this shouldnt be happening in the us

THIS SHOULDNT BE HAPPENING IN THE US

i remember when it happened to me
i was in elementary school
i was kept in a dark room all day long
im not sure why they did that something to do with blindness
i was covered head to toe with a rash
i ran high fever
i was born too soon
about 10 years later a vaccine became available for this infection
which was caused by a virus
the virus
measles

i managed to get through this illness ok without any long term effects

i could have developed encephalitis
as a doctor i saw one case of this at a long term care facility where this pretty teenage girl who had developed measles which developed into encephalitis with its residual neurological damage
she lay in bed or a lounge chair all day long with permanent severe brain damage

i could have died
1-2 of 1,000 children who get measles die
1 of 1,000 who get measles get encephalitis
pregnant women who get measles are at risk for miscarriage or stillbirth or premature birth
many who get measles devolop severe croup ear infections pneumonia diarrhea

i survived unscathed
not all do

those who are unimmunized or those who are immunocompromised are at high risk of catching the disease eg like those on chemotherapy transplant patients hiv patients

its easy to prevent all this from happening to the community
get your mmr at 12-15 months and at 4-6 years
maybe get another in the teenage years or later if in high risk environments
the mmr is measles mumps rubella

the first mmr gives you 93% effective immunity against measles
the second mmr gives you 96% effective immunity against measles
what this means is that there is a small percentage of kids and adults who arent immune even though they got the shots
they get protection by the rest of us being protected
those immunocompromised folks get protection by the rest of us being protected

there is really no excuse

in my 30+ year medical career i never saw a case of active measles

these outbreaks of measles should only be happening in third world countries

it the outbreaks should not be happening here

the organicgreen doctor

sb country n garden news-my new tomato cages

SB COUNTRY N GARDEN NEWS

when we moved from texas we only moved what we could put in our two cars
everything else was sold given away or donated

this last week my wife she said you know i found some of that white stuff you used in the garden in texas all folded up in a box
do you want it

now that white stuff is called row cover which is shown above
its mainly used to make the plants warmer when its cold
it can produce if its the thick kind up to 5-7 degrees more warmth

now i didnt intend to bring it here since i knew it doesnt freeze here where we live now
maybe a few miles towards the mountain it does but not here

so recently i was thinking about my tomatoes
the prize veggie that many gardeners try to grow

i was thinking you know it doesnt freeze in the garden
i bet i could push the limits and plant my tomatoes early
i wish i had some row cover i thought to myself
i even checked on amazon and some garden websites to order me some
then
thats when my wife she gave me the good news that she had found some of my row cover
the thick kind

so i got this early girl tomato a few weeks ago and planted it in this 3 gallon pot
i move it inside at night and put it out on the sunny porch in the morning

since its now about 2+ ft tall now
well i was thinking maybe i could put it in the ground now like i did in texas

so heres my plan
i will dig a hole in the ground deep enough so that only about 6 inches or so of the tomato is sticking above the ground
i already prepped the soil well with 4 inches of compost all forked in with a large fork tool
then i added some good organic fertilizer made by e b stone
then i added a good soaking of a fish emulsion seaweed molasses mixture

then when i get ready to plant i will dig my deep hole and partially bury my tomato plant
ill just do one this year
if it works ill do more next year
i chose early girl since its an early producer

then
i realized i needed some tomato cages
in texas i used circular concrete wire cages which i gave away when i moved
here in my limited space they would be too heavy and bulky

so
on you tube i found this video on using this 5 ft 14 gauge fence wire with 2 in x 4 in squares
its cheaper and lighter and easily put together and easily to take apart and stack in a pile in my garage for storing

so
i cut 5 ft of the wire leaving an almost 2 inch wire at each cut
the wire was rolled up into a cage and the 15 almost 2 inch wires were bent back to hold the cage in place
then
the new cage was stood up

the wire was cut along the bottom like in this picture so that pitch fork looking wires were made
then the cage was turned over and the forks were inserted into the ground to hold the cage in place
i used some bamboo poles left over from last year to help make the cage stand up better

then
i cut out a 4 in x 8 inch square down low so i can reach my hand into the cage
as the tomato grows i will cut more of these holes maybe just doing 4 in x 4 in holes

now i have my cage to put over my newly planted early girl tomato
then
i will take my texas row cover and wrap the cage with it to make it 5-7 degrees warmer
hoping that will speed up the growth in this cool time of the year here

in texas
our cat would sometimes be found under row cover since it was warm and toasty under there

i hope the tomato will enjoy it as much as the cat did

the organicgreen doctor

how long is a hardboiled egg good for

HOW LONG IS A HARDBOILED EGG GOOD FOR

first let me say that my wife she is a good sport when i write about her
sometimes i make things up just to make a point in my blog
today
well....

when i saw a video on hardboiled eggs i instantly thought of my wife she

we had one class together in college
a microbiology class
my wife she initially was going to be a nurse but changed her mind after working in a hospital while in college
but
we took microbiology together
in the lab portion i sat right behind her as we made different bacteria grow in the lab

an aside here
we had another class together
she was in a chemistry lab that i was the lab teacher for
she always says she got an a in the class  ;) ;)
just to be correct we werent even dating when we were in those two classes
but
i did notice her

so in microbiology
i just now thought about it and realized that she learned how to grow things like bacteria and molds while taking that lab
she then transferred that knowledge to our refrigerator

based on how well she can grow that stuff in our refrigerator i am sure like me that she got an a in microbiology
especially the lab portion

now how does all this connect to hardboiled eggs

heres how

when we were kids we used real eggs hardboiled and decorated when we hid our easter eggs
it seems each year an egg would be missed
and
found months later
when
it was a real real rotten egg

i know hard boiled is the right way to write this
but
to me hardboiled just looks better

we
being a mischievous group were known to throw that egg at another unsuspecting sibling
even if we missed them when the egg hit the ground it provided enough sulfur smell to have its effect

a hardboiled egg should only be left in the refrigerator for 1 week with or without the shell
preferably in a covered airtight dish
i always wondered about that when i would buy those trader joes boiled eggs in a bag
even when you freshly open it there is that slight smell of a little toot

if you leave a hardboiled egg out it should only be left out for 2 hours

food like egg salad should be only in the refrigerator for 2-3 days

all this to avoid a smelly refrigerator and maybe an upset stomach

i hope maybe not though my wife she reads this today

the organicgreen doctor

mine got recalled

MINE GOT RECALLED

when asked
are you going to stop your blood pressure meds now
i said
no

i dont want to die of a stroke or have a heart attack or damage my kidneys or damage my eyes or do small vessel damage in my brain
im doing what i can to slow down the potential for increasing more disease going on in my brain

they asked
but your blood pressure med irbesartan is one of those that increased your chances of getting cancer

no
it wasnt the drug irbesartan it was an added ingredient called nitrosodiethylamine or ndea that increases your chance of cancer not the irbesartan
ndea is one of those nitrosomines found eg in tobacco smoke that is cancer causing

a related first cousin med valsartan also had too much ndea in the drug for several years but the company kept selling it

it was like the patients were smoking cigarettes for all those years i guess

well i said
choose your poison
a slight chance of getting cancer
or
a much higher chance of having an event i mentioned above or aggravating some disease above
i chose the later

i chose with the blessing of my doctor to first start taking the irbesartan for my high blood pressure
why
it works well
it has no major side effects
the only issue ive had is i would get dizzy if i bent over in my garden a couple of hours after taking it
so
i just take it at night
ive had no problem since
plus
its generic and not branded
it controls my blood pressure well
that class of drugs the angiotensin 2 receptor blocker or arb may have benefit in slowing down alzhiemers disease
so
im not going to change

i only have 14 pills left anyway
all those i took last year i cant do anything about
those extra 14 pills arent going to make things worse
if  they caused cancer its done and taking a few more wont make it worse
plus
i didnt have a stroke have a heart attack or fail my kidneys or hopefully not made my alzheimers worse

in fact my blood pressure at ucla this last week after my 5th for sure aducanumab infusion dose was 124/72
im happy
so
i wont change my meds since i know in two weeks ill get a new batch with a lower level of that ingredient in there
this is what the fda recommends that folks dont stop their meds

the new prescriptions will be safer

i figured
i might get sicker by eating ecoli spinach or salmenella lettuce than taking my blood pressure meds
well
since i organically grow my own spinach and lettuce and kale and cabbage
thats not going to happen to me

ill just call my doc
hey doc
i need a refill please

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-update

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-UPDATE

two weeks ago when i went back for my new five year extension of the biogen aducanumab study as i was being interviewed and filling out all the paperwork i could see the excitement on her face
she being the physician who was the research director for the study here at ucla

i recognized that look
i saw it on the face of the director of the alzheimers research center in dallas as he was examining me at the beginning of the study almost 3 years ago.
he was quite animated and excited while usually he was more business like in his approach

he who just was written about in the news for his new drug that is an injectable vaccine that induces the body to produce antibodies against both the amyloid protein and the tau protein in the body
even though his drug may end up to be a better one than the aducanumab drug im on he was still quite excited about the aducanumab my drug

then
i also recognized it on the face of the study research director at dallas when he first interviewed me for this study

all three are alzheimers researchers and their excitement was contagious

in the extension of this study i will receive 60 more infusions so when its all over the total will be somewhere around 85+- infusions of aducanumab if i wasnt on the placebo to start with
i feel like i got the real drug and not placebo at the beginning

i will have 10 more brain mris over the next 5 years plus multiple neurological exams and memory tests and ekgs and blood tests and an amyvid pet scan sometime along the way maybe at the end
if  the aducanumab works my last amyvid pet scan should be read as negative
my amyvid pet scan was positive at the start of the study

the infusions if they make to the market will costs around $4,000 for each infusion
if you do the math i will receive about $340,000 worth of medications during this study

thats about what 2-3 years in a nursing home or memory center will cost

is it all worth it
for me i think so
if this stuff should really work well then i could die of something else besides alzheimers disease
like
maybe
folks will say
yep
he just died of old age

if that happens
then
im good with that

the organicgreen doctor

dear mr h-shes an angel

DEAR MR H-SHES AN ANGEL

for those who dont know mr h is my grandson who is almost 6 months old
he has chronic renal failure due to an obstruction during the pregnancy that damaged his kidneys
the obstruction was easily fixed right after birth but the residual damage had been done

it is expected that he will have to receive a kidney transplant sometime after his first birthday
it is also possible he will have to undergo dialysis prior to the transplant until he grows enough to receive a donor kidney

when all this happens is determined by how well his damaged kidneys work over the next few months
so as a family we have started following kids who have chronic kidney disease to get a feel for what mr h is up against over the next few months and years
especially those cases that mirror his case

so this last week
there on the tv
on americas got talent was this little angel singing

prior to her singing they did a short story on her


wikipedia.org

her name
angelica hale
her website
click here

she had septic shock from pneumonia when she was 4
her kidneys were permanently damaged like mr hs kidneys
otherwise she was healthy
she underwent dialysis until she could get a kidney transplant
she got one from her mom a few months later
sometimes moms match
sometimes they dont
its interesting to note that the mom had another pregnancy after she donated a kidney
the little sister was present to listen to her little angel sister sing

it seemed the song she sung that night was really about her story
she sang
fight song
in earlier competition she sang
rise up
and
girl on fire
yes she has gotten two golden buzzers in her two competitions

after knowing her story and remembering her from her second place in a recent past americas got talent
the song choice blending with her story made all of us here in our house and many in the audience and at home shed a tear

for us
this little angel gave us hope for the future seeing what someone who is going through what mr h is facing
to see her be successful

mr h
let her be your inspiration
dont let this thing slow you down any
do whatever you want to do
make your songs
the fight song
rise up
boy on fire

yep
angelica hale
you get my golden buzzer
mr h
you get my golden buzzer too

the organicgreen doctor

its all semantics

ITS ALL SEMANTICS 

the wall
this 4 letter word is just a word but its holding up our whole country
so
i suggest both sides quit using this 4 letter word
so
lets call the wall what it really is all about
border security

so as the politicians on both sides of the aisle use the word wall
insert the word border security in your brain

eg
we need a better system on our southern border
we need a wall
we dont need a wall
instead
in your brain put in the word border security
eg
we need border security
we dont need border security

so trump would say we need border security
so pelosi and crew would say we dont need border security
no they would have to say we need border security
they both are saying the same thing now

can you see how
semantics
just
maybe
it solves our problem


then
when i hear all this stuff about the wall and border security i always think of one thing
thats
big bend national park

have you ever been there
two of the most awing places we have been are
the grand canyon
big bend national park

if you have ever been there to either of them
then you know how beautiful and awe inspiring both are

so i always think
what would big bend look like if a big old wall was built along the texas mexico border along big bend national park
it would be like doing something like that down the middle of the grand canyon or along its southern border

i as a former texan and lover of nature and a lover of big bend could not imagine a concrete wall  or any wall separating us from that beautiful rio grande canyon wall

we hiked up along the canyon walls watching rafters float by
yes it was easy to cross over in places
but
then where you gonna go
out into the desert to die

maybe they could ask the ranchers and the mayors and the us house of representatives from that area what they would want done to the big bend southern border
im sure they would all say
nothing leave it alone
since
the rio grande has been that border since when time was started hundreds of years ago
lets dont do that
put a wall down there

but
its ok to provide border security in that region
isnt that what we want all around our borders on all four sides

border security
the semantically correct words

the organic green doctor

the bowl is set

THE BOWL IS SET

newshawk.com article

now that the teams for the super bowl game are set
lets please take all the politics out of the game
we
americans
need a break
the super bowl gives us a chance for a few hours to escape
watch all those great commercials
watch a great halftime show if politics dont screw that part up
then
hopefully watch a great game
like
the two that were played yesterday

yep
folks
we need a break

now
i watched both games some of it live and some of it on my dvr this morning when i got up at 4am
i dont like to read about a game and depend on someone elses opinion on what happened
like that call that wasnt called that cost the saints the super bowl appearance
if its called the game is over
granted they had other chances to win
but
i saw that play i reviewed it myself and i said to myself and my wife she
drew got screwed

i will admit
since im older now
i really really wanted to see two 40 year old quarterbacks play against each other in the super bowl

now
if you asked me what quarterback would you want to watch play in the super bowl
i would say in this order
mahomes
then
breese
then
brady
then
goff

which would i pay to see play well the same order

i also decided if i couldnt see the two old guys play in the super bowl
then
i would want to see the two young guys play each other
but
i dont get to decide do i
that gets decided on the field
despite what happened thats where it got decided
on the field
lets move on

i really want tom brady to win the super bowl then i would love to see him retire
while he is on top of the world

not many do that

yep we need a break

then last night as we drove home from a get together we saw all these folks standing on the sidewalk
looking up at the sky
even the homeless folks were looking up there
in our condo folks were all outside even though it was dark peering up at the sky
at the wolf super eclipse moon or whatever it was called

i imagined all over the united states folks of all types were frozen in place gazing upwards
like my wife she and i
a few moments where everything else was forgotten
as we
seized the moment
all of us together

cant we have a super wolf eclipse full moon moment in politics

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-a sad story

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A SAD STORY

my historian brother sent me a newspaper article that a distant cousin had sent him from an out of state newspaper
its a sad story

this distant cousin said this person in the article was a more distant cousin

i recently made a family tree of dementia and posted it
this cousin came of a branch of my dads sister that i dont ever recall seeing so i dont know if my aunt had dementia like her brother and her sister and her mother had
ie
my dad my aunt and my paternal grandmother
but
dementia is riddled all through out our family tree

this 86 year old women was found standing over her husband with a broken bloody cane
she had beat him to death
she was confused and didnt make sense when the neighbor who called the police and the police talked to her
they said she was obviously had mental difficulties
no
she had dementia and being my distant relative probably has alzheimers disease

she was handcuffed and shuffled to jail and is charged with murder

usually when you see someone killed and its alzheimers related the person has turned a gun on themselves and committed suicide
or
a loved one has taken mercy on them and shot them or overdosed them or like a story i read about in the paper last week a husband smothered his wife with a pillow

is this lady guilty
what should happen to her

are the spouses guilty of murder
what should happen to them

just take a minute and think about what society should do

i remember worrying about my younger brother who had alzheimers disease having access to his guns he used in his job as a deputy sheriff and guns he used to sport hunt
the family removed them from the home

usually when someone has alzheimers disease they cant figure out how to commit suicide since the disease has advanced too far like in the movie still alice when she couldnt find her pills she had saved to overdose on
but
as someone who thinks of what it will be like in the future for me it does enter your mind sometimes
at what point does it happen
it seems to be uncommon that a dementia patient commits suicide though
since
you want to extract the most out of your cognitive lights as long as you can so you can enjoy them before the cognitive lights go off and you cant turn them back on

i think about frequently what my younger brother and mom were thinking and feeling as their disease progressed

when did they know they had a problem
or
at what point did their cognitive lights go out
or
i guess it was more like a dimming switch

for me i know i guess since im tested so much and i am more acutely aware of my memory  i seem to be more aware of whats normal for my age and whats not normal
hopefully
it will i guess be easier for me to know when things start dimming before my lights go out before that dim switch goes click

one of my fears is that i become the opposite of the person that i am now
like my younger brother did later into his disease
like my mom did later into her disease
i dont want to go there

also i have requested that my wife she doesnt photograph me or let others photograph me as my disease progresses
i want folks to remember as i am now
i thought more about this when i looked through my cousins book she wrote on her moms dementia journey and saw the pictures of her in the wheelchair with that obvious alzheimers stare

yep
when the lights go off leave them off

the organicgreen doctor

whered they go

WHERED THEY GO

i wondered this a lot the day we thought we were being attacked by the drone but it turned out to be the space x rocket zooming overhead as we walked in the butterfly grove
see the blog what a way to go for the full story

as we walked we saw all these signs that said do not enter its dangerous
so
we walked past the signs down the pathways through the grove

we have lived here two falls and have came here in november december january looking for all those butterflies
on that particular day we saw 3
well it may have been the same one that just followed us through our law breaking journey
i was looking for those thousands and thousands of monarchs that would stay there each winter for about 3 months
why
i read about it in a book i was given on hikes in this area
noting that the book was 20 so years old
apparently at the time of the hike books publication these monarchs came through and stayed for 3 months or so
now they like millions of other monarchs are just gone
why

not long ago i read this best seller fiction novel that with the story gives you a good history of the monarchs
it made me want to see those strands of monarchs holding onto the eucalyptus limbs starting to flutter as the sun warmed them up
getting to see hundreds of them flying around through the forest


amazon.com

alas we only got to see three or one we saw three times
it was pretty flitting around in the morning sunlight
i can only imagine what it looked like just a few years ago with hundreds fluttering around

why whats happening to the monarchs
climate change
maybe roundup
urban sprawl
habitat loss
severe drought

at this area in 2017 they counted 1390
not sure how they counted them when they are all fluttering around
we had trouble counting that one which i think we counted three times

in 2018 they counted 205

whatever it is they are gone
hopefully not forever

can we save them
maybe maybe not

at our school garden we planted 3 native milkweeds and one tropical milkweed
we got a lot of monarch caterpillars that chewed all the milkweeds up
maybe our small contribution will help

why dont you do something to help
click and read this nice usda article on the monarchs
and
do something about climate change

the organicgreen doctor

getting old

GETTING OLD
these are the words that i dont want to utter
im getting old

over the last week i have thought about it a lot
its been a week since i started this cataract journey
its made me think a lot about
am i getting old

now
ive been fighting getting old since i retired 8 years old
so far
i think ive been winning
until
this last week

after the second surgery last week to remove the dislocated lens
i started thinking
im getting old

my day starts with a 2-3 hour bout of computer time
its the only time i get on the computer the rest of the day
i know after i get my 3 cups of coffee and take my aricept (donnepezil) that i will have a burst of energy that will usually last until 100pm
then i start fading some
so
i take a nap
usually about an hour or so
i also take that time to watch my favorite news show and to watch my favorite sports show
then
after the nap i get up and do some busy work inside or outside until our evening meal
having lost some of that busy energetic self

now i will have a good 8-12 hrs of good energy
enough to do what i like to do
it rarely ever involves sitting still except for my computer time and my nap time

that is
until this last week
half my day is spent putting those 5 eye drops in my eye four times a day with five minutes between the drops
you can do the math to see how much time gets eaten up by those drops
cutting into my getting things done time

then
i developed double vision if i tried to not use a lens on my surgerized eye side since its starting to approach normal
so i popped my old lens for someone with real bad vision back in to stop my double vision
so right now my vision is right where i was when i started before the surgery

now
the plan is to pop a contact in the non surgerized eye tomorrow so i can then use the improving surgerized eye without glasses on
which will eliminate the double vision
yes i tripped over a lot of cracks in the sidewalk when we went walking holding onto my wife she as i went along
this is a place i dont want to be in

also going up and down the stairs was hard since i couldnt tell which stair was real and which was an illusion
i took my time
held onto the rail
held onto my wife she
like some little old elderly man with my bernie glasses on

you can forget driving
but
once i put my old glasses on all that went away
i just couldnt see as well out of the surgerized eye looking through the old lens
for now that will have to do

i was even able to drive with my old glasses

hopefully tomorrow will bring a better day on the eye front
i realized that i might not be wearing glasses again after 56 years of wearing glasses
i realized that i have never owned a pair of sunglasses
only clipons or bernie over the glasses sunglasses or those tinted lens that made it hard to see since my prescription was so strong

i dont know i might have to just pop out both lenses or have fake lenses put in my glasses so i can wear them
wearing glasses seems to be embedded in my dna since ive worn them for so long

yep
a new world tomorrow
for the better if i can get the surgerized eye to 20/20

now
someone asked me yesterday at the ucla research center
are you going to get the other one done
i dont think so i said
ill decide after all this trauma is over with
probably not i thought later

ill just may have to accept being a one eyed willie forever

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-make it last longer

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-MAKE IT LAST LONGER

the research person emailed me last week
she said
can you bring my wife she with you to your mri scan on tuesday
why i emailed her back
she said
the aducanumab study the long term extension part just got extended to 5 years
we need yall to sign the paper work tuesday to continue you in the extension
well be there

now i had planned to drive down myself to ucla today to get my mri
zoom down and zoom back
the brain mri is being done every so often to make sure i dont have microbleeding in the brain

however
if you have read my last two blogs you know that i got a little waylaid with my recovery from my two cataract surgeries
only one was planned
i got the special
i got two
so i cant drive today anyway

my wife she had planned to help out with grandbaby duty with ms b and mr h
maybe later today

then
it seems floods may occur sometime today in the montecito area
its been about a year since the floods happened
oprah and the rest of the montecitians are asked to evacuate
she could stay at our place if she wants

then
the recent fires along the 101 in the thousand oaks area are going to be prone to mudslides today and tomorrow
our plan
get there then get back home

normally i would reschedule all this since there is so much happening today
but
we have decided that only death will keep me from keeping my appointments for this study

the biogen aducanumab biib037 study that i am in may be the partial answer to slowing this disease down for me and the other 1600+ of us in the study
then
if it does work some it may be available some day for you and your family

briefly
the aducanumab an antibody obtained from older folks who dont get alzheimers is made in large amounts in the lab
when given intravenously it goes to the brain and removes the amyloid plaques from the brain removes any amyloid floating around and stimulates the garbage guys microglia to clean up and also fight the inflammatory response that happens

if removing the amyloid and cleaning things up makes a difference it will show up in better memory tests and delayed disease
already in those who get the drug the amyloid gets mostly cleared out as shown on amyloid scans called the amyvid pet scans
if it does all this it will be on the market

i did 18 months initially of either the placebo or the real drug
i had a 67% chance of getting the real drug
i think that i got the real drug since i had headaches a week after my first dose
headaches being the number one side effect thats seen
headaches were more common in folks like me who carrying the apoe 4 gene known as the late alzheimers gene
then in october of 2018 i started another 18-24 months of for real getting the real stuff
all placebo folks were started on the drug
this part of the study is called the long term extension

today
i and my wife she will be signing the permits to be part of the new long term extention of another 3 years
which means if i got the real drug in the beginning  then i will get a total of at least 6-7 years of the real drug

this if this stuff really works this could be a life changer for me

i have said my goal is to make it to ms bs high school graduation
i have 15 more years to go
at the end of this study i will be halfway there

if i dont make it well i really cant complain since 8 years ago i really didnt think would be able to sit here today and write this blog

yep i cant complain
a little inconvenience is not going to waylay me at all today

the organicgreen doctor

dislocated

DISLOCATED

these are my weekend at bernies glasses
if you saw the movie you understand
no i cant make myself wear them
plus when i do my wife she laughs at me and calls me bernie

in my medical career ive seen a lot of dislocated things like
fingers
ankles
knees
hips elbows
toes shoulders
clavicles
jaws
noses
necks
backs
so i have a visual and personal experience with dislocations
some i put back in place on the spot

so when he said it was dislocated
all i could think of was the ankle dislocation and knee one
those were painful and painful to watch

that right eye of mine has been my nemesis
in high school before i got my safety lenses i got hit with an elbow playing basketball shattering my lens with the fragments slicing my cornea and some embedding themselves there
all the glass was removed
after two weeks it was healed and i got to return to full activities after that

in the mid 90s my eye became red and quite painful
i developed a marked headache that took vicodin to relieve
then i developed marked fatigue for awhile
i had iritis or uveitis which is inflammation of the iris and the eye
over the years it would flare and unflare requiring pupil dilatation and long term steroid eye drops
it seemed to flare for no reason every 2-3 years

about 3 years ago it flared and i was put on steroids in that eye for 3 months then thats when that agave thorn poked in my eye braking off in the eye
in these blogs i wrote about my experience
yes i used a pair of tweezers to remove the thorn even though it was broken off at the corneal level
yes my wife she gets real squeamish when i retell the story

if you want to know more read these old blogs
and
have a good laugh at my expense
click on these three links in order
-a thorny situation
-dethorned
-the treatment

after that time 3 years ago i have been on steroid eye drops every day
if i miss them i develop fatigue first then get headaches then if i dont start the steroids my eye will turn red like the pink eye and i will have vicodin eye pain
thats eye pain that only vicodin will relieve
i dont let it get that far though

as i saw my favorite ophthalmologist in austin right before i left she said you know you have an early cataract in that right eye that will be need to be removed one day
youll know when she said

when i moved to santa barbara i made an appointment with an ophthalmologist here to get my steroid drops and to have someone to see when the need arrives
yep
he said
youll know when its time just call me

this brings me to where i am today

as in my last blog right above this one i write about needing my cataract removed
so i underwent a completely painless stressless procedure
during the procedure he says do you take flomax  well he asked me several times
i said through the versed fog no but ive ordered it a lot for patients

when i woke good it was like someone had smeared vaseline all over my glasses
i could see light and that was it
no i couldnt read the big big e on the eye chart

he said
for some reason your pupil wouldnt dilate like it should and the lens wouldnt sit right like it was suppose to back in the eye
do you take flomax
no i said
your lens has dislocated and needs to be replaced

dislocated i thought of all those joints i had put back in place
cant you just snap it back where it belongs
its not that simple he said
we need to remove it and put in a slightly different lens and suture it in good

ive seen this happen with flomax
flomax makes old men pee better
but it also affects the pupil
do you take flomax he said
so i was scheduled the next day for
an exchange of lens right eye
i thought
exchange seems like a funny word to use

so i read up on dislocated lenses after cataract surgery
it happens in 10% of cases
one of the top ten risk factors was
iritis

so under the versed influence i went
they sure do this surgery fast
it only took a few minutes
this time i saw the stitches being put it
the next day i saw the redness on both sides of the whites of the eyes that werent there after surgery one
i presume that had something to do with the stitches

then
i started having an increase in eye pressures in that eye
high enough i had headaches and got nauseated
i knew what that meant when i had the symptoms

so
i was given glaucoma eye drops
i got 5% sodium chloride drops to put in that eye that sucks fluid out of the eye
the normal saline you wash you eye with or that you get in an iv is 0.9%
all i know is it burns like hell when i put it in the eye
i also was given an oral diuretic called diamox to take for a few days to help relieve the eye pressure

lucky for me except for the iv stick ive not had much pain except when my eye pressure shot up

today as i sit here
i estimate my vision in my right eye to be 20/100
it is like im looking through a mild fog or froggy as ms b calls it
i have no pain
i am on 5 different eye drops
a steroid one
an anti inflammatory one
a glaucoma one
the burns like hell saline one
an antibiotic one
all these meds  prices are whats wrong with drug pricing in the united states

i need a computer to keep up with the dosing

my vision improves as the day progresses
it reminds me of when i would have the severe flare up of iritis
there is a lot of dead cells that slough off in the eye fluid leaving a froggy or cloudy vision
this stuff tends to settle down in the lower part of the eye during the day then get stirred up at night while you sleep

its expected that this will eventually all return to normal vision in that eye

i sure hope so

as i was leaving the office the other day i said you know you shouldnt treat a doctor and their family
bad things happen

he said with a smile
i know

the organicgreen doctor

a new world

A NEW WORLD

sometime around when i was twelve years old i had a vision screening done at school that showed that i needed glasses
when i eventually got the glasses a new world opened up to me
when i looked up at the sky at night
well i could see the stars they were always talking about
well i could see that the moon wasnt huge like a big full harvest moon all the time
it was actually smaller
well the car lights at night werent this huge big old moon sized things coming down the road
they were actually small
well i could actually see the board at school to see what the teacher was writing up there
i was actually a good listener to pick up on what the teacher was writing on the board
i was always an a b student even though i couldnt see the board

even when i got my glasses i was bad about wearing my glasses
i didnt when i should have

i was a baseball pitcher from 10 years until i was 15 years old
there are so many funny stories i could tell about this one
i was the best pitcher in the league
i always made the all star team as the pitcher
the catcher couldnt give me signals cause i couldnt see his fingers so i always called my own pitches
he never knew what was coming
a fast ball a curve ball a knuckle ball a slider a screwball a change up pitch etc
there was many a time when i pitched the ball and the umpire wasnt in place
im surprised no one recognized it as a problem

my little league coach was an ex minor league pitcher who use to give me signals on what to pitch and where to pitch a hitter
the problem was i couldnt see his signals unless i walked off the mound over to the third base line so i could see his signals
once when i was 12 pitching in the all star game the all star catcher always called the pitches for his pitchers
he was probably the best player in the ten team league
he finally after i couldnt see his calls let me just pitch what i wanted

he was also the best hitter in the league and hit the most home runs
my goal even though i couldnt see him clearly was to not let him hit a home run on me
if he got a double or triple or a single i would be happy
i struck him out on more than one occasion probably the only time he struck out all year

also during that time if i wasnt pitching since you could only pitch so many innings i played first base
once during warm ups the third basemen threw me the ball that i couldnt see in the dim lights
kerplunk right in the face breaking my nose that required it being put back in place in the emergency room by my doctor former baseball coach

when i got my glasses finally i still wouldnt wear them
my pony league coach said you arent going to pitch unless you wear those glasses
so i wore them that season

it amazes me today that i was that good of a pitcher but couldnt see the batter or catcher or umpire or coach as they were blurs 30 feet away
i always batted 300 or more in the 6 years i played baseball
i always was the winningest pitcher in the league

i always was the quarterback from pee wee football starting at 10 years old until my freshman year when i was 15 years old
i never played football with my glasses on
i couldnt see the scoreboard to read the score or how much time was left and couldnt see the sidelines to get any signals
i am amazed that some of my coaches didnt step in to make sure i could see
when i threw a long pass i guess i used some sixth sense to complete the pass

i played high school basketball
i made all district or all county all four years of high school
during my ninth grade and my tenth grade i played basketball without glasses
i didnt have any
i couldnt see the scoreboard during the game to see the score or the time on the clock
even then i was one of the top two scorers on the team

my junior year my high school coach took me to the optometrist and got me glasses to wear
during classes and during games
it changed my life
ill alway remember him for what he did

im sure there were a lot of folks that talked about how i didnt say hi or acknowledge them away from school
i simply couldnt see them
i learned to recognize a persons walk and blur and voice

there was a period of time during my no glasses year what i call our poverty years we couldnt afford much much less glasses
i even remember having one pair of shoes that had a hole in them so i put cardboard in them

even when i got glasses as a teenager i was bad about wearing them

in our school after the 8th grade you had to buy your own books
in biology class i never had a book
i had to rely on what was said and written in class
on the board i couldnt see it so i had to just listen well
even then i still got an a in the class

why am i writing about this
well
tomorrow i have cataract surgery scheduled on my right eye
the vision on that eye has worsen to the stage where it needs fixed before it worsens
i sort of have been having flashbacks to my childhood when i close my left eye which is 20/20 with glasses
and try to see things with my right eye

my wife she didnt know or understand what i was doing with my left eye covered as i
looked at the moon
looked at the car lights
looked at the football scoreboard on tv

i was flashbacking
wondering if somehow my life would have been better someway if i could have been able to see normally all my life
or
did this all make me be successful in life
i dont know
im not sure

i told my wife she you know ive been wearing glasses now for over 55 years
glasses completely changed my life

im not sure i want to go without them as i will end up with normal vision

i may just have to put clear lenses in them and wear them even if i dont need them

i sat the other day with my glasses on the couch beside me
looking at them
remembering all what i wrote above

i felt sad but happy at the same time

maybe ill just wear sunglasses all the time to make me feel better

the organicgreen doctor

when sweeter isnt good

WHEN SWEETER ISNT GOOD

nice article on the insulin pricing machine
beyondtype1.org

when someone has diabetes their blood sugar becomes too high
if it goes too high they develop diabetic ketoacidosis
if its not stopped
well
they can die

when a diabetic is on insulin sometimes their blood sugar goes too low
if it gets too low they become unconscious
and
if the sugar level gets too low
well
they can die

there is type 1 diabetes
these folks dont make insulin
the pancreas cells that make insulin are destroyed
a person with type 1 diabetes has to have insulin given as injections in order to live
without it
well
they will die

there is type 2 diabetes
the more common one
these folks make insulin ok
it for various reasons doesnt work well
many of these folks are obese
if they could control their diet and lose weight and exercise they can control their diabetes without any medication

most of these folks take oral medication that either simulates the pancreas cells to make more insulin or the drug makes it easier for the insulin to work better
some take new injectible meds that do the same thing
some end up on insulin to help out
its usually better to have type 2 then type 1

type 1 folks use to be doomed to an early death via kidney failure heart attacks amputation blindness strokes at an early age

now with better blood sugar monitoring and more aggressive insulin treatment their life expectancy is for many approaching normal

now enter the cost of insulin going up

what triggered this blog today was a type 1 diabetec who at 26 went off his parents insurance plan such that he no longer had insurance coverage
diabetes is an expensive disease

his insulin each month use to be a few hundred dollars
now the cost went to well over $1,000++ a month
being an independent person he stretched out his medicine such that his blood sugars gradually climbed over time
he was found dead from a diabetic coma

he couldnt afford his insulin that he needed to stay alive

why i wondered
insulin has been around as long as i can remember
it should be cheap
it was discovered in 1921
the inventor sold the patent to the university of toronto so no one could patent it and sell it at an expensive amount
the original insulin came from animals like pigs
later it was made in the lab
thats when the new patent stuff happened
thats when the prices started to climb

1997 a vial of humalog they manufactured in the lab insulin cost $27
today that vial costs $300 +-
some folks use the insulin pens which are more expensive than the vials
they are more convenient

thet old insulin has to be taken a lot more often like several times a day
that old insulin may not work as well

nowadays
most folks take the new insulins
they work better
they cost more though

you have to pay a lot for it

the fingers get pointed at

the drug manufacturers

the middle man folks who control the flow of drugs to pharmacies and hospitals and doctors offices
they tack on a lot of money to the cost of the insulin

then the final stop is the pharmacies
they tack on their profit

whats left is an expensive product
one that if you are a type 1 diabetic
you have to have to live

like a kidney failure patient who has to have dialysis each week
or they die
so be it with the type 1 diabetic
they have to have the insulin
or they die

like the young man i mentioned above

this insulin enigma is whats wrong with our health care system
other examples
the epi pen price gouging
the cancer drug increases
the asthma medicine price increases
etc etc etc

this insulin debacle is like the health care coverage debacle
it doesnt care what your politics are
without it the insulin the person
will die

again
when they start debating this drug pricing thing
pay close attention
it will affect you
if you are a type 1 diabetic
it may decide when you
will die

make them the politicians fix this

the organicgreen doctor

dont let them uncover you

DONT LET THEM UNCOVER YOU


this is about the health insurance coverage in the united states

here are some terms defined in my words as i understand them

lifetime limit
most policies use to have a maximum lifetime limit they would pay of $1,000,000
when you reach that amount well you dont have coverage anymore

in the present law there is no lifetime limit

powers that be are trying to do away with the no lifetime limit

in my circle of family and friends i am aware of three kids that i call the million dollar babies
one being my grandson
they in the past would have met their lifetime allowance
they would not have coverage if they change the law
if the disease is ongoing like with my grandson mr h it would be a catastrophic financial disaster for them

my advice
dont let them meaning the politicians get rid of this
you and your family may be next

dont let your politicians get rid of this one even if your party supports getting rid of it

maximum out of pocket
this is the most you will have to pay out of pocket in a year
the amount is based on which policy you buy and how many are in your family
when you reach this amount the insurance pays 100%

yes
the politicians are trying to get rid of this one also
again
dont let your politicians get rid of this one even if your party supports getting rid of it


now this one is the biggie
preexisting conditions

when i think about family and friends i realize that almost all of them have preexisting conditions
eg if you have asthma
you wont be able to get coverage for any of your asthma care

yes
the politicians are trying to get rid of this one also trying real hard
again
dont let your politicians get rid of this one even if your party supports getting rid of it


preventative health care
yep
the politicians are trying to get rid of this one

for kids that would be well child care and immunizations at no extra cost
remember that cost is included in your premiums
for women that would be your annual visit with pap and mammograms and bone density and birth control
again this is figured in what you pay for your premiums
for men for those who do preventative care includes the finger test psa screening labs colonoscopy

yes
the politicians are trying to get rid of this one also trying real hard
again
dont let your politicians get rid of this one even if your party supports getting rid of it

theres more in the coverage that we all have been enjoying the last few years granted we are paying more

in the last election the majority of americans supported the health care laws and didnt want them changed

so dont let your politicians go against your own best interest
dont support them just because they are democrat or republican
think about yourself and your family and what it means

now these changes if they were voted away would affect medicare medicaid champus employee health insurance private health insurance and insurances bought on the exchanges
we all 100% of us would be adversely effected

be real real careful of buying the new crappy health policies that are now being allowed without any of these coverages above or below
youll pay less money for these crap policies each month for hardly any coverage and no protections


i just went on the coveredca website and pretended i was a 45 year old couple with two kids living in santa barbara making $75,000 a year and picked the silver ppo policy the one most folks use to compare policies

the policy would be with california blue shield the same supplement my wife she uses with her medicare
the monthly premium would be $614 a month after a $1104 tax credit
lifetime maximum no limit
yearly deductible  $5,000 family  $2,500 individual
maximum out of pocket  $15,100 family  $7,550 individual
pcp $40 copay
preventative care $0
etc etc etc

you can see what would happen to you or this family if these protections are taken away
it would take one medical event to wipe you or this family out financially

so
in summary

dont go against your best interests and those of your family and friends
dont support changing these coverages
we
all of us
will lose
big time

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-ai can tell

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-AI CAN TELL

ai stands for artificial intelligence
like watson the ibm computer

i watched watson battle it out with the two top human contestants on jeopardy
watson easily won the battle
he started slow but then just rapidly started answering all the questions

the first research study i was in was the adni 2 study
adni stands for alzheimers disease neuroimaging initiative
i was in the study for 5 years
i had
serial memory testings such as the moca and mmse and neuropsychological exams
my memory tests were abnormal for a couple of years then have gradually returned to being near normal since then

serial blood test checking my dna rna chemistry profile blood counts urine tests and genetic tests
i carry the apoe 4 homozygous gene ie i have apoe 4/apoe 4 the double version
its called the late onset alzheimers gene

serial mris
mine were all normal


ucsf article on using ai
serial glucose metabolism pet scan like the one above where i was given radioactive glucose before the scan
the working brain cells took up the radioactive glucose and showed up as red highlighted areas
the nonworking brain cells did not take up the radioactive glucose and showed up as blue areas
my pet scans for glucose were normal
which is common early on in the disease
later on maybe now it will or would be abnormal

two spinal taps for amyloid protein and tau protein
these levels become abnormal in alzheimers disease
i had mine done in a private lab and it was abnormal

i had one amyloid pet scan called the amyvid pet scan
if you have alzheimers disease that scan will be positive
i dont know that result on the first one
i have had two since then
although i havent seen the last two results i know they are positive since i am not allowed in the present study im in called the biogens aducanumab study unless im positive
if my drug works my last amyvid pet scan to be done in 15 months may be read as negative

there are around 1200+ of us that were in the adni 2 study from all over the us and the world
so at ucsf
they took artificial intelligence
ie
one of watsons buddies to look at all the scans

well mr watsons buddies were able to predict with a high degree of accuracy 90+ that some folks had or would have alzheimers disease
they were able to predict this 6 years before the disease showed up
how
by recognizing subtle real subtle changes in serial scans that humans couldnt recognize using an algorithm the scientists designed

so
one day when you go to the neurologist for early memory loss the neurologist will say
well id like you to meet my friend
watson
its elementary my friend

early diagnosis leads to early treatment
we are close to having treatments soon

the organicgreen doctor

why blackeyed peas for nyd

WHY BLACKEYED PEAS FOR NYD

on nyd we were in nola for our sons wedding
we were in recovery mode but knew we had to have some blackeyed peas on nyd
yes i know the correct spelling is black eyed pea or black-eyed pea but i think that spelling it like this blackeyed peas just well should be the way its done

so
i went down to the restaurant at the hotel where we were staying
i waited for this nice dressed up young waiter who came up to ask what i needed
i said
will you be having blackeyed peas today
thinking of all places in nola they would have them
he said as he looked down his nose at me
we dont serve those here

well
i cant say what i said under my breath
use your imagination

on to emerils nola restaurant thinking surely emeril would have some
nope
his was just those little green peas
im sure if you ate them they would cause bad luck for the year
so we didnt partake

why blackeyed peas for nyd
this is the lore as told on wikipedia
when sherman made his march to the sea during the civil war he plundered and burned everything so the south folks wouldnt have anything left
the peas in the field were recognized as food for the animals by the north troops and not for human consumption
thus the southern folks many survived eating the blackeyed peas that winter
thus
it became a tradition to eat the blackeyed peas on nyd in the south
thus becoming the symbol for good luck for the year
or
the blackeyed pea represented the emancipation of the slaves on nyd
thus being a symbol for good luck for the year

the blackeyed pea is a pea from africa brought here by the slaves
its growth spread over the south
it was used as food for farm animals
it was used as food for humans also
like corn is

the purple hull pea is a variation of the blackeyed pea named for the purple hull
if you have ever shelled them using your thumb you know that its purple

so back to my story
we my wife she and i decided
lets just wait till we get home the next day and use the purple hull peas i harvested from my garden this summer and froze just for this good luck meal which we did last night

so
i did a vegetarian version in our crock pot using my frozen shelled purple hull peas
i added 1 box of vegetable broth plus sauteed onions and garlic and bell pepper plus seasoning of sea salt ground black pepper pepper flakes my cooking spice mix plus liquid mesquite smoke plus 1 can of tomatoes and peppers some know as rotel plus olive oil and a pad or two of butter
then
i cooked it for several hours

we ie my wife she made some cornbread which represents gold
she also got some cans of peas as in the picture above in case i didnt cook the peas right

we had collards the day before at nola so that represents green which is money

the blackeyed via purple hull peas thats the good luck for the year
a prosperous year is in store for us if this story is true

maybe
we all here in the us need to be sure we all ate blackeyed peas this year
we may need it this year

the organicgreen doctor