started with he addition of 5 gallon buckets
under the gutter spouts and then i had an extra
tank at my house
i gave it to him
i know what will happen the virus will spread
and mom will be mad at me
mr b may be the next mayor of his own tank town

so  my original rainwater tanks have begetted a large number
of tanks that are collecting rainwater all over this area
i hope that the rainwater collection virus will continue to
spread and infect many more people
this is especially important if the drought continues here and
the water shortage worsens

i think mr b may be the hope for the future of rainwater collection
why dont you get infected and have your kids get involved

the organicgreen doctor

potpourri

POTPOURRI
if you have not used the khan academy website to tutor your child
you should try it
some schools are using this site as homework where the
students do a lesson on this website then work on it the
next day in a large group
eg
how to do an algebra problem
the academy teaches the students online then the next
day the whole class works on the lesson
the kids seem to learn better this way

the website is www.khanacademy.org


a sugary drink a day increases the chd coronary heart
disease risk by 20% as well as the risk for diabetes
think about that when you grab your coke pepsi moutanin dew
or big red
just try h2o yes good ole water
a great non calorie drink that the body requires to survive


in texas a study followed a large group of eight graders until 6
years after graduating from high school
only 19.9% received any type of degree within that 6 years
thats no bachelors associate or certificate
that doesnt look very good does it
even ut researchers were shocked at their findings
were going wrong somewhere
maybe college degrees arent what the kids need

i will admit that i got my bachelor degree 8 years after high school
yes it took me awhile but i finally made it
i got my medical degree 14 years after graduating from high school
so the stats didnt fit my situation as being a bad thing

you would think though that with all we are investing or not investing
in our educational system that more kids would have their degrees
by 6 years post high school or at least a 2 year degree or certificate
so this means our work force is mainly only high school educated


teens are texting more and calling less
the average teen texts 50 times a day
dang
how do they get anything done
if i did that many texts i never would get all my honey does and
country n work done
heck some older teenagers average 100 texts a day
only 39% of teenagers even make phone calls

i know its easier to communicate with people using texts
i find myself using it more and more every day
even my motherinlaw is a texting feen

yesterday i released the hounds
these are lady bugs being released in my garden
they were released late in the evening after watering my  potatoes
so they could have moisture to drink
heck theyve been cooped up in a bag in the refrigerator for awhile
and were thirsty and hungry

now they will go out and attack and eat those bad aphids and other
bad bugs

the organicgreen doctor

that bastard, the garden progress

THAT BASTARD
its the rapistrum rugosum
not some person thats made me mad

its known as the bastard cabbage
if youve got it in your yard or on your land you know
why its called
the bastard cabbage











its an invasive species from europe and north africa
sometimes its eaten there like you would cabbage
theres so much around here we could feed the homeless
and starving in the us for a year on whats available here
now in texas

why is it bad
its an aggressive plant that grows first low to the ground and
shades native grasses and native wildflowers so they can
not sprout and grow
then the bastard will grow as high as 5 ft and will shade
everything else out
on my property when i pull it up  if it gets too high there
is absolutely bare ground underneath the plant

because of the drought here there is a lot of grass that has died
and a lot of bare ground is present
the bastard just takes over the area and no wildflowers will grow
that includes our beloved blue bonnets

some one was riding with me and asked wow thats a field of
pretty yellow plants
those are bastards
dont let any get on your property

my neighbor plowed up his native grass and planted oats and
sunflower seeds
that native grass is all gone and
he has a field of bastard cabbage now with no wildflowers

the seeds drift onto my property
thanks buddy

heres how i manage it
i pull the whole plant up
if you mow it down it grows right back
i put the plant in my chicken coop compost pile and
my girls scratch eat the seeds and eventually destroys the
whole plant
ive managed to keep it under control on my 10 acres of land
this way

you should pull it up and bag it and send it to the land field
its one of the few plants other than nut grass that i recommend
you do that to
each plant makes lots of seeds so if it lays around somewhere
they can be blown onto any bare ground on your property

that bastard
lets try to get it under control or
it could greatly reduce our wildflowers in this state

pull it up and bag it

KEYHOLE SQUARE FOOT GARDEN PROGRESS
here is an update on the keyhole square foot garden my wife she
and i put in at the habitat house i am working on

in review we used all recycled stuff from my property that i had
left over from various projects
we dug a 4 ft square down 6-12 inches
she has good soil at her house not the caliche stuff we have at
the country n
then we put it a central 4 ft composter that is 1 ft in diameter
and is buried 1 ft into the ground so that 3 ft is sticking up
out of the soil

we then added 1-11/2 ft of good hill country garden soil from
the natural gardener
we filled the composter up with layers of chicken compost, regular
compost, leaves, newspapers
then we planted the garden
the garden is sectioned off in 1 ft squares to assist in planting

she has planted arugula beans sweet banana pepper basil
malibar spinach muliplying onions leeks sweet 100 tomato
early girl tomato oregano jalapeno pepper, bell pepper
and egg plant
nice starter garden

she just adds water to the top of the composter and if needed
waters each plant individually
she also adds compost materials as it composts down

you should try it youll like it and feel good about your green thumb

the organicgreen doctor

tebowing, the funky chicken, habitat

TEBOWING
i like tim tebow
and cant wait to watch him on sundays playing for the jets
i like a lot of people watched him play whenever he was on tv

he doesnt hide his religious beliefs but what i like about him is he
doesnt push those beliefs on you and seems to know when its
appropriate to talk about his religious beliefs and
he seems to have a respect for those who dont have religious
beliefs or have a religion different than his
he probably gained this from his world travels

i learned this from seeing people from different cultures
you have to respect a persons personal religious beliefs
and ask that they respect yours
i would see protestants moslims hindus atheist agnostics budhists
all in one day
each religious belief was different and sometimes affected how
the patient was managed

yes tebow
you wear you religion on your sleeve but you dont wipe it on someone
who doesnt want it on them

he came to this area this weekend for easter sunday
100 buses transported people to the services
roads were closed down
people came for miles and arrived hours before the service started

maybe he should run for president one day

THE FUNKY CHICKEN
my wife she and i and relatives did the funky chicken this weekend
the tour i mean not the dance

dang what people will do to house a chicken
these are animals not your kids
well think some are treated like they are their kids

its interesting to see how backyard chickens can be tucked into
the backyards of house in an urban city and be discreetly done
and be intermingled with the landscape and architecture of the
property

also it was fun to see the coops the landscaping and the house themselves
to get ideas for the country n
this is actually where i got a lot of ideas for my landscaping ive
done from doing these tours
many of the homes had xeriscaped landscapes done

be sure and do the funky chicken next year

HABITAT
this week there is one more workday left on wednesday
its doing all those final touch ups that need to be done
before the new home owner can take over the house
this weekend the final landscaping will be done then
the next weekend the house is hers
know shes excited

ive learned a lot of skills that i can use here at the country n
especially as i redo my old barn
ive also met a lot of interesting people who volunteer
and a lot of skilled workers who make building this happen

the majority of the work is done by volunteers
so volunteer where you live
ill guarantee that youll feel good about yourself when you do it

i know i do

the organicgreen doctor

what to do, tour

WHAT TO DO
i get this question a lot
what to do
my spouse parent friend aunt uncle brother neighbor may have
memory problems or dementia and i want to know what to do

remember
they are embarrassed and are embarrassed to ask for help and
embarrassed to see the doctor for help

they are embarrassed to take the mental screen test if they cant
answer those questions that are being asked
i know
but i got over it
to have a tester ask you to remember those things and you cant
or to try to work a puzzle and you cant
its embarrassing especially if youve worked professionally at
a high level

sometimes the person wont do a screen test available on line
but you can do one on them

if there appears to be a problem it needs to be evaluated
remember sometimes curable treatable causes are found
that when treated can revert things back to normal
eg hypothyroidism or low vitamin b12
so they need to be evaluated

dont go in to the doctors office unprepared
you need to have something to hand to the doctor to point
them in the right direction for a work up

remember if you notice things or the patient does its there

here is an alzheimers 21 question  form questionnaire you can
fill out yourself and score it
put your patients name on it and hand it to the doctor
it becomes a part of their medical record
that cant be ignored

dont go in empty handed or you may be put off especially if
they are busy and
dont go in and at the last minute say on by the way we are
concerned he has dementia or has trouble remembering things
let that be the reason for the appointment

the patient needs a history and exam done
remember your looking for treatable stuff

the patient needs lab work
here is what they need
write this down and hand it to the doctor
it becomes part of the medical record
and has to be acted on
they need a cbc complete blood count, a metabolic profile that
has sodium potassium sugar or glucose bun creatinine-kidney functions-
liver function test  a tsh level a screen for hypothyroidism a b12 level
a syphilis test and a hiv test-remember we were all young once and these
things can show up years later as dementia
a urinalysis

most doctors will do some type of mini mental evaluation and
may send the patient for a more involved neuropsychological testing

a mri is needed to rule out strokes brain tumors masses increased fluid

if the patient has not had this work up then they have not had
enough evaluation done

if the patient does have mild cognitive impairment or alzheimers and
no matter how early it is
dont be afraid to start treatment
remember the meds ie aricept (donepezil) work better the sooner
it is started
ie
it delays worsening symptoms better when its started early
eg
in my case being on this medicine early may delay worsening symptoms
for five years before it quits working
thats five years thats very important to me and my family

so
dont go to the doctor empty handed
do the form
ask for labs-cbc metabolic profile tsh b12 level syphilus test hiv test
urinalysis and a mri
dont be bashful
go with them to the appointment and go into the exam room
with them
remember im speaking from the experience of being on both
sides of this story as the doctor and now as the patient

TOUR
if you live in central texas and are interested in backyard
chickens do the funky chicken coop tour in austin
tomorrow
heres the link funky chicken coop tour

happy easter
well have fresh eggs for easter
they come out already dyed blue and brown or white

the organicgreen doctor

reslimed, do the funky chicken

RESLIMED
in a recent blog i wrote about the pink slime
oops that made everyone turn red based on
the responses back to me

basically pink slime is bits of left over meat from other cuts and uses

(is that the ears tails testicles noses tongues  all that stuff i give my dogs)
that is heated to 100 degrees f then it is spun in a large centrifuge
so the fat is separated out

-thats what they do with your blood when they draw it so they can run
tests on the resulting serum-the stuff left at the bottom is pink slime-

whats left is pressed into bars and then gassed with ammonium hydroxide
to kill any bugs
that my friend is pink slime
yum yum
guess if i was starving i wouldnt care but im not
heck my rainwater brother ate bugs lizards rabbit when he
was put on a survival course once but he said he was hungry and
would have eaten anything

dang still feel like thats stuff that you would only feed your dog

now the company that makes it has applied to label all beef that has it

so does that mean that it will say warning this has pink slime in it
nope
it will say
contains lean finely textured beef
is this kettle black or what
its pink slime

they say it will improve consumer confidence by labelling it
do they think we are stupid or what
its pink slime

just call it bologna burger or something
we all understand what that means
anything could be in there
but hamburger
thats hamburger
all beef real beef not dog bits and pieces

guess ill have to eat free range grass feed beef now from the
farmers markets
no pink slime there

DO THE FUNKY CHICKEN
no not the dance but the funky chicken coop tour this weekend
here in austin texas
heres the funky chicken tour link
basically you go to one of two locations to buy a map for $10
then just follow the map and look as these unique and sometimes
odd urban chicken coops
it will make you want to have your own backyard chickens

then on sat may 5 do the hill country chicken coop tour
basically you go to one of the local sponsoring businesses
the hill country feed store or the cedar park farms to market
farmers market at lakeline mall to get your map
(no pink slime sold there)

we always get good ideas on new things to do to our coops
or how to care for the girls

the organicgreen doctor

michael morton

MICHAEL MORTON

this father and husband got up one morning and went to work
he left his young son and wife at home
later he called to talk to his wife and the sheriff answered the phone
sir your wife has been murdered
can we talk to you
apparently he was murder suspect number one from the beginning
he went to trial and was convicted to life in prison
he said im innocent and refused to ever admit he murdered his wife

this despite a suspicious van in the neighborhood
a bloody bandanna was found near his house
his credit card had been stolen and used in another town
his son told this story of a wild man hurting his mom that day

the problem was none of this evidence was ever given to his
lawyer or presented at trial

the problem was that a similar case nearby happened
another young lady was murdered in her home
that case was never solved

he spent 25 years in prison
he lost his son
he was a broken man
the innocence project became involved
for 6 years the now prosecutor refused to let dna testing be
done on the bloody bandanna
finally the innocence lawyers got court approval for dna testing
and got odd records
dna showed another guys dna matched the blood
he was a known criminal who is now
being charged for the murder of michaels wife and for the murder
of the other young lady 25 years ago

sad that 2nd murder could have been prevented
and michaels lost life would not have happened

the prosecutor now a judge-thats scary-
is under investigation for misconduct
i say disbar him

here is the news report of his story
it does make me teary eyed when i read and hear this story

makes you have real confidence in our legal system huh
how many other michael mortons are there out there
what if he had been sentenced to death

his life was lost but now in the later stages of his life he has
hope for some happiness with his son and his new granddaughter

justice is it blind

the organicgreen doctor

cyclotexting, basketball

CYCLOTEXTING
cyclotexting is a new word that i made up after i heard this story
below

pedexting is where people text while walking
philadelphia as an april fools joke opened a pedexting lane on
one of its sidewalks and will leave it there for a while
theres the video of the lady pedexting into the water fountain and the
story of the lady that pedexted off the wharf into the water

well now there is
cyclotexting
cyclotexting surely not this
who would text while riding a bicycle
lance wouldnt do that

well my wet suitcase sisterinlaw would
there is always an adventure or story when they come to visit
last time it was the wet suitcase story
she still wont let me and her poor husband live that one down
she even didnt read my blog for weeks because of the blog i
wrote about madonnas half time show
still didnt like it and she still liked it

so my sisterinlaw the wet suitcase one and her husband were on
a bicycle ride (she didnt have a helmet on so theres your sign there)
she was riding in a rural like area and decided she would
text her friend while bicycling and wish her a happy birthday
bad bad bad mistake

as she was passing this family all by the themself in a park enjoying
their nice picnic lunch she started coasting and began texting her
friend
as she did her foot slid off the pedal into the spokes of the
front wheel
if youve ever done that before you know what happened next
its like slamming the brakes on your car
you stop fast
her foot was stuck
it hurt real bad
somehow her friend was on the phone and could hear it all
she thought my wet suitcase now cyclotexting sisterinlaw was
dying

her foot had to be extracted from the front wheel by her poor
husband and the guy who was eating the picnic lunch with his
family

her foot began to swell and instantly looked like as she described
it it would explode it was so big

her husband jumped on his bike to ride the two miles to their house
to get the car so he could come back and pick her up
when he got there she had the keys
he had to ride back and get the keys

oh honey my foot is going to just explode

he finally got the car and brought her home

the poor family who was doing the picnic packed up and went home

luckily her son was with a friend whose dad was a foot specialist
no broken bones were present just a bad crush injury

please read this story and dont cyclotext
(should be called psychotexting)

im sure no one else has ever done this before
so i googled images of texting while bicycling
and yep
there are a lot of those people out there

BASKETBALL
kentucky won
kansas tried to come back but couldnt catch up
kentucky is one and done
they will have to reload again next year
now for the nba playoffs next

the organicgreen doctor

won lottery, basketball

WON LOTTERY

on early sunday morning 

honey honey wake up 

i just won the lottery

dreamyeyed she looked at me and smiled

then went back to sleep

never registered with her what i said and

that it was april fools day 

i like 100 million of americans bought a lottery ticket for

this weekends mega million drawing

the odds of winning was the same as me creating earth

but i did it anyway 

then i dreamed of what i would do with the money 

did you do that too

you did didnt you

lets see as we are almost totally debt free and only owe a small

amount on a car that has 0% interest wouldnt even pay that off

would fix that fence of mine that i have been putting off fixing 

and yes i would pay someone to finish it

thats worth the money 

wonder if i would be lke those other people who won and just

squander it off on all kind of things and then die broke

dont think i would do that

heres what i would do if i won 200 million

gosh thats one good baseball player and 

its lebron and dwyane (he spells his name wrong) together

thats 20% of a sports franchise

first i would sit down and write a big check to uncle sam 

i know hes going to get a big chunk anyway so would want 

to get that out of the way

dont want him messing with me

then i would take 50% of whats left and invest it similarly to 

what i have my iras etc invested in now and live off what it 

produces

if you cant live off 4-5 million a year then just forget about it

then i would take the other 50% and place it in a foundation 

to try to do some good in this world

i might even fund the womens health clinics in the state of texas

since we cannt seem to do that now

and yes they would give out free contraceptives

those institutions and charities that have been good to me over the 

years would get the bulk of the funding

i might even be like warren and bill and just give it all away to the 

foundation 

sorry kids

well i would let my wife she have some of it 

she after all deserves it

what would you do if you won

i know you have thought about it

cuz

100 million of us did buy a ticket

BASKETBALL

its kansas against kentucky 

k2

2 blue teams that have been there before

thank you kansas as you are the only final four team i picked

kentucky is all one and done ers

this should be a good one

the womens 

well we know brittney and her group will win 

shes not fair

its like a junior high team playing a good high school team 

takes all the fun out of it unless she dunks it again 

the organicgreen doctor