organicgreendoctor: my story revisited 29-my first one

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited 29-my first one: MY STORY REVISITED 29-MY FIRST ONE my niece from lousiana contacted me the first year after i was diagnosed to see if i would do a skype q...

my story revisited 29-my first one

MY STORY REVISITED 29-MY FIRST ONE

my niece from lousiana contacted me the first year after i was diagnosed to see if i would do a skype q and a session with a group that was open to the public at her public library where she worked
so
i did

the questions were good
i learned a lot from the questions i didnt have good answers for
as i researched them all later

im sure i helped someone that was there that day to learn something about the disease
im sure if i could do it today i would do a much better job
but
this is where i started
i got to sit in the comfort of actually my wife shes classroom as she did all the technical hook ups that were needed to set up the skype feed

not long after i got all the testing done to make my final diagnosis i decided that i wanted to tell my story using it as a vehicle to get the word out on alzheimers disease and what folks could do to get evaluated and seek out clinical trials
so
i started with that skype session from texas to lousiana at that local library

over the last 9 years thats what i have done
i have done
at least two large alzheimers conferences and seminars
several large alzheimers programs with the area agency on aging
numerous small q and a sessions at several memory centers for employees and for family members and patients
these ones are the ones i like the most since those folks need answers they cant seem to get from the medical system
i have done 
my story presentations at several churches in the austin area
at least one two day conference where i did the session on the different dementias
that one i learned a lot doing as i prepared for my presentations
i did
several programs for the alzheimers texas alzheimers conferences
several early alzheimers conferences where i was on the panel answering questions
an alzheimers panel after a special showing of the movie still alice in austin
an alzheimers panel after a special showing of the documentary turning point at ucla on alzheimers clinical research studies
i was on a special committee for the texas health department for recommendations for primary care physicians on how to do an evaluation for memory loss
i did a presentation at texas state for its graduate dementia programs alzheimers conference

i have decided i will continue to do these as long as i am cognitively able to do them
telling my story from these three perspectives

a family member whose parents and brother had the disease
a physician who treated the disease
now as a patient with the diagnosis
and as a study subject in clinical trials

thats one of my missions for the future is to spread the word about this awful disease

XXXX

08-05-2011
THE TALK
one of the things i wanted to do when i was diagnosed with
mild cognitive impairment amnesic type was to eventually
start giving talks on alzheimers disease using my story as
a vehicle to educate people about alzheimers disease

i wanted to wait until i was stable on my medications and
was through with most of my testing that i needed to do

well now thats all done

i have the unique opportunity of being a family physician who
has treated people with the disease, of being a family member
of family that had or have the disease and now someone who
probably has the disease
(100 % diagnosis only at brain autopsy)

because of this i feel like a have a unique perspective on this
disease as i am and have seen it from all sides
none of it is enjoyable

i gave my first presentation last week
i hope to do more as i have a window of time that i will be able
to do this and communicate my story

i did an one hour skype presentation to a small group in
louisiana
i did a 15 minute talk and then allowed the group to ask me
questions about alzheimers
i also threw in some discussion of organic living, green living,
rainwater harvesting and solar but the majority of the time
was spent talking about alzheimers disease
thanks to khh for setting this up

(the big A may be replacing the big C as the disease people
are worrying about
am i going to get it or my parents or my kids)

i look forward to doing more of these
as i told my story and what happened to me
this allowed me to inform them about alzheimers disease-
whats coming in the future, whats happening now, how to get
diagnosed, and where to get help

if you or someone you know would like me to give my talk
and answer questions i would be glad to do that
just contact me via facebook or this blog or email

XXXX

click here to follow me onmy facebook blog page organicgreendoctor

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: tis the season

organicgreendoctor: tis the season: TIS THE SEASON this is a picture of the cave fire that erupted suddenly at 430pm yesterday and has been burning since that time it at th...

tis the season

TIS THE SEASON

hn picture

this is a picture of the cave fire that erupted suddenly at 430pm yesterday and has been burning since that time
it at the time i am writing this blog 0% contained
the wind has slowed some but it is due to increase again at daybreak

why did this happen
this area where the burn is occurring is near the areas where other fires have burned in years past

these fires are a fact of life
i was thinking yesterday when this all started that this is like tornado season in the south
like a tornado there isnt much you can do to protect yourself just be ready to run if it gets close to you

this area has not had any rain for over 6 months so you can imagine how dry all of this stuff is
plus there has been drought in this area for the last several years

its just waiting for something to happen
usually its a spark from the wind blowing the electric lines that starts all these disasters

the most notorious event in recent years is the thomas fire since we moved here
followed by the terrible montecito mud slides

now
the storm thats about to ruin a lot of folks thanksgiving across the united states with all kinds of bad weather
this storm approaching is what started this mess we have now
as the storm approaches the winds have increased to 75 mph
coming zipping down the moutains out to the sea
carrying with it the fire that dashed down the mountain towards santa barbara

as i sit here writing this blog this morning i can hear the nighthawk helicopters flying over on their way to dump water on the fires
luckily
this storm will also probably end this for us tonight as there is rain 1-3 inches in the forecast
so
it should put all the fires out
but
all that rain on ground that just burned can leave the ground unprotected
leaving the area at risk for mudslides and floods
now
and
all winter long

from here these storms and the one behind it will come to where you live
flooding causing tornadoes freezing lots of places dumping snow and ice everywhere its real cold
yes
this thanksgiving is a weather event thanksgiving
maybe
it will be a good day this thanksgiving to stay inside and eat turkey and watch football

this fire has lead to mandatory evacuation for the area across the street from my community garden
and from ms bs prek
and
about a mile away above our condo there is voluntary evacuation

the mandatory evacuation got extended to just across the freeway from ms b and mr hs house

we arent evacuating but we will if we need to

i am due to volunteer in the garden but may have to cancel out if the fire gets too close nad if the air quality is too bad
i remember working in the garden during the thomas fire and being uncomfortable with burning eyes and burning lungs

i think ill make it a slug day and stay inside

if the fire doesnt take off again and the rain starts up in 24 hours and if the winds die down
then
we will be able to stay in our condo and be ok

it may be a race against the wind and the fire and the onset of the rain tonight
here is hoping the rain wins the battles

i thought about all this fire business
i think i would almost rather be in a tornado than these fire things

we do as a society need to be more aware of climate change
we have to do our part in slowing it down
the man made part
then
we have to make decisions about where folks live and how they live

yep
i like tornado warnings better than fire warnings

actually
i dont like either of them

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: replacing the stethoscope

organicgreendoctor: replacing the stethoscope: REPLACING THE STETHOSCOPE littmann classic stethoscope amazon.com when i was a senior in college i worked in a local emergency room as a...

replacing the stethoscope

REPLACING THE STETHOSCOPE

littmann classic stethoscope amazon.com

when i was a senior in college i worked in a local emergency room as an emergency room technician
when i graduated from college and was moving before my acceptance to medical school
the nurses got together and bought me my first stethoscope
it was like the one in the picture
it was grey
on the metal portion of the scope it had my name inscribed  on it

thats the stethoscope i used for several years in medical school in residency in private practice
until one day a little kiddo grabbed it and pulled the two earpieces in opposites directions
pop twang was the sound
it no longer would stay together
so
i had to replace it
with another grey littmann stethoscope

this one i used for years until i retired then i gave it to ms b to play with

the old one the popped twang one i put in the toy box in one of my exam rooms so the kiddos could play with it

now
the stethoscope is good for listening to the heart and lungs and listening to arteries and veins for sounds that mean they are getting blocked and listening to fetuses heart beats
i even used it in my hard of hearing patients ears so i could talk to them

it also was used as a percussion hammer if i didnt have one in the exam room to use
i also sometimes would tap a kiddo gently on the head to play with them

that stethoscope saw a lot of happiness and a lot of sorrow
it was used in cpr and was used on newborns
it was used to pronounce the beginning of life
it was used to pronounce the end of a life

it became an extension of myself

so
with some sadness i read an article that said the old stethoscope would go by the wayside as more digital versions are produced
enhancing the sounds
even doing mini ultrasounds
doing mini echocardiograms
doing mini ekgs
sending them to your smartphone to analyze

i can see how those new digital ones would be good to use
but
i dont know
not having a stethoscope
i dont know
that was such a part of getting into medicine then it followed me around for about 35 years

im not sure you can replace the stethoscope with the digital one
and
do all i did with my stethoscope
yeah
i dont know
i would still have to use the old one most of the time

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-for christs sakes

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-for christs sakes: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-FOR CHRISTS SAKE there are folks who get early alzheimers disease commonly they carry a gene for early onset alzheimers ...

alzheimers news-for christs sakes

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-FOR CHRISTS SAKE

there are folks who get early alzheimers disease
commonly they carry a gene for early onset alzheimers
its rare
about less than 1% of the cases
if you get the early onset alzheimers gene you will 100% get the disease
well
maybe

in a mountainous area of columbia there is a large group of columbian indians that carries the early onset gene for alzheimers
they call it la locura or the madness
of the 6000 inhabitants 1200 carry the early onset gene
do the math
thats 20% of the population that will die from alzheimers disease early onset type

using historical records and dna analysis it has been determined that this gene was introduced into the population years and years and years ago when the spanish invaded columbia

this gene has persisted and they have this highest rate of alzheimers disease in the world

there is a columbian neurologist who began documenting the disease for years
they also have church records note the word church here showing what folks died from
the name of the town where the patient described below lived was called christchurch
there are a lot of research thats been done on this population of columbians
including a well known researcher here at ucsb

one study called the columbian study is using a drug like my drug biogens aducanumab to treat a group of these affected columbians while they are symptom free to see if this approach will help to slow down the disease
i like them hope it works

then there is the late onset alzheimers disease gene apoe 4
if you get it your risk for alzheimers disease is increased
if like me you get the double gene or apoe 4 apoe 4 or homozygous apoe 4 then your risk is increased 10-20 times
if you get the single apoe 4 gene your risk is increased 5 times
unlike the early onset gene if you get the apoe 4 gene you dont necessarily get the disease
but you are at higher risk
how you live your life and how you manage your health determines if you get alzheimers disease
so
if you are genetically kin to me you should live a good healthy clean life and the apoe 4 gene you got from both sides of our family will probably not have an effect on you

there is the apoe 2 gene which protects you from alzheimers and the apoe 3 gene which you can get a milder version if thats a good thing to have of the disease
so
you want apoe 2 then apoe 3 then apoe 4 but not the apoe 4/apoe 4
but now maybe you want the one described below

doing the genetic analysis of the family the gene they have is the early onset one and is called the presenelin gene or presen1
get it
its a kiss of death
usually in the 30s or 40s or early 50s
but
it was noticed that one lady had the gene but she was in her 70s and didnt have hardly any symptoms
doing more analysis looking at the apoe gene it was noted that she had an apoe gene they hadnt seen before
they called it the christchurch mutation
she had apoe3 christchurch apoe3 christchurch
something about that combo double homyzygous gene interfered with her presenl early onset gene to keep her from getting the disease

looking at relatives of hers they found folks who had a single apoe christchurch mutation
they still got the early onset disease anyway

something about the double homyzgous christchurch mutation of the late onset gene gave her some protection against the early onset disease

if we can find that thing whatever it is she has in her brain protecting her
maybe we can find a treatment or cure for alzhiemers

when they did the amyloid pet scans like the amyvid scans i have had that are positive in me they found she had a lot of amyloid in the brain
but very little symptoms

when they did the scans for tau tangles in the brain she didnt have very many of them

refresher here
the amyloid forms plaques in the brain which kills and damages brain cells
this leads to the damaged cells to unwind the tau protein in the cells to form tau tangles to be released out of the cells
these tau tangles tend to correlate with the development of alzheimers symptoms that we see in our loved ones

so they had this study with just one subject
maybe the only one that exists

as they analyzed her apoe protein and apoe protein in the brain
they found that it attached itself to a sugar on the tau protein which prevents it from forming tau tangles in the brain
thus this is the reason she had no symptoms even with all that bad amyloid in the brain
ie she had very little tau tangles

now they are developing an antibody that will bind to that sugar on the tau protein to prevent those tau tangles from forming
if that works you may can slow down the development of symptoms in us with the disease

for christs sake or should i say for christchurchs sake could it be that easy to find a treatment for this disease

here are links to articles on this story
click here for article one
click here for article two

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: the andrew young cancer surviving story

organicgreendoctor: the andrew young cancer surviving story: THE ANDREW YOUNG CANCER SURVIVING STORY texasports.com/andrew jones above is a picture of andrew young a guard for the university of tex...

the andrew young cancer surviving story

THE ANDREW YOUNG CANCER SURVIVING STORY

texasports.com/andrew jones

above is a picture of andrew young a guard for the university of texas longhorns mens basketball program
he played well enough his freshman year to consider entering the nba draft as a one and done
if you dont know what that means
players sometimes have to play a year of college basketball if they arent old enough in order to enter the nba draft
players like lebron james was old enough out of high school to enter the draft

the nba recommended that he consider doing another year before he reentered the nba draft

so thats what he did

as the year progressed he seemed to get the flu with fatigue fevers and feeling bad
then
he injured his wrist and had to sit out awhile
the flu symptoms wouldnt go away
so
when he had it evaluated it was discovered he had all or acute lymphoblastic leukemia
a kiss of death years ago

one of my most traumatic experiences while a resident was taking care of child with this disease for a full month while i was doing my pediatric ward rotation
he died at the end of the month
had he been born 30 years later and had received whats available now that andrew jones got he would be over 50 years old today


it has a high survival rate now
so
into the md andersen center linked here he went and started chemo
at some point while there they even let him go out to the basketball court to shoot hoops even with his pic line in place

he now is down to just a pill that he takes for the next 5 years

he could have came back his sophomore year but he wasnt back to full strength so he opted to sit out his sophomore year
redshirting that year
which means he doesnt lose his sophomore year eligibility

so
he returned to full play this fall almost two years after he was diagnosed
story also linked here

in the opening game he entered the game at the 1340 mark
he scored 20 points in 29 minutes
he was the best player on the court that night
he is averaging 13 points a game and shooting 50%

a true cancer survivor

here is a video of his story

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited 28-my final answer part one and...

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited 28-my final answer part one and...: MY STORY REVISITED 28-MY FINAL ANSWER PART ONE AND PART THREE on monday i saw the neurologist for my annual neurology visit i did the moc...

my story revisited 28-my final answer part one and part three

MY STORY REVISITED 28-MY FINAL ANSWER PART ONE AND PART THREE

on monday i saw the neurologist for my annual neurology visit
i did the moca memory test that i have done that shows where i am with my memory
again my memory is still in the normal range
normal for this exam is 27-30
i have been in the normal range now for the last few years
i didnt start out that way in 2010
my score was lower around 24 or 25 which is scored as mci or mild cognitive impairment
over several months that score dropped as i was going the wrong way
then
it started after a couple of years to climb back up in the normal range
why
if you read below i list the healthy things i do which is being shown in research over the last 10 years to slow down symptoms in some people and in the general population to decrease the incidence of alzheimers disease
no
its not some magic bullet or some new drug
its just healthy living stuff that we all should be doing

plus
i got 7 months of the biogen drug aducanumab which means i got enough to remove  a good portion of the amyloid that had accumulated in my brain but my memory was near normal when i started the study
i also got on aricept (donepezil) as soon as i got diagnosed
this has probably despite the side effects the worse being interfering with sleep to be one of the reasons my symptoms are slowed down
i also got on dr bredesens reversal of cognitive decline protocol after clearing it with my pcp and my neurologist
i started all these things real early in the disease which makes me an advocate for early diagnosis

i wrote below about not being 100% sure of the diagnosis until you die and they autopsy the brain
well
today we can come close to that diagnosis with that degree of accuracy with all the diagnostic testing that i have had

if you read my blog my story revisited -my final answer part two linked here it details my neurology visits and my diagnostic workup

so
my story and how i got there is in these three blogs
my final answer part one
my final answer part two
my final answer part three

what to do and how to do it is in there

it is the road map on what one needs to do to be aggressive in fighting this disease


XXXX
07-15-2011

MY STORY-FINAL ANSWER
i have the unique opportunity of telling my story as a physician who
has treated alzheimers patients, as a family member who dealt with
close relatives with the disease and now as a patient who may have
been diagnosed early enough that i can give unique observations
on this terrible disease

so its been a long 8 months since i was diagnosed with early mild
cognitive impairment amnesic type thought to be from alzheimers

alzheimers is a diagnosis that can only be 100% made by brain
autopsy when a person dies
i hope to reach as close as possible to 100% while i am alive with
what is available in modern medicine although some of the tests
are only available in research studies

i had to quit practicing medicine which was what i loved to do
i enjoyed going to work every day
i had just got real good at what i do

i will do a three part series every friday for the next three fridays
on my story

today will be on the history of what happened to me
next friday will be all the test results and how they are used
then the third friday will be what all this means for me and for
you

here goes
two years ago i applied for long term care insurance because of my
family history of alzheimers
my mom had severe alzheimers and died from complications of the
disease
she had an infected toe that she and no one else noticed
from that she got gangrene of the leg and died after that
my dad was spared the merciless trip of alzheimers by dying from
a heart attack
looking back he had mild to moderate alzheimers but never was
officially diagnosed (i know this because of a genetic test i had)
a close relative of mine has moderate alzheimers now
he is a year younger than i am
his disease is what worries me the most as i feel like i may be
following down the path he is taking

for the long term care insurance i had to undergo a 30 minute
neuropychological exam by an examing nurse and had no problem
with any of the questions
i eventually got the long term care insurance and plan to maintain it
during my lifetime
if i had waited until all this had happened i would not have been able
to get the long term care insurance today
(nor could i get new health insurance, life insurance, medical
malpractice, or a disability policy ie im uninsurable)

a year later because of the family history of alzheimers i wanted to
enter an alzheimers research study or see a neurologist to follow
me on a regular basis

i had started to notice problems at this time although they were
quite subtle and not noticeable to patients, family members,
fellow workers or fellow doctors

i had started to have problems with doing prescriptions especially
when having to calculate doses and if the patients prescriptions
got complicated
i compensated by using caution, triple checking everything and
being backed up by the computer, a good nurse and by the pharmacy
i had started to have problems remembering the interactions of
medications but this again was helped with our computer system
and by using standard forms for office visits

i also started to have some problems remembering seeing patients
when they would return for followup visits
i know you cant remember seeing every patient and remember
everything about a visit but
i had several times when i saw patients for illnesses that i should
have remembered but absolutely did not recall seeing them
i found this surreal and very disturbing

but at no time did i put my patients at jeopardy
i became very cautious and did a good job of documenting the visit
when i saw patients

i also had to take a continuing medical education course for my
malpractice insurance to get a 15% discount on my premiums
when i read the material and then took the test i only made a 30%
on the test
i was given credit for taking the test but again i was very disturbed
by my failure to retain the material

this was about the same time i went to see the memory clinic at the
university of texas southwestern medical school in dallas
after talking to the research associate the plan was i would enter a
alzheimers research as a normal control subject

i discussed with the research associate what i was wanting to do
was to be in the alzheimers research study so i could be monitored

if i had or developed a problem i would know
if that happened i would quit practicing medicine for fear of
causing harm to my patients

my wife she and i went to the clinic
we met with the research associate who interviewed  us in
separate rooms-i answered some questions better than my wife
she did
i then underwent a complete neurological exam by one of the
staff neurologists
he also interviewed my wife she when i went in for my neuro-
psychological exam

on the 3 hour neuropsychological exam
i did ok on most of the material
however the parts that dealt with short term memory was a problem
for me
i knew for sure when i took that exam that i had a problem
this was quite disturbing to me

after the test i discussed it with the research associate who told
me oh know everyone says that
i knew i had a problem

on the trip home i discussed all this with my wife she

that week i dumbed down my practice, slowed down my practice,
referred out any complicated patients, tried to get out of doing
urgent care, and scheduled more time off

a few weeks later i got a call from the research associate who told
me i was turned down for the study because i failed the short term
memory portion of the neuropsychological exam
it was recommended i see a neurologist for an evaluation

next week ill do part two which will be on the neurology visits,
all the test results, and the research study then
in part three i will try to put it all together as to what it means
to me and my wife she and my family and what it may mean
to you in regards to alzheimers disease


07/29/2011

MY STORY-FINAL ANSWER PART THREE
well do i have alzheimers disease or dont i

remember you can only be definitely diagnosed at brain autopsy
the best that can be done before then is the diagnosis of
probable alzheimers disease

so my diagnosis is early mild cognitive impairment amnesic type
felt to be from probable alzheimers disease

this is based on
medical history of short term memory problems recognized by me
and documented on serial neuropsychological exams
a family history of alzheimers disease
other causes ruled out for memory loss
a positive apoe4/apoe4 gene for alzheimers (50-90% chance)
a low beta amyloid level in spinal fluid

research criteria would classify me as mild cognitive impairment
due to alzheimers disease of intermediate probability
if i could see my pet scans and if they were positive the diagnosis
would be changed to due to alzheimers disease of high probability

the new classifications for alzheimers disease are
preclinical-no symptoms
mild cognitive impairment-minimal to mild (thats me)
alzheimers disease-symptoms

these are the new classifications that are used in research only
studies are hoping to classify people earlier than before so
research can be done on these people
so far most research is on full blown alzheimers disease when
it may be too late to do anything

remember medications such as the aricept (donepezil) i am on
only controls symptoms but does nothing to control the disease

the goal is to find someone with no symptoms or minimal
symptoms and get them on a medicine or treatment that will
prevent this disease
thats where all the research is headed

now drugs are being tested and developed to do just that

eg when cholesterol was discovered to be related to arterial
disease drugs such as the statins were developed to treat people
with high cholesterol to prevent arterial disease ie heart attacks
years later

so is the goal for alzheimers research
these tests will be used to identify people early so they can
be started on medication to slow things down or prevent the
disease or to intensify preventative measures as below

when you are diagnosed with it now its too late to treat

on the alzheimers associatioin web site
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_stages_of_alzheimers.asp
there are the 7 stages of alzhiemers thats used to get a feel
for where a person is with the disease eg my mother was
in stages 6-7 and my close relative is in stages 4-5
i am in stage 2 of the disease
the stages can go fast or go slow

to get diagnosed you need a
medical history taken
mini mental state exam (mmse) as a screen test-i passed this part
blood work, mri or ct scan to rule out other causes of symptoms
if all are normal and there is still concern then consider a more
involved neuropsychological exam by a psychologist

i chose to get  involved with research and
got a fdg-pet scan of the brain for glucose metabolism and
a beta amyloid pet scan of the brain
got spinal fluid analysis for beta amyloid and tau protein
got genetic testing and
am getting serial neuropsyhological exams

some of these are biomarkers that you will hearing a lot about
in the future and will be used to solidify the diagnosis better while
a person is alive
(100% diagnosis can only made at brain autopsy)
their use is not well defined by medicine yet but will be in the future

what can you do not to get alzheimers disease
in the future medications will be available

there is some evidence that doing those things that are preached to
us when we go to the doctor may make a difference in delaying or
some think may help prevent alzheimers disease

exercise-minimal 30 minutes of walking 5 days a week
diet-mediterannean diet of fish, fruits, nuts, vegetables, low fat diet, olive oil
controlling cholesterol levels
controlling blood pressure
controlling diabetes
maintaining a normal weight
good sleep habits
controlling stress
staying active mentally
socializing
treating depression
avoid drug and alcohol abuse
dont smoke

how is this affecting me

mentally
i have worried for years that i would get alzheimers disease
because of my strong family history
so ive handled this better because of this worry and because of my
knowledge as a physician and because of my involvement with a
research study and because i keep up closely with whats going on
with alzheimers disease
i have been screened several times for depression and i dont feel
depressed

financially
i have made a good income as a physician
my wife she and i have always lived conservatively  and have
saved well for retirement and also have been able to help out
family members at times
we have little debt now
although i had to retire a few  years before i wanted to we are doing
ok financially

i have a disability policy from my work that is suppose to pay if
i am not able to do my specific occupation as a family physician
this was suppose to start paying in april of this year but so far
they are dragging their feet paying off on my disability claim
i have to go to a neuropsychologist next month for an evaluation
(i have had 4 of these in the last 8 months)

family
its good my wife and i know as we are able to plan our lives now
we know whats coming we just dont know when
we are in the process of updating our will, our power of attorney,
our health care power of attorney, and our living wills
we i think enjoy each other more now
with more urgency i feel the need to make and continue contact
with family and friends and
with more urgency i feel the need to see some of those things i
have not seen or done ie my bucket list

my sons know where i am with all this and we plan to keep them
updated over time

my family members and friends know whats going on as most read
this blog daily
i have been and plan to continue to be open with what ever goes
on in my life with this disease as long as i can

i plan on trying to reach and educate as many people as possible
about this disease

remember
100% of you will be affected by this disease in some way
it may break our health care system
in the group i worked with they have 250,000 patients
statistically the group should have  3000 patient with this disease

you cant avoid this disease its here for all of us to deal with

coming up for me is my 2nd mri of the research study in 1 week
followed by the 6 month followup visit with the neurologist
an 8 hour neuropsychological exam and
the involvement with another research project making a video
with me as the patient for use by primary care doctors
demonstrating an in office mental neurological evaluation
i will be involved as the patient and also as my experience as
a family doctor

XXXX

also i would like to add yes im bragging some here
my memory tests are better than many of you who read this blog
why
its all what im doing to slow this down
but
as i always say when i do my talks and presentations
i am under no illusions here of a cure
since
i know this disease will win in the end
i just am enjoying this reprieve

the organicgreen doctor