alzheimers news-brians song

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-BRIANS SONG

each morning i get a news feed that lists approximately
10 articles on alzheimers disease
some are newspaper articles or news articles
some are research articles
some are videos
this morning the one that caught my eye
was an article with a link to two podcasts
on a man named
brian

he has early onset alzheimers disease

i stopped what i was doing
made myself listen to his story
in these podcasts
on
how he was diagnosed
how he is living with his diagnosis

my suggestion to you if you have memory issues or
have a family memory with memory issues
 that you listen to these podcasts

if you or your loved one ends up having alzheimers disease
there is probably nothing that has happened to you
or will happen to you
that will equal how your life will be devastated
emotionally
financially
spritually
physically

it doesnt ever end well

as i listened to the podcast
i sort of had some flashbacks
to my early neurology visits and my early diagnostic tests
and my early cognitive or memory tests

now listening to his story
i realize he is ahead of me with his diagnosis
but his worries and his thoughts
i have had and am having

a lot of what ive done and what i choose to do
is knowing that what he is experiencing
is in my near future

yes it was surreal to hear him say things that i have thought
that i know is coming down the pike for me

so
if you and your family are going to be affected or if you
are affected by this disease
you might listen to the podcast

the more you know that can help you be ready the better
although
you really cant be ready for it when it happens

here is the link to podcast 1 on the diagnosis

here is the link to podcast 2 on living with the disease

yes i teared up listening to all of this
knowing sometime in the future i will be where he is
my family will be dealing with what his family is dealing with
i hope i and we are better prepared when it happens

support us at our next walk
or
donate and or walk at your local walk

santa barbara walk to end alzheimers october 28th

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-microgreens

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-microgreens

we moved from our 10 acres
with its 900+ square foot raised garden
with the richest soil ive ever had

now we have a 200 square foot garden space
so
i have to find other ways to grow some of what i
want to grow

a few weeks ago
my sons fiancees mom
when we were visiting them in the la area
said
hey
i know you like to garden
so i found these planters on the side of the street

around here
if you dont want something
just put it on the side of the street
it will be gone real quick

usually my wife she is known for
as she drives down the road
to suddenly pull over
get out
open the trunk
into the trunk the stuff goes

looking around our condo i see some of those things
being put to good use
like this old desk chair we saved from the dumpsters
picture not included

now this one rectangular plantar box
i knew when i saw it
what i was going to use it for

yep
microgreens

every year i planted my lettuce and my spinach in my garden
by mixing all the seeds of various lettuce mixes
spinach beets swiss chard together
then i put them in an old spice shaker

after filling the new road find plantar box with real good
organic potting soil with compost fertilizer plant bacteria and fungi
remember
plant a $5 plant in a $50 hole
i then sprinkled out of the spice jar this mixture onto 1/3 of
the surface
leaving the other 2/3 for two more plantings 2 weeks apart

finally
this week i did my first harvest of the first 1/3
then planted my last 1/3 with this seed mix
so from the first planting to the last planting a month has gone by
i should have this lettuce etc mix available all winter long
until it gets too hot this spring

this method is called
cut and come again
i simply harvest the 1/3 with my scissors about a couple inches
above the soil level
its enough greens for the two of us for a week or so

thanks to ls for the planter

then
while in the austin area for our final alzheimers texas walk this weekend
we went to this farmers market on sunday
near san antonio

now
when i go to the farmers market
i tell my wife she
dont rush me please
i wander down the line talking to the farmers
we speak the same language

i wondered past this lady from reverse pioneers who was
selling this microgreen stuff
all i thought it was that grass stuff that people eat and drink
the juice from
dont like that stuff
but
on my second round i looked a little closer
stopped to talk to her
she said
its sunflower sprouts

taste some
i did
it was good
i reached down for some more
they were even better
so
we bought a package of them
ate them in this phenomenal salad
ok most of the sunflower seedlings were eaten by us
before they made it to the salad

i looked at my wife she
you know
youve been growing them for years
underneath your bird feeders
i just weedeated them down
cursing the whole time

i wish i had picked them now

so
after the heat next spring shuts down the lettuce production
i plan to do serial sunflower plantings like i did with the lettuce
to use them in our salad mixes

you are never too old to learn are you

the organicgreen doctor

would i kneel

WOULD I KNEEL

youtube.com

as i watched all this stuff on tv this weekend
thats the question i pondered

actually
i didnt have to ponder very long
the answer is

no

now there was a time several years ago in my younger years
as the vietnam war protests took over
it really gained speed when the vietnam vets who came back
from the war
began to oppose the war
their unsupport pushed the us to eventually leave the war

this war that may of my family friends and neighbors had
to fight in
destroyed a lot of lives
why were we there in the first place

i just didnt feel right about the war
i was disappointed in our country
for all the lives that got destroyed fighting over there

thats why
i use to sit for the national anthem
like many at that time did

now years later
i
knowing
my belief systems
how i feel
i could not kneel

now i am a white southern male
who as far as i know has not ever been discriminated against

when my teenage sons went out at night
i didnt have to worry if they were stopped by the police
i didnt have to worry
well i worried but i didnt have to worry about this

i didnt ever have to
eat in a segregated restaurant ie out the back door
go to an inferior school
not be able to drink water with other races
not be able to do other things that being white allowed me to do

so
i cant really put myself inside the heart of those mostly black players
i havent lived through what they and their families have lived though
but
i can respect them for doing what they feel needs to be done
peacefully

the two most memorable pictures for me from the last weekend
at the national anthem ceremonies at the nfl stadiums
were


wideopencountry.com

meghan linsey
a white country western singer
as she finshed singing the national anthem
both nfl teams stayed in the locker room
she kneeled down
to support
the others right to do so

i must say as i watched her sing the national anthem
a rendition
that as a lover of country western music
just makes me feel tingly inside to have it sang that way
yes
i teared up listening to her sing it


foxnews

the other
was al villanueva
the big ole offensive tackle
a decorated medaled iraq /afghanistan war veteran
he stood at attention
his hand over his heart for the national anthem
still
he supported his teammates right to kneel during the anthem
to protest those indignities that are wrong with race relations
in america
they supported his right to stand outside for the national anthem

so
knowing all i know
knowing how i feel
knowing how others feel
i feel certain that
i would
stand at attention
my left arm would be locked around my fellow teammates right arm
my right arm would be extended down with my right hand
on his shoulder
my black teammate
so he would know that i supported him
then
i would look up to the fluttering flag
knowing what it means to us
listening to the anthem
a good singing of it like meghan linsey did always brings
a tear to my eye
a fluttering in my heart
then when those planes or helicopters fly over
thats when the tears start to flow
the chills come all over my body
i think of those like my uncle shot in ww2
my neighbors killed in vietnam

yes
my answer would be
no
i would stand

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-post walk thoughts

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-POST WALK THOUGHTS

these walks are what keeps the alzheimers engine going

these funds raised
provides education about this terrible disease
provides an opportunity for families to come together
to share their experiences with this disease
provides a chance for family and friends to support those
friends that have been affected by this disease
help fund research no matter how small to reach
all our final goals
a treatment
a cure
a way to prevent
alzheimers disease

we all there had the same goal
some of us more affected than others

this is the group that walked with us on saturday
our team

it was made up of friends and former patients
folks from both my wife shes and my lives
supporting us as we march forward looking
to reach our goal of a cure or treatment

even these two were there
wearing shirts from our first walk several years ago
they werent even born yet
but they have these shirts on
walking for the cause
both parents were former patients

there were folks there from
habitat for humanity
meals on wheels
my former clinic
former patients
my wifes shes friends and former teacher friends

it felt good to be with them
knowing we had this type of emotional support
and financial support
for the future

later many of us got together for lunch at a
nearby restaurant
to continue our celebration
a celebration of life

this walk was different
it felt different
as
i knew as did they that this one would be our last one
here in central texas

i feel good
that i somehow have left a mark in this area
hopefully advancing awareness for the fight against this disease
that folks will remember for a long time

thanks
to all who supported us here
emotionally and financially
as we move forward against this disease

you will not ever be forgotten

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-reflections

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-REFLECTIONS

the fall this time of year
i tend to do a lot of reflecting
i guess because thats when all the alzheimers walks occur
when you see a lot in the paper on tv and social media
about alzheimers disease

i start thinking a lot about our family

my mother nell
a nurse who was struck with this dreadful disease
later in life
it was sad to see her deteriorate so slowly

my father charles
he died of heart disease but probably had early alzheimers disease

my older brother charles was diagnosed 3 years ago
he seems to be stable for now


my brother joe
a retired fireman
a retired deputy sheriff
he was struck with the disease much too young
in his early 50s
he was gone in his early 60s
i think about him a lot

when i was diagnosed in december 2010
i really thought in september 2017 i would be where he was with his
disease at that time

i feel so lucky that i am able to sit here today
writing this blog
doing all the things i did when i was diagnosed
7 years ago
i really didnt think i would be able to sit here this morning
and
write
and
drive
and
do all our finances
and
know everyone
and
travel
and
see my granddaughter start to grow up


i feel lucky
maybe its from
all the healthy stuff i do
all the protocol stuff i do
the medicine aricept (donepezil) slowing this down
maybe
just maybe

if i am  lucky the aducanumab i am getting each month
an antibody infusion against the bad beta amyloid in the brain
the stuff that may be the cause of alzheimers
might slow things down some

i know from preliminary studies that if i an not getting the
placebo but the real aducanumab that  most of that stuff the amyloid
will be removed by next year
the question is
will the memory stabilize or get better for those of us getting
this experimental drug
if it does work to improve memory
then its part of the answer
then
ive gained 5 years
which if you have had a love one with this disease like we have
thats a lifetime of time

i think about all the folks i have met over the last 7 years
patients husbands wives sons daughters grand kids cousins friends
all like our family deeply affected by this disease

i know many of you who are reading this blog
your family has been affected also

i will be thinking about my family and yours and theirs
as i and my family and my friends and former patients
do our walks this fall to raise awarenes
and
to raise funds to educate and finance research and encourage
our government to do more

tomorrow here in texas
there will be a time
when i will stop
go inward
think of my family and others
yes i always tear up
then
i will move forward
to do what you have to do to make things better

join us or do your local walks

my walks


alzheimers texas williamson county walk september 23rd


santa barbara walk to end alzheimers october 28th

the organicgreendoctor