hog wild

HOG WILD
no this is not a wps moment
for those of you who are not a razorback fan
that stands for woo pig sooie
better known by those fans as
calling the hogs

slightly different from how the farmers
back in the day called their hogs

now we have lived in the country n for 15 years
we have mostly been peaceful living here
well some guy did miss the curve once
hit our mail box sending it several feet on down the
road with pieces everywhere
flipping his trailor with small bulls in there
luckily not flipping his truck
sending that poor calf limping on a broken leg
across the road
i dont think he the calf made it through the day
he was not taken back home lets just say

then the ole guy driving
as the paramedic was checking him
said
are you on any meds
yes i take aricept (thats donepezil like i take)
uh oh is all i was thinking
then
two weeks ago we had those raptor attacks
those i guess are mexican white eagles
apparently we are barely on the northern border
of their range
couldnt they just stay a little bit south of us please
climate change strikes us again

now
about a few weeks ago as i was driving up the road
from us
was this dead thing on the road
too big for a dog
definitely not a deer
definitely not a coyote
coyotes they be to smart it seems to be hit by cars
nope not a calf not a sheep not a goat
well as i run all the possibilities through my head
you know
remembering from my childhood days in arkansas
i think its a damn hog

tamu.edu

now we live about a quarter of a mile from the san gabriel river
which starts a few miles above where we live
it flows in a snake like form into a large man made lake
then it  spills over the damn well not recently or ever i guess
over the spillway maybe
combining with the south branch of that river
on down to another lake miles away
thats about 40 miles from where we live

i read about hogs wild ones that started at that lake several
years ago
of course destroying things as they spread
like fences gardens orchards vineyards etc
i thought when i saw that hog and read that article
all they have to do is go up that river to where it starts
all those pecan trees acorns pastures gardens etc along
the way


smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-plague-of-pigs-in-texas

i thought
its just a matter of time

well
this weekend
our very country neighbor with a very texas name
called us
yall guess what i saw today
a big ole 400 lb hog in the pasture next to yours

so i thought
will my fence around the house at least keep them out
will my horse panel garden fence keep them out
do i need to fence in my rainwater tanks
can my guard dog be a hog dog
like
my neighbor across the road where i grew up had

he use to take my younger brother and me with some
of those hog dogs
to go into the bottoms to go hog hunting
all i could remember was being told
be sure and climb the nearest tree if they come after you
they got those big ole tusks that can kill a man

i guess i may have to purchase a hog gun
maybe donating the hog to charity to feed the needy
like
that neighbors son does now in arkansas
yell
maybe add that to my volunteer list huh

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-caregiving to the forefront

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-CAREGIVING TO THE FOREFRONT

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

caregiving folks
dont try to do it alone

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-raptors aint gonna win

COUNTRY N NEWS-RAPTORS AINT GONNA WIN

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

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

there was determination in my eyes
i could see it

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

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

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

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

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

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

no
those raptors aint gonna win

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

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

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

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

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

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

thats what a free range chickens life should be like

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

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

yes
our plan is
to
win this battle

the organicgreen doctor

organic this but not that

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

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

the average child eats 5+ pesticide servings a day

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

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

strawberries have over 45 pesticide residues on them

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

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

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

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

here is an organic pesticide free country n salad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

i guess
you just have to choose your poison
level

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-raptors and ranch rules

DEAR MS B-RAPTORS AND RANCH RULES

now first ms b
i want you to know that you dont need to be afraid
to come visit us
there is no way gma will let that raptor bother you

your gma is like a mamma bear
protecting her cubs
shell do whatever it takes to do that

why last night
ms b
as she got ready to put our chickens up for the night
as she entered the chicken run
where i had so expertly put brush and rope to keep those
raptors from dropping from the sky downward
to their prey
there to her dismay
inside the coop ms b
were these two big raptors

one of those that i had mortal combat with just two days
before
i sort of lost but i still managed to run the raptor off
with that long 6 ft t post
poking him real hard in the chest
im sure he was thinking what the heck
this guy means business
so off he flew

well
your gma
that mamma bear anger on her face
entered into mortal battle with those two raptors
yes ms b she fought off both of them
she was twice as brave as i was
with
well i asked my wife she
what did you grab to run those raptor fighters off
maybe an ax or that large hoe or i know that
long flat shovel i use

no she said
i just used my bare hands
there were lasers like at a rock concert coming out of my eyes
i was a yelling at them like a crazy women

so ms b
that scared the beejeevies out of those raptors
man they are big
off into the sunset they went
thinking we aint gonna deal with that crazy lady no more

sad to say ms b that we will be getting 3 less fresh eggs a day
now
ill let your mommy explain that to you

so
you can feel rest assured that your gma will do whatever
it takes to protect you when you are here

i also learned after this event
that
i had better not make her too mad at me

now ms b
here is a picture sitting at the top of this tree in our front pasture
he or she is a big raptor
your gma and i have looked online to id the bird
but
we cant seem to find the right picture that matches up
with what they look like

they are 6 ft tall and have 10 ft wingspans and have these
piercing eyes that look right through you
with that vise like sharp raptor mouth that could rend a person
into pieces

oh wait no
that was in my aricept dream last night
they arent quite that big

so there are ranch rules
if your dog wanders onto your neighbors property
and attacks their animals
you can expect to find the dog hanging from a fence
those are ranch rules

natural predators like raptors foxes skunks raccoons
you dont shot them
they are just doing what nature has trained them to do
you can capture them and move them down the road
a few miles
or
like i plan to do
improve more my chicken environment so they the predators
cant do any more damage

we have lived here ms b for 15 years
our chickens have freely roamed our pastures without fear
never losing any to predators especially aerial predators
now
that has changed
so
we have to adapt dont we

the organicgreen doctor

things happen in threes

THINGS HAPPEN IN THREES
isnt that correct
right

when in practice i use to notice if i had a patient
with appendicitis
soon i would have two more
so
i was more careful looking for that third case

then
you know when an actress or actor dies then another one dies
it always seems
yep
another dies

so this week after the second thing happen to me
i started thinking about
oh no
whats going to happen next

first
i have had iritis in my right eye intermittently for about 20 years
the last time it flared up was about 5 years ago
the reason i know is when i pulled out my steroid eye drops
they were outdated over 4 years ago

so a couple weeks ago i noticed
man as i told my wife she
i feel like i hit a wall
i was so tired
heck
even despite the aricept knocking out my sleep i found
myself not only taking longer noon naps
but
i was sleeping my normal 7 hours at night
but
was still real tired
then
here came the 24/7 headache
the kind that feels like you drank too much red wine the
night before
but
thankfully relieved with acetaminophen arthritis formula
but
it came back when it wore off
then
bam here came the red inflamed red eye
looks like pink eye but hurts like a finger stuck in the eye
so
on to my old steroid drops i went
ive done this enough my eye doctor keeps me stocked with
steroid drops
i did the treatment then it went away
tapered it off
then
it came back
so i finally gave up and saw the eye doctor
she added two eye drops for 2-3 weeks
after 5 days its under control
however
when i stop it im hoping its done for another 5 years

then
as i bit into my sandwich
uh oh i said
i knew that was not good
my bridge which includes all 6 of my front teeth
starting moving
this has happened before
i knew what it all meant
now i really felt bad knowing what all was coming
i had been warned 15 years ago this day was coming

all of this because of taking a large bite out of a steering wheel
when i was 20
before seat belt days

i have made dentists rich over the last 40 years
now i knew they were going to get even richer

so off to my dentist i went
well he said its time
it all has to come off now
you need two teeth pulled and four implants placed
along with extensive bridge work

there goes my kids inheritance

my choices besides above was to go with a partial denture made of
6 teeth
thats something i vowed to never ever do again
or
just go around without any upper front teeth
which
i aint going to do
not yet anyway
eventually it wont matter

now i told the dentist this aint a good time
i have 3 presentations to do
he said
well what you have may hold up for a few weeks
or
it may not last a few days

so knowing how murphys law works
i decided to go for it now and spend my kids inheritance

so i underwent the procedure
they even used the michael jackson sleep med on me
they asked what music i wanted to listen to
i said of course michael jackson stuff

well the next day
i felt like manure and when i looked in the mirror
i looked like that too
two black eyes
a purple streak down my right face
a swollen upper jaw
just what the hell did they do to me
when i was listening to michaels song
beat it

im glad i wasnt due a portrait

so i am on a mostly liquid diet
what i miss most of all is my cookies i eat with each meal
maybe i could puree them

thank goodness for pain pills
so
now i look beat up my red eye at least isnt red my headache is controlled
with the pain pills for my mouth

then i got to think
oh no
what about that things come in threes thing
that always seems to happen

so
here it came on saturday
after attending the mother earth news fair
my mouth was athrobbing
so we came home after lunch

i was anxious to get inside to get to my drugs
when we arrived
perched onto of the light pole overlooking our chicken coop
was this giant white mexican eagle
well thats what the neighbors call them

then
i heard the chickens squawking
if youve had chickens you recognize that squawking
that bad squawking
like when they are being attacked
a sound that never ever ends well

i ran down to the coop
there
was this giant white eagle trapped inside the coop
with a wing span of 6 ft
then i saw one of his prey laying in the chicken run
it wasnt pretty
like what you see on tv when they drop bombs in syria

i ran into the coop
then
kabam
i thought that other eagle had knocked me off my feet
onto a metal cage i went
off with my new glasses
stunned i was
i picked up my glasses which were all crooked
the right lenses were destroyed
lucky for me later i had saved my old glasses
they were covered with blood
as was my face

i got them straightened enough to put them on
turned
there i was facing the gigantic bird with this giant
raptor mouth and claws
with its wings spread out
in attack mode
in an area of about 10 ft square
like those fighters on tv in those cages

all i could think was
am i next on his meal list

so i grabbed a large t post
poked him in the chest
walked him backwards out of the coop
off he flew

sorry i wont describe the carnage that was around me
lets just say we dont have as many chickens now

into the house i went
looked in the mirror

i looked like a zombie
with a large swollen right cheek
a large superficial laceration down my right face
a swollen upper front jaw
two purple eyes
a long streak of purple bruise down my right lower face
a red right eye

yes i was not a purty site on saturday

then
i got to thinking
this is a good thing now

things always come in threes
so
i have had my threes this week
so
i should be done

thank goodness
it can only get better
right

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-alzheimers research presentation

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ALZHEIMERS RESEARCH PRESENTATION

three of the reasons i am interested in alzheimers and alzheimers research
is on the above picture
my younger brother
my mother
my father
my older brother named after my father
then add me to that list since i have early mild cognitive impairment amnestic type
the precursor to early alzheimers

one of the activities i do while volunteering for alzheimers organizations
is to do presentations on alzheimers disease
now
my favorite thing to do is stand up in front of a group and answer questions
that the audience want answers to
since sometimes its hard to get them from their providers or
figure out the stuff on the internet that is true

i feel like since i qualify as a good person to answer questions
since i
-am a family doctor
-have those 4 family members above who had and have the disease
ive seen it up close and personal
its an ugly ugly disease
-have the diagnosis i have that has allowed me to be a patient
experiencing all the work up you can have done
-have experienced all the side effects of the meds like aricept (donepezil)
and other supplements used for memory loss
-am in a large research study called the adni study and am awaiting
inclusion in a new treatment study that shows promise
-have experienced research first hand and keep up with what is going on
with alzheimers care drugs research etc

so
i feel quite qualified to do the large upcoming talk on march 12th
at this link

'Learn about research into Alzheimer's disease treatments being done here in Texas at this year's GPS Caregiver Workshop on March 12 at Riverbend Church Austin! Our friend Dr. Dewayne Nash will give an informative talk on clinical trial opportunities and new frontiers in our understanding of dementia.'

Register today! https://web.charityengine.net/default.aspx?tsid=6048

schedule —

9:00 - 10:00 Dr. Dewayne Nash (Retired physician & research participant) - “Alzheimer’s Research - A Physician’s Personal Connection”

10:00 - 11:30 Jennifer Scott, Keynote (Director, Area Agency on Aging Capital Area) - “Practical Tips for Alzheimer’s/Dementia Caregivers”

11:30 - Noon LUNCH

12:00 - 1:00 Pastor Reg Larkin (Counselor and Minister) - “Faith, Celebration and Grief in Caregiving”

1:00 - 2:00 Mary Koffend (Owner, Accountable Aging) - “Three M's of Health Insurance- Medicare, Medicaid and Medigap”

i and the other speakers will be available most of the day for personal questions

the last 15 minutes of each talk will be left for questions

the second speaker at 1000am is one if you are a caregiver or about to be 

you should come listen to as well the 1200 noon speaker

the last speaker on the medical insurance stuff should be good

thank goodness i am a doctor and have worked in front offices so i have been

able to understand this better

i have also helped several elderly folks get through this insurance maize

also

on thursday february 25th from 10-1pm i will on a round table discussion of 

alzheimers disease at 

stoney brook assisted living and memory center belton texas

lunch is provided

call 1-254-9300-3800 for more information

www.stoneybrookbelton.com

on tuesday march 29th at 1000-1100am i will be answering questions

from a small group of folks on alzheimers disease

a the cowan center at sun city georgetown 

sponsored by 

www.gtownliving.com

come to one of these to learn more about research caregiving

treatments etc

the organicgreen doctor

they are making money

THEY ARE MAKING MONEY
woe is me
woe is me

thats what you see in the news all the time
we are pulling out of obamacare or affordable care plans
we are losing tons of money

it aint so
apparently
they are mopping up dollars
getting rich is what they are

those big bad wolf insurance companies

it seems the ones that are losing on some of these deals
are doctors and providers
they get paid less for services
granted they are overpriced to start with
which means
big insurance makes more

how you say
first the insurances are breaking even on the obamacare policies
some lose some some make money


then
where is the cash cow
its the medicaid programs
basically
its a single payer government system
administered by private insurances

when you see the word administered
that means they make the money
sometimes with less risk
that
we are all paying for with our taxes

wonder where that money would go if we the taxpayers
who own the medicaid programs
administered them instead

oh thats right thats called national health care

just saying
is all

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-i got gas

DEAR MS B-I GOT GAS

now ms b
dont worry its not the bad stuff

i got gas this weekend for $1.44
heck yesterday i drove by a station where it said
$1.34
now i put that location into my brains gps
hoping to stop there when i need to fill up my tank later this week

now
when i put that gas thingy into my tank
push that handle to fill up my tank
i sort of well like it
but
i get this sort of uneasy feeling deep down in my stomach
like
this really may not be a good thing for all of us
after all

now here in texas
oil is king
it pays for a lot of things like
education roads schools universities etc

i saw a picture yesterday online
of all these oil wells in texas
now it was a video
there were none of those head things
going up and down up and down
apparently they are all shut down for now
its to expensive to pump these wells at these cheap prices

heck the last time the prices were this low
was a long time ago
your mom and dad may have been kiddos when it was
this low

low is good
but
it may be bad though

lots of people are getting laid off around here
it trickles down to stores gas stations restaurants
even walmart

ok i know they dont have a walmart where you live
youll just have to google it
maybe we will bring you to one of ours next time
you visit

so i personally
as i put that cheap gas in my car
wouldnt mind if the price would go back up a little
i think there is a sweet spot
where we can afford that price
they the oil people can make enough money
to make those thingy ma jingy things go back up
and down again
you know the ones that look like a grasshopper
that means people can go back to work
businesses dont get hurt

one thing i do hope happens though
is that they add a gasoline tax that is higher
while the gas prices are lower
to pay for our roads and infrastructure that is all
falling apart

im sorry but death and taxes are inevitable

you have to have taxes to make the government work
not like
kansas and louisiana who seem to be following apart
to me it seems simple
you need new revenue coming in
at the same time you tighten the belt some on the spending
they need to dave ramsey those governments

so
now would be a good time to tax gasoline
when no one will notice

so in summary
ms b
i got gas
cheap
but
i would feel better if i had to pay more

the organicgreen doctor

scalia

SCALIA

wikipedia

poor guy
hes barely even cold yet and they are having fights
over his replacement

they dont have any respect for their dead do they
republicans or democrats

they need a moratorium at least until they get him
in the ground
and
his final respects are given him
then
start the political debate

they have no shame do they

no autopsy may not be done
excuse me
he was a supreme court justice who died unexpectantly
found with a pillow over his face
im sure obesity tobacco and artery blockage was the cause
of his demise
but still this needs to be handled correctly

now
granted his death does make this political year
whats left of it
more intriguing

does obama have the right to nominate a new one
yes
should he
no says the republicans
yes says the democrats
you didnt expect otherwise
change the politics some
if there was a republican president
yes says the republicans
no says the democrats

i say yes the president has the right to nominate a judge
however
if he even wants a glimmer of a chance that the nominee
gets approved
the nominee must be very middle of the road
like anthony kennedy
who votes 50/50
actually i think all the judges should be 50/50

republicans are risking
getting a moderate judge now
vs
if they win the election and retain the senate
they can appoint another scalia like judge
but if they lose the election and lose the senate
the democratics will appoint an even more liberal judge

moderate now liberal later or conservative maybe later

democrats are risking
getting a moderate judge now
if they win the election they will get a liberal judge appointed
if they lose the election another scalia is appointed

moderate now liberal later or conservative maybe later

seems both side will partially win if they let obama appoint
someone now

thats why this election is now even more important than it was
those judges stay on the court a long long time
they determine which way the laws are interpreted

this election will decide that for years to come
as some of those other judges look pretty old
like they may need replaced soon also
in the next presidents term or second term

if you werent interested in this election now
yes i know its a real circus
isnt it
you should be now

there is a lot at stake here for you and your future generations

so
get involved
be sure and vote

may they let him rip

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-head trauma causes alzheimers?

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-HEAD TRAUMA CAUSES ALZHEIMERS?

could this be another reason not to let your kid play football

when i was being interviewed about my medical history when
i went to the alzheimers research center at ut southwestern
one of the questions i was asked was
have you ever had a concussion

well yes i said

i have had three of them

they all were sports related concussions
one kept me overnight in the hospital because i was talking
so goofy for several hours
none of which even today do i remember

the first one i had was in the 8th grade
my friend who ended up pole vaulting in college and i
would get these bamboo poles from the local furniture store
they were used inside a roll of carpeting
we would get them since they would bend if you
used them to pole vault with
this was in the days before the fiberglass poles that bent
to fling you over the bar

interestingly i became a physician
he became a medical malpractice attorney

well this bamboo pole would bend some
then help give you momentum to vault higher
of course it not like the fiberglass poles
would splinter easier
which i found out
as i was vaulting up into the air
my feet higher than the ground
down i went as it splintered
right on the back of my head

the next thing i remember it was 3 hours later
i awoke in bed with a severe headache

then in the 9th grade playing qb in football i was hit hard
right before halftime
my coach found me in the other teams locker room
confused
i finished the game though
not a good thing as it turns out

then at the age of late 40s i was kneed in the head as i slid
into third base
none of this or the next several hours do i remember anything
that happened
my wife she said i was real goofy talking crazy
so to the er i went
then to the ct scanner
then to icu for the night

i can remember feeling bad and strange for several days
i felt like i was in a fog for that time
i had trouble for awhile doing medication calculations
yes i was very careful
then
eventually it took about a month for me to totally recover

so thats my personal experiences with head trauma concussions


now researchers have discovered that head trauma if significant
enough can induce amyloid plaques in the brain that can be
seen on scans years later after head injuries

now remember
the theory is that beta amyloid accumulating in the brain
is thought to be the cause or the end result of the process
that causes alzheimers disease

now this amyloid plaque in head trauma seems to occur
in the same areas where alzheimers of the brain starts
the posterior cingulate cortex
its the same bad stuff

unlike with alzheimers it also shows up in traumatic head injury
in the cerebellum
the control center for balance and movement

this study was on a small number
more larger studies will be done

but
i must say
as a parent
it does give you some pause doesnt it

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-trim day

COUNTRY N NEWS-TRIM DAY

each year on valentines day i call it trim day
its the day i trim a lot of my plants to get them
ready for the new growth in the spring
which i may add seems to be occurring early this year

there are three plants that are high on my list for trimming

one is the peach trees
do it right
you get more better peaches
and
you wont have to climb on a ladder to get them down

so this sunday i will go out to my peach tree
trim off any of those suckers that come out from the
bottom of the tree
trim off any branches that are angling downwards
i have noticed that with all the rain we had last year
that there are lots of new branches
trim off any branches that dont allow the tree
to have a saucer appearance
so there are no branches going straight up to the sky

now when we first moved in
the trees had not really been trimmed much
so
we had to use a ladder a lot to pick the upper
tops of the trees
now
overtime thanks to this trimming
the tops can be reached from the ground

the next plant i trim is the
rose
its a knockout rose
i trim about 1/3 of it
apply my country n compost
a little bit of organic fertilizer
mulch it well
then
wait for the beautiful blooms this year
besides our lady banksia rose its the only rose we have

then the third plant i trim back is
the autumn sage or salvia greggi
the must have plant native plant to have in your yard
i have about 18 in my yard
that are beautiful carefree plants
that are hummingbird magnets
every year or two if they get leggy
that means the trunks get thick with less blooms
i trim them down to about 10-12 inches
this makes the plant produce new growth
that produces a lot more blooms

then later in the summer when those blooms have
died back some
i trim off the spikes where the blooms were
this makes them produce even more blooms
for that late fall push of blooms

i also go around and clean up any limbs or sprouts
on my trees that are broken crossing each other
going the wrong direction
its easier to see all this when the leaves are off
if i trim a red oak or live oak i try to do it earlier
in the winter so to decrease the risk of spreading
oak wilt
i dont paint any of my cuts on the limbs

then i go around and look at all my perennials
some i trim some i dont
you can trim yellow belles lantana flame acanthas
turks caps red bush etc
although
i admit i tend to let nature do its thing
usually
since thats the way nature has done it for years
and
things have turned out pretty well

this is the time of the year when i go out and clean out the
three bluebird houses we have on our property
some years we dont get any
other years we fill all three with bluebirds

you know we as a society almost got rid of all the bluebirds
but
thanks to conservation measures
and
homeowners putting up birdhouses
they are making a comeback

while i have been outside working lately
i can hear the distinct sound of their
bluebird song

interesting is they like the one thats is all beat up
is over 20 years apart
the worst looking one of the three

also
on this valentines day
i will wish my wife she
a happy valentines
a hug
and
a kiss she will receive

the organicgreen doctor

what i have learned from being a patient

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM BEING A PATIENT
five years ago i moved from my world to your world
from being a full time practicing busy family doctor
to
being a patient like the rest of you

i must say i liked the other side much better
many a day i wish that i could go back
but i cant

so i must make the best of your world our world
for now
i am on your side

sometimes i think the system is stacked against us
the insurance companies and the medical community
its all in their favor

one thing i have tried to do in my dealing in this new world
is to be like you
do like you do
in this world

however
if i am pushed too far
i will use my doctor card

when i make an appointment i do it just like you do
call
listen to that damn menu
all the offices have one they are all the same it seems
pick the right one i think
sometimes its not easy
you wait since they are busy
finally i get a human being to make my appointment

now lucky for me i understand the system
eg
i know when i see my primary care doctor for my
routine visits i always get the first appointment of the day
do an 1100am appointment
on a busy day he will get behind
theres just too much that knocks a schedule off kilter

now what i dont understand is why they dont make it
easier to make the appointments online than they do
i should be able to just make it from my iphone

now dont get me started on prescription refills
now i know how it works inside the office
now i know how it works outside the office
i must say neither one is very efficient or accurate

remember it is your duty as a patient
and
i may add its necessary for your good health
that you keep up with exactly what you take
you must presume the system has it all wrong
the doctor and the pharmacy

see its all stacked against you
errors get continued on the record now that you can just
click to continue them
this is important
i am now speaking from experience

the other thing is dont leave the pharmacy without checking
your prescriptions
i have had a lot of prescriptions be wrong over the last 5 years
wrong doses wrong number of days to fill
eg
i usually get 90 days
why cant they get that correct
i have one that i finally gave up on
i finally just accepted a 30 day refill
they have to get it oked with the doctor each time
i decided the system cant seem to get it right
they sure are wasting a lot of peoples time
it shouldnt be this way

warning
this may turn out to be a real long blog today
i am venting
i feel your frustration now
i just wooshed i had experienced it before when i was in practice
i would have been better

now i will admit one thing
i sure enjoy
is sitting in waiting rooms
i like to listen to people
well they talk about a lot of things that i am writing about
maybe the power that bes should sit out there sometimes
they would know what needs fixed

oh please keep the place clean and have updated reading stuff

oh medical folks dont talk so loud
dont talk about folks where we can hear it

one thing i have learned is that if your primary care doctor is sending
you to a specialist
presume the specialist will not get the records they need
it is your responsibility to make sure he does
then
presume that your primary care doctor wont get the reports from
that specialists visit

here is what i do
i hand carry the stuff to the specialist
i make sure i have an accurate list of my medicines
since they dont always match up with whats in the record
also
i make sure the specialist knows why i am really there
sometimes they have to guess if you dont help them out
then
i sign a roi release of information at the specialists office
to get the records of the visit sent to my primary care doctor

remember i am know speaking as a patient that has had issues
with this

ok i admit i do play my doctor card sometimes to make this
work better
but i reserve that only for emergencies

why is it that its is so hard to get lab and xray reports
and
to actually get a hard copy of them
eg
i like to keep a record of all my cholesterol results
we are after all in the electronic age

now
get me going on this one
insurances and billing

now i as a doctor had to code correctly
if you dont you put the patient into this abyss
this abyss of getting it all done correctly so the insurance folks
pay the bill they should be paying
that you paid those big premiums for so you wouldnt have to pay

i also always took a special interest in coding
for my benefit and for the patient
get it right
i got paid and they didnt have to pay
get it wrong and its well a mess to fix

since i was in high school ive worked in the medical field
i have actually done insurance billing
redoing wrong billing
so i have had a lot of experience dealing with this

first i want to say
i am sorry if i ever didnt code your visit correctly
now i understand what a mess it causes

heres my last experience
i saw my doctor
labs were ordered
off to medicare then later to my supplement company
then 5 months later in my mailbox is this bill for $143

so i go to work trying to figure this all out
now i spent several hours fixing this
on two labs that were done

right here i want to say
that $143 lab bill if discounted to insurance would have been about
$20
but since it was denied it was now due the full amount
i see now that if you have no insurance the system is fixed against you
thats $120 more you would have to pay

now i must admit after dealing with this
it was cheaper for me based on how much time i put in
to just pay the damn bill

but
nope i aint gonna do that no way

using my knowledge as a doctor as a former insurance clerk
as a semicoding guru
i spent a lot of time figuring out what code medicare wanted
a diagnosis that was in my chart
that matched what they wanted
there were only 20 or so diagnoses that matched their wish lists
whats wrong with that list is as a doctor is that it didnt cover
all the diagnoses that you would order that test for
so
the system is not complete
i just had to figure out how to get it corrected

so not wanting to play the doctor card
i called the billing office
like you would have to do
i knew after i heard her say what they would do
to get the doctor to look at it and code it correctly
i knew
i had been that doctor
it wasnt going to be done correctly
i would write a check for $145 soon
i could tell she was a little confused lost is what she was

so
i reached into my wallet
pulled out my doctor card
wrote down the correct diagnosis with the newest updated code
for each lab test
then
i called via the backdoor
to get it done correctly
it just didnt seem right that i paid all that money each month
the labs were justified they werent coded correctly
if i didnt do something
they the system would win

so i asked someone
what do most folks do
they just pay the bill that person said
nope togd isnt going to do that

i spent over 4 hours figuring this out
most people dont have the time and knowledge to do this

the system i think is gamed against us

so i have learned a lot about being a patient
first let me say
there are a lot of good folks working as receptionists clerks
nurses doctors administrators pharmacists
however
it just should be this hard to be a patient

our system isnt set up very well for the patient
its too difficult
it needs to be streamlined

wonder if theres an app for that

thanks for reading this if you made it this far
i firmly believe that all medical people
especially doctors
need to be thrown to other side for awhile
its humbling at times

the organicgreen doctor