alzheimers news-we need your help

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WE NEED YOUR HELP

i am a week away from receiving my final infusion in the i dont know if i am getting the placebo or not aducanumab study
after this infusion i will go into the next phase of the study which i will call i know now i will not be getting the placebo but will be getting the real thing aducanumab study

my journey all started when i decided to enter a study to feel like i was doing my part to find a treatment or if we are lucky a cure for this disease

i saw my mother and my younger brother struggle with this disease

so i entered a study to be in the normal control group
thats when things changed
i got diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment the precursor stage to early alzheimers disease
it changed my life and my familys lifes

i entered the adni 2 study for 5 years then from there went into the aducanumab study
which uses monthly infusions of an antibody against the bad beta amyloid in the brain
this stuff being deposited is where alzheimers starts
stop it and you might slow down or stop alzheimers
it seems this is what it may do

so how did i find these studies
i went to these two sites
clinicaltrials.gov
trial match via the alzheimers association website
these led me to the alzheimers center at ut southwestern in dallas

why
i wanted to do my part

what is one of the two major obstacles to finding a cure for this disease

well
go look in the mirror
thats right
you

its volunteers for these studies
without them
these new treatments wont happen

help us
find a cure
volunteer

here is an article from the national institutes on aging that lists multiple websites for where you can volunteer for studies
there are studies in every state


then
the other obstacle is money
research doesnt just happen
it needs money lots of money
the feds now pour more money in for research
but we need more
bill gates threw in millions for research
thanks bill

a lot of funding and edcuational services come from the alzheimers association and the other independent ones in each state

most of these sites have alzheimers walks to raise money

you can go to www.alz.or/walk and type in your location and they will give you your nearest alzheimers association walk to end alzheimers

in texas
this alzheimers texas independent alzheimers site has several walks in central texas

in arkansas the arkansas alzheimers has several walks in that state

in the los angeles area
the alzheimers greater la  has its walk on october 28th
this is the group i am doing a alzheimers panel on early memory loss at the ucla medical center santa monica on september 29th

in santa barbara
i will be doing the alzheimers association walk on november 3rd
i will be posting a link to my teams page ie organicgreendoctor soon so you can sign up and or donate to our team

i will be doing a talk at the valle verde center in santa barbara on october 4th and for the alzheimers association


in southern arkansas
my younger brother joe died in his early 60s from alzheimers disease
he was diagnosed in his mid 50s
his diagnosis and death and my moms diagnosis and death are what drives me to find a treatment or cure for me and those of you who are destined to be diagnosed with this disease

my mother nell was diagnosed in her mid 70s and died in her early 80s
they both lived in southern arkansas

his wife and children have a team in the southern arkansas walk to end alzheimers on september 22nd

they had a long journey with him
they want to honor him
they want to help find a treatment for his kids and grandkids and their cousins and their uncles and aunts and for those others of you who are destined to be affected by this
awful alzheimers disease

here is the link to his team
#team joe nash
if you can sign up and walk with them and or donate to the cause

for those of you who couldnt make the long trip to little rock in the past to support his family
and well also to support the nash family in our fight against this disease
show up to show your support for them and for us

so
volunteer for studies
walk and or donate to the cause

we are
so so close
to finding a treatment and a cure


im doing all i can to advance the cause
we need all yalls help

the organicgreen doctor

the true american hero

THE TRUE AMERICAN HERO

youtube

this is the picture of mccain being mccain
he went against the grain
against what the others in his party wanted
he was being a maverick
he was doing what was the right thing to do

now
he was a staunch conservative
just the opposite of the political spectrum from me
but
i have always liked him
since
he was a maverik
he was independent
he could think for himself

he voted on a lot of things that i dudnt agree with him on
but
on this one
the repeal of obamacare
i think he did the right thing

why did he go all maverick on this
there were several reasons
one he probably was giving the president the middle finger in the form of a thumbs down motion
yep
im sure that was one of the reasons he did this

the other
i think
he was doing what he considered the right thing

i think he had gone through a lot of medical issues the last year
he probably saw a lot of real sick folks
he probably saw how much all his care was costing medicare and the golden medical insurance that senators get to have that we probably dont
he probably saw folks some kids who werent so lucky as he was
voting down the obamacare would or could wipe out the financial protections that this obamacare offers people

it doenst care whether you are conservative liberal independent democrat republican
medical expenses can wipe out a family
forever

i think both of these were on his mind
as he walked up to the front in his wobbly walk from those years of torture in prison camp
with that big scar and bruising over his left eye and left face
he paused
stuck out his hand
he could raise it only so far since he had such residual damage to his shoulder from that prison camp torture
he poked down that thumb
making history
being maverick
probably saving peoples lives and their financial lives

our family has two young folks who are facing potential organ transplants in the future
his vote has a huge effect on both families health and financial futures

he did the right thing
he had a conscious
he followed it

thank you john mccain

i didnt agree with most of what you voted on
but
i respected you

a real true american hero

john mccain

rip

the organicgreen doctor

a hero

A HERO

ucr.edu

no this isnt about john mccain
a true american hero

this is about a lady who im sure got a summons in the mail
a juror summons
that many of us get
for some reason my wife she gets them all the time
but
i have only gotten two in my life
the last one i was permanently disqualified to be a juror because of my diagnosis

im sure this lady opened up the summons
looked at it
somewhere along the line of the juror summons process
she probably realized what trial she was being summoned for

she never considered rying to get out of it
she felt it was her duty to serve

i wonder why she wasnt denied a seat on the jury pool
since
she was such an avid trump fan
even
wearing her make america great again hat sometimes
well it was her husbands it seems

i dont know if she was asked if she supported trump
im sure the prosecution didnt want her
im sure the defendants lawyer wanted her

well
it seems
both would have been wrong
real wrong

you see
she was a patriotic american
who believed in our legal system

if the facts say you are guilty
well
you are guilty
no matter the person that is being tried

the conviction of manafort may have big implications eventually for trump
but
this juror stuck to her beliefs

she voted him guilty on all counts
even the ones that were mistrialed

she said the evidence was overwhelming that manafort was guilty

i of course dont agree with her politics
but
just like with john mccain
i didnt agree with a lot of his politics
but like her
i respect her for doing what is right

it sort of gave me hope for the future knowing that there are people like her
who will do whats right when the time comes

so
in my eyes
she is a hero

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-these 4 may help

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THESE 4 MAY HELP

a couple of weeks ago i watched this video of a well known alzheimers researcher explaining how alzheimers starts and develops to cause brain cell damage which leads to what we see in our family and friends who develop this disease

first for some reason the body deposits beta amyloid in the brain
this happens years before symptoms start

next
the tau protein in the nerve cells are damaged and unravel
causing brain cells damage

next
the body has an inflammatory response to this damage
which finishes off these brain cells
inflammatory diseases are like rheumatoid arthritis uclerative colitis crohns disease lupus to name a few
if youve ever stuck a thorn in you skin that remained under the skin
the redness swelling tenderness that forms
thats an inflammatory reaction
this reaction happens in the brain with alzheimers

the result of all this
alzheimers disease

he suggests attacking the disease at each step

step one
amyloid accumulating in the brain
this one really needs to be done long before symptoms are started
this is where we are headed with our treatments

this article suggests you could lower alzheimers risk by 70% if we did these things
dont smoke
keep body weight below bmi of 25    over 25 is obesity
eating fish twice a week
eating fruits and vegetables 3 times a day
keep blood pressure under 120/80
keep blood sugar under 100
keep cholesterol under 200
remember as you do these you are also preventing heart disease and stroke

there are now 4 drugs using immunotherapy to remove the amyloid plaques from the brain
all of them are in the research stage

so you use the healthy living things above to help prevent the amyloid to be deposited in the brain
these immunotherapies are given if the amyloid is present
this amyloid deposits starts years before symptoms starts

these 4 drugs are
aducanumab thats my drug that i am on and start the no placebo arm of the study in a month
ban2401 made by biogen the same company that does mine
gantenerumab
lillys ly3002813

these seem to be working with the results being officially out in 2+ years
there are several others in the works that work similarly and seem to be working

there are other drugs that prevent the amyloid from forming
these are also in the research stage

then
if the tau destruction has started
there are drugs in studies that attach to the damaged tau to remove it
so they work on this 2nd stage

then
to fight the inflammatory reaction
there are drugs and supplements that have antiinflammatory effects
turmeric acid
omega 3 fish oil
vitamin e
cbd oil from marijuana and hemp
an old antiinflammatory drugs used for arthritis and pain called ponstel or mefenemic acid
its available now as a prescription
long term studies are being done to see if it helps
experimental drugs that are in studies that attack this inflammation

im taking the turmeric and omega 3 and vitamin e
the cbd oil gives me severe dreadful horrible nightmares so i discontinued it
if i could get my hands on the ponstel i would take it

so the treatment for alzheimers disease in the future is three pronged

amyloid prevent it from forming and remove it if it does form
doing this prevents number 2 and 3

remove tau if it has formed

fight the inflammatory reaction that occurs when the amyloid and tau does its destruction

if you get too far along with this disease
sadly
well
none of this does much good

so
start now
to prevent it in you and your family

the organicgreen doctor

to test or not to test that is the question

TO TEST OR NOT TO TEST THAT IS THE QUESTION

 every time i give a talk on alzheimers or do a question and answer session on alzheimers
i always get this question

should i get tested

my answer
yes and no

now this applies to a lot of diseases that can be tested for before symptoms start
the one besides alzheimers disease that i have friends who were tested for was huntingtons disease
some were positive
some were negative

the negative test ones for huntingtons got a reprieve from a deadly disease
that 100% wins in the end
those tested negative feel guilty for those that arent so lucky

a lot of thought has to be put into whether you are tested for a particular genetic disease
which is easy to do now with the gene testing websites like 23 and me

one advice i have is if you get a positive test you should spend the money to get the test repeated at a standard reputable lab
just to be certain

there are false positives that occur

so should you be tested

know what the positive test means
eg
with huntingtons disease if its positive
well you know what your future will be like since most folks have someone they know in the family who had it
usually a parent

with alzheimers
if you are positive for the early onset genes which are not common
you will get alzheimers disease
at a young age
you probably have folks in your family who died with the disease at a young age
usually one of the parents died with it

if you test positive for the late onset gene for alzheimers
called the apoe 4 gene
either the single gene apoe 4 which cares an increased risk of 5 x for the disease
or
the double gene apoe 4 apoe 4 gene which caries an increased risk 20 x for the idsease
you probably will get alzheimers as you age
or
you might not

unlike the early onset alzheimers gene the apoe 4 gene is not 100%
unlike the huntingtons gene the apoe 4 gene is not 100%
how healthy you live your life determines how that gene is expressed
lead an unhealthy life it will get you sooner

now back to the question
to test or not to test

the answer is yes
if you are ready psychologically
its a blow to get these positive tests
its like a terminal cancer diagnosis
years before the disease takes over

if you are ready socially
do you have good health insurance and will you always be able to maintain that insurance without a drop in coverage
be aware of any changes congress and the president makes in the obama care insurance law
like
preexisting conditions
maximum lifetime coverage
guaranteed coverage
bad policies the new ones proposed as cheaper may have these coverages eliminated

these diseases are expensive real expensive over their course

do you have disability insurance
if tested positive you will not get disability insurance unless maybe it is obtained via an employees plan

do you have long term care insurance
if you are positive you will not ever get this insurance

do you have life insurance
again
you will never get it if you are positive for this disease

so if you are in your 20s or 30s or 40s or 50s put a lot of thought into whether you should get tested
it does carry consequences
emotionally
financially

another thing thats happening as congress messes with us more is that insurance companies are starting to get access to this information
even if you dont want them to

i had all this stuff done before i was tested in the research study
lucky i had gotten my long term care policy a couple of years before
if i hadnt i would not have been able to get coverage for my long term care

think real hard about whether you are ready to be tested
maybe the emotional thing for many could be the hardest

for me
im glad i know
it has made me appreciate life more
appreciate the little things more
appreciate my family more
appreciate for me nature sounds smells and more
it has made me take better care of my health

so
the question
to test or not to test that is the question
the answer for me
is
yes
i dont regret it one iota

the oganicgreen doctor

why is any acceptable

WHY IS ANY ACCEPTABLE

webmd

last week it was roundup or glycophosphate acceptable levels in kids cereals
this week it is metals like lead or cadmium or that old homicide metal arsenic acceptable levels in baby food

it use to be you would occasionally see lead exposure in babies and kids from usually old pipes since they were soldered with lead
like what happened in flint michigan
there were a lot from the contamination from the lead in gasoline before they took it out
kids who lived along freeways or major highways would get too much lead since it accumulates in the soil and since kids eat dirt

it seems some of that poisoning has now settled down as environmental protections seem to ease the exposures to these metals

now this
consumer reports just did a review of baby foods for lead and cadmium and other heavy metals
there should be zero nada none of this stuff in babys food
no excuses

like
its naturally in the enviroment
then take it out of the food at least

they tested 50 baby foods
some of them the sacred organic ones
all of them had lead arsenic cadmium in them
the recommended level in these foods like i said is zero

2/3 of the tested foods had too high levels of these heavy metals

the heavy metals are naturally in our enviroment
most are from man made sources in water and soil like farming pesticides manufacturing and gasoline

just because its everywhere doesnt mean the levels in food not zero are acceptable
they arent

here is a list of things that can happen to babies who get too much lead and other heavy metals
many are long term
none of them good

you see
babies are tiny
so
like with a dose of tylenol a little goes a long way
it doesnt take as much to damage a baby as it would an adult
plus
most of these exposures are long term over the baby food years
when things in their bodies are growing fast

side effects
cancer
physical and mental growth and development
learning ability


they said in   this webmd review   that rice and sweet potatoes had the highest levels
so they recommended using the rice and taters with oats and cereals
wait a minute
now you are mixing heavy metals like arsenic lead and cadmium with roundup in the babies food

just what are we doing to our babies
poisoning them

take it out i say
take out these heavy metals

you have to make them do it
they wont do it unless you make them do it

this food should be as pure as fresh fallen snow use to be

will it happen
probably not
look at the companies and industries involved
they carry a lot of influence
only
if parents get upset will it change things

sometimes i do wonder if a lot of our neurological diseases like autism and add and asthma and allergies and learning disabilities that we seem to see more of arent caused or made worse by
fetuses and babies and kids exposures in their everyday lives when they
eat play breath

not acceptable i say

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-lets talk about it

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-LETS TALK ABOUT IT

about 8 years ago i was blindsided by my diagnosis
mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers disease

this diagnosis was based on
a normal memory testing followed by a series of abnormal ones
a strong family history of alzheimers diease
a positive spinal tap for the bad beta amyloid and tau protein
a positive amyloid pet scan called amyvid
a positive genetic test for the apoe 4 gene which puts you at an increased risk of getting alzheimers

this is how you diagnose this disease in 2018

once diagnosed i was overwhelmed since i had seen it up close in my mother and brother
so i knew first hand what was in store for me in the future

i really thought it would be full blown alzheimers disease by now 2018
8 years is a long long time in alzheimers years

somehow i feel like i have gotten a reprieve
why
im not sure

maybe its because my diagnosis was done so much earlier than most people by luck i guess
well maybe luck is not a good word to be used when you talk about this disease

maybe because i got real motivated to take care of my health
so
i
changed my diet my sleep my stress level did a lot of things i enjoy doing
went on a regimen to improve my health and make sure everything lab wise was normal
well my b12 and vitamin d3 was low
but i fixed that

i also entered this study now 18 months ago
the biogen aducanumab study using antibodies given as infusions to remove all that amyloid or some of it from the brain
i either got the placebo or the real stuff
i feel like i got the real stuff

do i notice some memory issues
yes
but it seems no more than anyone who is my age
i do well on the memory tests
not 100% but i pass them
my scores are better than some of your scores

so now that im diagnosed
now that im better or stable
i feel like i have gotten a reprieve
i am thankful for the last 8 years
i want another 8 like these last 8

all ive done is enjoy retirement
maybe more than most do
i really really appreciate what ive been given
and
i like talking or writing about it

its seems when folks get a terminal disease they just do better and their friends and family appreciate it when you are open and talk about it and yes even joke about
yes i make jokes about it
after all
laughter is the best medicine you know

dont ask me about alzheimers
ill talk your ear off
ill talk until you just turn away and walk off
hoping that some of what ive said sunk in and maybe helped you or your family

i like talking to folks about this disease
especially the less formal question and answer sessions
especially small numbers

folks ask me about
side effects of the medicines
i got that one for sure since i can tell them from personal experience and of course as someone who has prescribed those meds
what and when to get an evaluation
as early as possible i say
should i have genetic tests
only when you are ready emotionally socially and financially
its a little overwhelming
like some one who has the huntingtons disease gene test
if its positive you know what you are in store for
so it is with alzheimers

but
to slow this disease down
to get to it soon enough
it seems now
you have to know long before i knew
you have to start doing things to improve your health
and
when the new drugs come you have to start them long before your memory loss starts

we all need to be talking about this
alzheimers thing
those of us who have it
those of you who will have it
and
talk freely about it

dont be afraid to
its therapuetic

the organicgreen doctor

i wonder if it tastes salty

I WONDER IF IT TASTES SALTY

thats what i was wondering when i read this article this morning about using sea water for drinking water
i cant wait to drink some of it

here its dry
naturally dry
now we are in a drought
now we are unnaturally dry

here they get their water from a reservoir and from underground water and from the california water system and from lakes

one of the water sources got a lot of debris and stuff in it so it is not at its full capacity for providing water
its not raining so the other sources arent to full capacity
the water table in california is dropping
in fact in some locations the ground is even dropping as more water is removed

man as a species needs three things
air
food
water

the basic needs triangle

we here are at risk if things turn bad to loose the water angle of that triangle

in the mid nineties a saline water system was set up
it was shutdown as it was i think too expensive to run
cheaper water was available

now cheaper water isnt available
heck expensive water my not even be available soon

so
the city decided to reactivate the saline water plant

now israel is the best i think at doing this
i think all their water comes from the ocean

so reactivate it they did

heres how it works

water is sucked deep from the ocean two miles away
about where the oil platforms are i think
i dont really know that to be a fact

the water is sucked through screening to keep out larger animals and creatures
no sharks or crabs or mussels or lobsters are allowed in

it goes through filters eventually into reverse osmosis
eventually all thats left is pure water
expensive water
but
water
remember that triangle
gotta have water

then they put stuff back into it so it matches up with all the other water the city gets from other sources
things like minerals etc

i think it represents 20+-% of the cities water

the stuff thats left from the desalinization is then dumped back into the ocean since its real salty
way out about a mile and half about where the city waste water dumps their stuff into the ocean

i sure hope the pipe sucking the ocean water into the system isnt close to where this waste water is dumped and isnt close to those oil platforms

seems a disaster in the making if they reactivate those oil platforms

we seem not to learn lessons do we

i told someone yesterday my wife she and i still handle our water like we were back in texas on the rainwater system
limiting dishwashing and running water while brushing teeth etc showering with less water limiting how much water i use in my garden
in fact im using the methods i used in texas
i water my garden only once a week underground and use a heavy mulch of pine straw to prevent water loss

the average person in the city uses 350 gallons a day a recent article read
we use that in a week
maybe that was a misprint or something

i cant wait to turn on my facet and drink this 20% sea water drinking water

i wonder if it tastes salty
maybe it smells like you are at the beach

the organicgreen doctor

you are what you eat

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

when i eat something out of my organic garden i know that there are no poisons in the food

no pesticides no insecticides no nonorganic weed killers

zero 

nada

when i go over to ms b house or have her at our house and make her some oatmeal or cereal

i should feel comfortable that no poisons are in the mixture she is eating

i really havent thought about it much 

until 

today

in california a jury awarded a groundskeeper about 290 million dollars for getting lymphoma from using roundup (glycophospate) over the years

he tells of the spray bottle breaking and getting soaked with the stuff

he also got a lot of backspray when he sprayed it everywhere

he says it caused him  to get lymphoma

the jury agrees with him

a lot of non usa countries agree with them

the state of california agrees with them

it causes cancer

just spill a bunch on you or spray it in your face or get some in your mouth

wait a few minutes and see if you dont feel funny

it absorbs through the skin nose moth and lungs

of course monsanto and the companies that make it say it aint so

would you let your baby or infant or toddler or young child eat it

well of course you wouldnt

but

you probably have been feeding it to them everyday for breakfast

remember a little goes a long way in kids

we all try to take good care of our kids

making them eat the right things

then

this all happens

in this study mentioned on the news 

out of 45 samples of oat cereals or meals

all but two had levels not accepted for roundup in food

wait a minute

you mean there are levels that are acceptable in oatmeal in kids

sorrry

that doesnt seem right

whats scary is that even a few organic cereals had roundup in them

someone was lying when they grew the oats

or

someone got sprayed from the neighbor next door

this 

seems unacceptable to me

so i asked ms b

ms b do you like roundup on your cherios or your oatmeal

no way she said

thats yucky

i agree

dont you

thats not acceptible

its noted that major companies oat products were tested

ill let you look them up in this article

so ms b

looks like we will be growing oats in the garden now

no roundup will get in the oats there

the organicgreen doctor

a promise for the future

A PROMISE FOR THE FUTURE

i attended a junior college
my wife she attended junior college
my historian brother attended junior college
i have a bachelor degree and a medical degree
my wife she has a bachelor degree and some graduate work
my historian brother has two bachelor degrees one masters degree and a phd

we all might not have gone to college if we had not had the local junior college available to gives us the start we needed
i know for sure i wouldnt have gone back to college

junior college gives many folks a bridge between high school and a four year school
for myself and my brother both of us flunked out of school our first semester of regular four year school
we both needed some maturity to happen before we were able to restart our college careers

more and more kids are attending junior colleges now
many do it since its cheaper
if you listen to dave ramsey much you know he tells folks to go to junior college to get the first two years and then transfer to a four year school for the last two years
a not expensive one

i am amazed at folks who get a 4 year degree from an expensive school
for the cost of over $120,000+
many owe most of that on student loans
if they become a school teacher then they will be able to pay it off maybe before they start drawing social security at 65

so junior colleges are here for second chances convenience and to save you a lifetime of debt

so its with interest i read this article in the local online newspaper here

the local junior college or community college i guess its called now
if you live in their community college district
offers free college
yes free college
there we go paying our tax monies for free college
nope
its all from private donations
so no whining on that one

my impression is that
you have to
go straight from high school to college
or
straight from the military to college
take at least 12 units
maintain a certain grade average
do it in 2 years
now i did mine in 4 years since i took only 2 classes a semester
once i reestablished that i was college material i went full time

i like the feel of this program
do the work on time and you qualify
dont do the work on time then you dont qualify
maybe this is what is missing in a lot of the community colleges
some accountibility

although i wouldnt have qualified for this program or my brother or my wife she
i wish there were more of these across the usa

this is a promise for the future
for those who take advantage
especially those who are financial disadvantaged

i like it

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n news-the tomato that could

SB COUNTRY N NEWS-THE TOMATO THAT COULD

see that tomato perched high on that chickens tail feathers
theres a story on how it got there

that chicken made the cut when we started getting rid of stuff before we moved here last year
yes its one of the things we stuck in our cars as we headed west

this chicken is quite heavy
ms b cant hardly move it on the table
my former patient now deceased made this for me to give to my wife she
i told him i wanted a chicken bowl
so
he got a stump of an old mesquite from deep south texas
using his skills with a chain saw and wood chisels and his artist skills
he made this for me

it sits proudly at our condo on our dining room table
like its a hen sitting on a bunch of eggs
it looks so real
you almost expect some baby chicks to come scurrying out from under its wings

last year as i started preparing for my spring summer tomato plantings
i took several tomatoes i bought at the nursery
transplanted them into larger pots
then later
transplanted them again into larger pots
so
by march the first they were ready to plant in my garden
all eight of them

so i loaded all eight of them in the back of my car for planting time
as i unloaded them in the garden
i thought i had eight didnt i
nope looks like it was just seven
so i planted them

as i drove up to our condo garage
there sitting in front of the garage was a squished black pot with a tomato all gnarly looking
broken with half the dirt gone

my wife she said a neighbor had found it in the middle of the driveway
knowing i was a gardener figured it was mine
so she scooped and scraped it off the pavement
put it into the mashed pot
so
i watered it real good
planted it in my garden

it was a cherokee purple
it just seemed to struggle real bad
several times i almost plucked it from the garden
but
i wanted to give it a chance

it only put out a few yellow blooms
deep inside the bush one day i found this small green gnarly looking tomato
everything about this tomato plant has been grnarly

i gave it extra care
extra water
extra fertilizer
i even would talk to it when i was working in the garden
i swear it smiled once and said thank you

it said
i only have enough
enough energy to make one it said
i want to make a good one for you
since you have cared for me when i was all beat up

so
over tirme
that little green gnarly tomato
it grew slowly real slowly
it grew up into that big ole ripe gnarly looking tomato
thats perched up on that chickens tail
proud it seemed perched up there

remember
dont give up on folks or things
they can surprise you sometimes

no
i didnt eat this tomato
i little it get real ripe
real juicy ripe
and
gave it to the lady that saved that tomato that day in march

paying it forward sort of


mr h is stable and still in the unit

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-a week of reflection

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A WEEK OF REFLECTION

this has been a long week of reflections

on tuesday august 7th was my parents anniversary
he was a minister
she was a nurse
he i think had alzheimers disease when he died although not officially diagnosed but as i gain more knowledge about this disease i realized that was probably what he had
she my mom we know she had alzheimers disease since we her kids lived with it for several years
some having to provide more care than others
it was hard on them since they were there day by day
hard on those of us too far to provide that much needed daily relief that caregivers need
so the reflection about my parents lives filled my thoughts this week

then on that same day our new grandson mr h we will call him was born
early he was
so he is still in nicu here in the los angeles area
we will be happy when he goes home

i also reflected on my blog since that day is my 8 year anniversary of my blog having reached 775,000 readers over that time period in my almost 1900+ blogs that ive written
i wish two things that i hope my blog has done

make folks smile and chuckle to start their day
and
to educate and inform folks about alzheimers disease

if that happens with my blog then i am satisfied

then
i did a lot of reflection this week as i received my next to last infusion in this part of the biogen aducanumab hope it makes a difference alzheimers research study at ucla
yep a lot of reflection
thinking how lucky i am to be in this study if its one that will truly make a difference for myself and for others

next month this trajectory im on i think will get a bump as the study ends and i start that second phase called the long term extension which i found out yesterday for me might get extended even beyond the 18 months it was planned
by that time we will know if this drug works and if it will probably be on the market for you and others to use

i realize that for me
this is it
there is not another chance at really doing something to make a difference in this disease
im hoping i made the right decision


yesterday as i was sitting with ms b and about to be headed to see her brother mr h and then go off to ucla
she said
granddaddy
could you get a purple bandaid on your owie this time

i smiled
yes sweetie i will
so
i did
as you can see in the above picture

made me feel better just that little statement she made

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b- your life just changed

DEAR MS B-YOUR LIFE JUST CHANGED

well ms b
your life will never be the same
im afraid you wont be top dog anymore
you will always though be at the top of the list in our hearts forever

that little brother arrived yesterday
i know you cant hold him yet but maybe before the week is up you can

ms b
heres what will happen
i really sorry to tell you this but
you will have to share mommy and daddy now with your new brother
dont worry there is plenty of love to go around
he will im sorry to say will want to play with your favorite paw patrol toys
he will want to hold your bun bun
he might even chew on its ear
maybe spit up on it some
he will probably pull on your hair
he will probably follow your around like a little puppy
he will stand up to well you know instead of sit down
he will drink mommys milk for awhile
he will have to have his diapers changed for a while
well for a long time
until he can go on his own like you learned to do
he wont talk but he will make a lot of noises
maybe ms be
his first words will be
miss b
wouldnt that be grand

we hope like you that he likes to play outside and dig for treasures in the dirt
like those big seeds we took last week and duct tapped to your earlobes to make those special earrings and necklace
well maybe he wont like the earring things but he will like digging in the dirt
just dont let him eat too much of it
maybe just a little preferably just good rich compost

yep ms b
you gonna have to learn to be a big sister now
i think you are prime for the job
you can tell him what to do
while he is young he will do it but later he probably wont
in fact ms b
youll probably have to get mommy and daddy to put a lock on your door

he will be fun though
enjoy him while you can
youll grow up
hell grow up
you may not see him much
but
that love sibling love you can develop can last forever

enjoy ms b
enjoy

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-the science of alzheimers

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-THE SCIENCE OF ALZHEIMERS

im sure all alzheimers patients during their course of illness become depressed
when i have my evaluations a few times a year i am screened for symptoms of depression

as a physician i know what they are and i look for them in my life

that said
sometimes
its only happened a few times
i get melancholic
lucky for me it only lasts for a couple of hours
then i shake it off and move on

i got that way when my mom died from alzheimers
i got that way when my younger brother died from alzheimers
i get that way every year around my moms birthday and his birthday
but its a temporary thing
then i move on

i think everyone with a fatal disease has this problem
my friend who died from huntingtons disease did
our friend his wife who died recently with cancer had depression
most do i think

i know my disease is fatal
but i feel like somehow im getting a reprieve that so far has lasted eight years

so this last week
after i worked in the garden had lunch took a short nap
i felt this overwhelming melancholy that i recognized
it lasted for about a couple of hours
i wanted to be left alone

what i did was i took this time magazine special edition out onto our condos porch
sat down
and
read all of it
it took me about an hour and half

there is an article about a couple where the husband is in the same study i am in
we have the same hope that this stuff will work

i felt better after reading this special edition
i felt some hope that what i am doing is right
that there will be some treatment coming in the near future

i also watched the interview with dr rudy tanz a nationally well known alzheimers researcher
which gave me more hope
and
a better understanding of the disease process and future treatments

the video on there is lengthy but the article summarizes whats in the video

i suggest if you are dealing with the possibility of alzheimers disease in yourself or your family or your friends that you obtain a copy of this special edition from somewhere like amazon
or your local library
and
also watch this interview of dr tanz and or read the artcle on the intreview

i felt better after reading and watching
hopefully you will too

there is some hope for the future

the organicgreen doctor