organicgreendoctor: lets not go back in time

organicgreendoctor: lets not go back in time: LETS NOT GO BACK IN TIME science museum this is a kid from years ago in an iron lung without the iron lung he couldnt breathe and would die ...

lets not go back in time

LETS NOT GO BACK IN TIME

science museum
this is a kid from years ago in an iron lung
without the iron lung he couldnt breathe and would die
since he was completely paralyzed from polio
some folks had to live their whole life in these
he is smiling in this photo but my guess is he didnt smile much

the solution to prevent this from happening was
the polio vaccine

yes
the polio vaccine thats being under attack how
its becoming political
it should not be 

now its not eradicated 
its still out there waiting for a large group of people who have no immunity so it can infect them 
paralyzing them
killing them
mainly 
kids

the patients i had with polio related disabilities were older than me and had contracted it before the vaccine became available
many wore braces or used crutches or had neurological symptoms from the infection
these disabilities lasted forever
they were the lucky ones
they lived

in my career the one immunization that stands out is the h influenza vaccine
h flu is not the flu but a potentially aggressive bacteria that hits kids under 5 the hardest
causing things like
meningitis
pneumonia
sepsis
joint infections
ear infections
and a potential fatal infection called epiglottitis where the airway closes down
the only emergency treatment is an emergency tracheotomy
they cant even be intubated
yes i saw kids die from epiglottitis

when i started my residency rotations at the childrens hospital one of my first icu patients was an 18 month old child named jeremy who came home sick from daycare and within 1 day was my icu patient with not only h. flu meningitis but also had developed multiple abscesses in the brain
when i left the service 3 months later he was transferred to a long term care facility for brain damaged infants and children
man that left an impression on me that lasted all my career

within 2 years the h flu infections seemed to disappear
the h flu germ didnt disappear
its just waiting for unimmunized folks ie kids to show up
then it will infect many of them
some may end up like my patient 
sadly

thats what happens when politics enters the scientific medical world

most practitioners today that are still working since they are younger than me have never seen a h flu infected patient 
in fact they might not even think about this infection

for some reason i had several families who did not vaccinate their families
i told them i didnt agree with them
but
unlike some doctors that refuse to take care of them i did

on more than one time i was faced with a unimmunized baby or infant with high fever
was it h flu or pneumococcal or meningococcal infection or was it viral
in an immunized child it wasnt an issue
they were protected

nowadays besides h flu add pertussis or whooping cough diphtheria tetanus measles polio hepatitis a hepatitis b flu covid meningococcal and hpv
we shouldnt be seeing these infections
but we are
but we will if politics prevail

i saw  one case of tetanus in my career
in the morgue

i saw one case of measles in my career
in a 12 year old that ended up in a long term care facility with measles encephalitis

my first case of h flu epiglottitis i saw was a 5 year old also in the morgue

unimmunized kids are at risk for these infections
many can be fatal

these cases i have seen are why i am an advocate for immunizations
none of these patients should have died or been disabled from these diseases
these disease ae still out there
they can be prevented by immunizations

no
lets not go back in time

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-what happens in the brain

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-what happens in the brain: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BRAIN i have found its important to know as much as you can about the disease so you know how to attack ...

alzheimers news-what happens in the brain

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHAT HAPPENS IN THE BRAIN
i have found its important to know as much as you can about the disease so you know how to attack it

this video from the national institutes of health or nih lasts about 4 minutes but it gives you a good summary of what happens over time with this disease

amyloid plaques
tau tangles
inflammation

the new drugs like my aduhelm and leqembi and kisunia remove the amyloid plaques

new drugs in clinical trials are treating the tau tangles and inflammation

these changes shown in the video starts months to years before symptoms start

treatment or prevention should start months to years before symptoms start

eating correctly all your life
getting adequate sleep
treating mental illness such as depression or anxiety
maintaining a normal body weight
staying active mentally physically and socially
controlling your blood pressure your blood sugar and your cholesterol
dont smoke
dont drink or minimally drink
do some meditation activity like i do by gardening every day
do these early in your life
no
do these all your life

the best prescriptions to prevent alzheimers are these things above

when symptoms start get an evaluation early on
consider taking meds such as aricept or donepezil and or consider taking the new monoclonal antibodies like leqembi or kisunia which may slow down memory loss

stay on the look out for new drugs coming soon to treat tau and inflammation

while you are doing all these healthy things you also are preventing heart disease kidney disease stroke cancer diabetes and other diseases

its all in your hands to prevent this disease

knowledge is power
now act on that power

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: duct tape art work

organicgreendoctor: duct tape art work: DUCT TAPE ART WORK several years ago someone bought this piece of art work and sent it to me why you say i was known as the dr duck doctor a...

duct tape art work

DUCT TAPE ART WORK

several years ago someone bought this piece of art work and sent it to me
why you say

i was known as the dr duck doctor and the duct tape doctor

i would talk to my younger patients like donald duck which entertained them
some didnt even know my name 
they called me dr duck

even today when i interact with elementary kids in the garden or in the garden at the elementary school they love for me to talk like donald duck
it makes their day
and mine

the duct tape label started when i began to use duct tape the real strong sticky stuff to wrap over warts 
the duct tape was left on for a week then removed
many times the wart would peel off with the tape

it was a much less painful way to treat the warts
my first use was on a high school track star who developed a large wart on his big toe during this track season
i was afraid freezing it aggressively would hinder his track season
so
i had read about duct tape use for warts so we tried it
a week later the big ole wart came off when he removed the duct tape
all without pain or scarring

from there i became interested in duct tape uses 
folks started sending me duct tape suggestions and it only grew from there

folks also called me the duct tape doctor

this picture uses both of these to illustrate my interest or my nicknames 
the person who  bought this for me was quite pleased with the find

so i am always looking for new duct tape uses

now that picture above is an actually true art work

below is another duct tape art work story
i guess thats what you call it
this one is a little quirky
the full story from npr is linked here

this contemporary or should i say temporary piece of art work sold for 6000000+ at auction
it was bought by a crypto person
its called 
comedian
i guess cause the jokes on him or on us

i guess since its a  joke right
maybe its good for a chuckle or a smirk

what did the new owner plan to do with it
eat the banana

sorry
none of my previous duct tape story could match this one

so
today as i go to the garden i plan to pick a loofah and take my roll of grey duct tape and duct tape the loofah to our front gate

i plan to sell this piece of art work as a fundraiser for our garden
wonder if i have any buyers or donors

or
you could just donate to our end of the year crowd fundraiser for our garden at this link below
seedmoney.org

i like this picture better
all this food was donated to those in need

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #213-its here now

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #213-its here now: MY STORY REVISITED #213-ITS HERE NOW in the clinical trials i have been in over the last 14 years i have had several different alzheimers bl...

my story revisited #213-its here now

MY STORY REVISITED #213-ITS HERE NOW

in the clinical trials i have been in over the last 14 years i have had several different alzheimers blood tests that would show whether i have alzheimers disease or not
like my amyloid pet scans and tau pet scans i had done i never got the results

well i did on my initial amyloid pet scan
they had to tell me the results since i got accepted into the biogen aduhelm clinical trial
you didnt get into that study unless you had a positive amyloid pet scan

then
after my 32 treatments i had a follow up or final amyloid pet scan that showed all the amyloid had cleared from my brain

you can measure amyloid and tau 3 ways

a spinal tap for amyloid and tau levels
ouch 
i had two of these in my clinical trials
mine was positive

an amyloid pet scan
i lost count of how many of these i had 
i had probably about 6 of them over the last 14 years

a tau pet scan
i probably had about 3 or 4 of these
i never got any of these results

i got the result of the spinal tap since i had it done at a private lab
so i know it was abnormal

i had several different alzheimers blood tests over the last 14 years as they progressed in accuracy over that time

today
the alzheimers blood test the good ones are over 90% accurate
there are some on the market available outside of research but the most accurate ones arent quite available yet in the private world
but
they will be real soon

__________
10-30-2015

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-A TEST SOON?

strewn across our family tree are lots of folks who died
from heart attacks and strokes
and
dementia probably alzheimers disease

when i reached 40 i had my first cholesterol level done
since it had been shown that an elevated cholesterol
especially the ldl cholesterol
the bad i always called it
was associated with an increased risk for heart attack and
later stroke was added to this warning

so because of my family history
my dad died of a heart attack my older brother had his
first one at 60 my mother had multiple strokes
interesting all three also had or probably have alzheimers disease
i decided to have my cholesterol labs or lipid profile done

whoa omg
is what i said when i got mine back
my total cholesterol was over 325 with normal less than 200
my ldl bad one cholesterol was over 240 with normal less than 100
my triglycerides were well over 500

so knowing what lay ahead for me
i did a lot of life style changes
diet
exercise
later a few years later i added the statins to my regimen
so
my lipids now are
total cholesterol less than 200
ldl cholesterol less than 90
my triglycerides less than 100

so having that blood test at 40
probably kept me from having a heart attack or stroke by now
both my dad and older brother had heart disease at my age

as it turns out
knowing now what we now know
it also probably slowed down the progression of alzheimers in
my brain
but at the time i didnt know that

remember whats good for the heart is good for the brain


now researchers have found a way to predict if you will get
alzheimers disease years before you develop it

now i am in a study at ut southwestern using an alzheimers blood test
that according to recent tests seems to be about 90% accurate
in predicting if you have alzheimers disease
years before symptoms start

yes folks that test or one like it will be in your doctors
before this decade is over

yes you can go to your doctor soon
get a blood test
yes you have alzheimers disease you will be told

so if i have alzheimers disease now
when i was 40 the disease process was starting to pick up
so that the bad beta amyloid and tau levels up there would
have been abnormal
my alzheimers blood test would have been positive

do you want to know
is society ready for this test
can you handle this back to the future test

i say yes i can
i sort of did 5 years ago when i got diagnosed
i made even more life style changes
like stricter diet exercise increased mental activity and
social activity more aggressive blood pressure and
cholesterol and weight control use of some
recommended vitamins and supplements that might help
etc etc

now also coming soon this decade
if the phase 3 tests show they work
new treatment and prevention medication can be used
to slow down or prevent this disease

so like the cholesterol test
the alzheimers blood test
can potentially add years and years of good health
alzheimers free

would you have it done
i know i would have
_________

so maybe this next year you will be able to get an accurate alzheimers blood test in your primary care office
if you do one make sure its the good one 

the amyloid pet scan is the gold standard for identifying amyloid and diagnosing alzheimers
the alzheimers blood test will probably be the silver standard 

if the blood test is negative you probably dont have alzheimers
if the blood test is positive you might have it but will need an amyloid pet scan to verify the results
the amyloid pet scan costs around $5000-$8000
the blood test will probably cost around $1000

so when do you get this blood test when its available
remember just because the blood test is positive doesnt mean you have alzheimers
it means you are at risk for it and if you have symptoms it helps make the diagnosis

eg
a high cholesterol like i had doesnt mean i have heart disease
it just means i am at real high risk for having one or a stroke or alzheimers disease

an abnormal alzheimers blood test doesnt mean you have it
just that you are at a high risk for getting it

plan your life accordingly 

like with a high cholesterol you can make life style changes earlier in your life that may slow down the disease

you might start on aricept real early or start on the monoclonal antibody treatments real early if you develop symptoms

the secret to success is going to be early preventative measures and early treatment

they are doing this now in clinical trials 

now if you go in to your primary care doctor or specialist for memory loss and your alzheimers blood test is positive
they will tell you that you may have alzheimers disease

here is a good discussion of this from being patient.com

then
you have to answer the question 
do i want to know 

will it affect my life insurance disability insurance long term care insurance health insurance or maybe a job

will you emotionally be able to handle the results

i can tell you from personal experience its like getting a cancer diagnosis thats not curable
its a fatal disease

if you are thinking about getting this test read this interview from being patent before you do it

this test is here now
think long and hard before you get the test

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-why i am better

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-why i am better: WHY I AM BETTER getting aduhelm infusion at ucla this fall i was interviewed via zoom by deborah kahn from being patient.com she was intervi...

alzheimers news-why i am better

WHY I AM BETTER

getting aduhelm infusion at ucla

this fall i was interviewed via zoom by deborah kahn from being patient.com
she was interviewing me about my finding out my apoe4 apoe4 status
if you are in the alzheimers world i suggest you follow her website

apoe 4 is called the late onset alzheimers gene
if you have the single apoe4 ie heterozygous your risk of getting alzheimers is about 5 times increased
if you get the double version apoe4 apoe4 or homozygous your risk of getting alzheimers is about 12-20 times

you can partially overcome that gene by living a healthy life doing those things mentioned below

after we talked about my homozygous apoe4 status she asked me a lot about my story 
the more we talked the more she was interested
she asked if i would write two articles to submit for possible posting on their site 

one i wrote about here in this blog called why i did it

the second one she wanted me to write was

what finding out my genetic status meant to me

several things happened at the same time
i find out i had mci that has turned out to be due to alzheimers disease while taking a neuropsychological exam as part of the normal control group of an alzheimers research study called adni 2 or alzheimers disease neuroimaging imitative 2 it was found i had memory loss greater than it should be for my age and degree of education
i was advised to see a neurologist who gave me my diagnosis and also put me on aricept or donepezil

at the same time i had a spinal tap for amyloid and tau plus i had my apoe4 gene status checked
my spinal tap was compatible with alzheimers disease and my apoe4 was homozygous

my reaction to all of this was overwhelming at first
i was sad i cried a lot 
i always knew i would get alzheimers and knew when i did have any symptoms i would retire from practicing medicine
i got chills and got sweaty when i took my memory test
i cried and i wanted to be alone for a while
each of these results just piled on top of each other

i didnt really understand what the apoe4 gene meant then but now i do
i felt it getting the results was another nail in my coffin

here i am 14 years later cognitive normal
my moca test and mmse tests are normal and have been so for the last few years.

knowing what i know now i would not have been surprised since i have such a strong family history of alzheimers and have a terribly high cholesterol level well controlled on meds now

now i know i could have overcame this apoe4 gene if i had been even more aggressive with my health when i was younger

specific lifestyle changes i made in response to knowing i had apoe4 homozygous

after my diagnosis of mci and getting my amyloid and tau results and getting my apoe4 results i got more aggressive with my health
i was borderline hypertensive so i started blood pressure meds
i got on a more aggressive statin regimen to keep my ldl cholesterol below 100
i changed my diet to a mind diet 
i say i am a 90% vegetarian
i take aricept which interferes with my sleep at night so i take a daily afternoon nap or 1-2 hours
i stay active mentally socially and physically
i dont smoke and i dont drink alcohol

why i believe i am cognitively healthy 14 years after my mci diagnosis

i started aricept or donepezil early in my diagnosis probably earlier than most people do
aricept slows down symptoms but also folks who take it early on tend to do better with their symptoms over time and also live longer
i follow all those healthy things i listed above

in 2016 i was accepted into the biogen aduhelm study where i received 18 months of placebo then 34 months of aduhelm infusions
aduhelm is a monoclonal antibody against amyloid and given as an infusion it removes amyloid plaques from the brain

at the beginning of the study i had amyloid plaques on my amyloid pet scan
after completion of the treatments the measurable amyloid plaques were not present on my final amyloid pet scan

all these things added up are why i feel like am doing well 14 years after my diagnosis
i am glad i was diagnosed early and am aggressive at taking care of my health and was able to access clinical trials early for treatment

i am waiting now to find out what to do next

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: its dark out there

organicgreendoctor: its dark out there: ITS DARK OUT THERE the other day it was dark and dreary outside i had just gotten up from a 2 hour late nap after not sleeping well the nigh...

its dark out there

ITS DARK OUT THERE

the other day it was dark and dreary outside
i had just gotten up from a 2 hour late nap after not sleeping well the night before
i felt groggy headed and tired feeling

someone said to be this time change makes me almost feel depressed and tired all the time
i agreed i said
especially on that day

the time change for daylight not savings time i dont like

now i like the extra sunlight in the morning
every morning around 6ish the sun peeps over the condo roofs and floods into our living room and dining room
its like a jolt of expresso when the sun hits me in the face
i like to stand up and open my arms and close my eyes so i can feel the warmth

I can feel my pineal gland kicking in up in my brain

sadly 
after my nap
thats all gone since it gets so dark so early 

my body just cant seem to get adjusted to the time change
i still wake up at the right time its just the clocks says its an hour earlier

i was feeling sad and bummed for myself suffering so
until 
i read this article about what its like to live in this alaskan town
utqiagvik
no thats not me mistyping thats the way its spelled

it is 330 miles north of the artic circle
it gets 2 month of total darkness in the winter
the sun sets on november 18th and rises again on january 22nd
for only 48 minutes
but
then they have nothing but sun from may 11 to august 19th

im sorry i dont think i could survive living there
my pineal gland wouldnt be activated for several weeks at a time
how bad must they all feel during that dark 2 months

I wonder if those 5000 folks who live in that town all are on antidepressants most of the year
they probably add it to the drinking water along with the fluoride

we thought we had it bad during daylight not savings time
i guess when we think things are bad
they could be worse
i dont plan on going to alaska either in the winter

i still dont like daylight not saving time

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-why so high

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-why so high: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHY SO HIGH this graph above is from the cdc and a newsweek article linked here if you click on the cdc site or the newswee...

alzheimers news-why so high

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-WHY SO HIGH

this graph above is from the cdc and a newsweek article linked here
if you click on the cdc site or the newsweek article there is an interactive you can click on to see the numbers from each state

the alzheimers association color is purple
on the map the darker the purple the higher the death rate from alzheimers

why is it high in washington
if you look across the deep south almost all of the southern states have a higher rate
why
poor health outcomes like obesity hypertension diabetes poor diet poverty and lack of health care
mississipi ranks number one 
maybe they should be spending more money on their health than on their highly ranked football team
priorities i guess

when it comes to your health you get what you pay for

interesting is that these southern states have the highest rate of alzheimers ie for older folks and they also have the highest rate of maternal and infant mortality 

both due to poor health systems

texas eg has the highest rate of maternal and infant mortality
worse even more than some third world coundtries

they are killiing off folks at both ends of the life cycle
doesnt have to be that way
texas is not a poor state
there is no excuse

washington is higher i think because like utah and idaho they have an older population 
the older you get the increased chance you have to get in alzheimers

the last several years there has been lots of research that shows that addressing ones health and ones communitys health can address or lower the incidence of alzheimers

eating a healthy diet as early in life as possible is important
the mind diet is a good place to start

avoiding obesity 

exercising and staying active mentally and socially

controlling your blood pressure starting early in your middle age
controlling your cholesterol taking medication to do so if needed

controlling anxiety stress and depression

learning to meditate in some way 
i do gardening

getting adequate sleep 
sleep is when your body cleans out debris in your brain that left there accumulates over time

dont smoke
dont drink or drink limited amounts

doing these over your lifetime can decrease the incidence of alzheimers by almost 50%
that works better than aricept or donepezil or leqembi infusions work

additionally it also helps prevent strokes and heart attacks

today as i sit here thinking about this as we approach our 14th year of doing walk to end alzheimers i see a lot of progress being made in alzheimers treatment
but
like it was in 2010 when i was diagnosed
the best treatment plan is still even with the new moncolonal antibody infusions like my aduhelm or leqembi or kisunia and even the newer treatments in clinical trials
it is doing all those healthy things as early in like as possible
it will always be that way probably

take heed will you

tomorrow as i do my 14th year of these walks i look forward to just being a walking participant and walk with others who are affected by this awful terrible disease

wherever you live
look at that map above
click on your state
do what you can to help slow down this disease

look for a walk where you live and participate in it
the alzheimers association is the main reason we are making progress with this disease
support them
www.alz.org
all you need to know about alzheimers is at that link

we will be thinking of my mom my younger brother and my dad
all who suffered with this disease
and
of course me who so far has it slowed down 



if you are in the santa barbara area join us for our walk to end alzheimers at the link below
or
join a walk where you live
here is the link to our team organicgreendoctor to join or donate 
see you on saturday november 16th at chase palm park

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: its time to change it

organicgreendoctor: its time to change it: ITS TIME TO CHANGE IT i voted back in october via mail as soon as my ballot came in the mail i filled it out and mailed it within a few days...

its time to change it

ITS TIME TO CHANGE IT

i voted back in october via mail
as soon as my ballot came in the mail i filled it out and mailed it
within a few days i got a notice via text that it was received and counted

or 
was it
what i mean did it really count
since the vote really it seems by the millions spent in those important got to win states counts only there

all that money and political visits and famous folks campaigning like crazy in those few states while ignoring almost all of the other states

heck texas only got the presidential candidates once
pennsylvania got them several times a day for what seems like weeks

that all doesnt seem right

i talk to folks who came here from other countries and they sort of smile and shake their heads when we talk about our electoral system

i understand how it works 
i understand its history and why it was set up that way
a compromise was made
we all suffer from that compromise 

i recommend that we use the popular vote so that whoever wins the most votes in the election wins the election
you know the one person one vote rule

finally this year the republican candidate won the popular vote
george w was the last to do that

to the one that gets the top votes they get the job

man that would make the candidates go everywhere wouldnt it

there seems under the electoral system to be too many places where things can get all jammed up
lets remove that log jam and switch to the rule
whoever gets the most votes win

i think it was set up so the common man really didnt get to decide in the beginning
remember back then women couldnt vote
only property owners voted
blacks were not citizens
only an elite group got to pick the winner

the presidential election needs to be like we do for mayor governor senator house of representative school board tax collector etc

well you name it every other office

yes tis time to change now that the republicans showed they could win the popular vote as well as the electoral vote

here is a good explanation of the us presidential electoral system 

lets change it

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-i will do it

organicgreendoctor: alzheimers news-i will do it: ALZHEIMERS NEWS-I WILL DO IT that is me speaking last year at the walk to end alzheimers  in four years i want to be able to vote again and ...

alzheimers news-i will do it

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-I WILL DO IT

that is me speaking last year at the walk to end alzheimers 
in four years i want to be able to vote again and be able to know that i voted again
i want to be able if asked to speak at the 2028 walk to end alzheimers

to do this
i have to
maintain my healthy living like i have been doing
continue taking my aricept or donepezil to slow down symptoms
then
look for other things that may come available to slow down this disease

i may have found one
maybe

in 2016 i had an amyloid pet scan that was positive for amyloid plaques in my brain
this is the hallmark of alzheimers disease
if you have alzheimers you will have a positive amyloid pet scan

i was accepted in the biogen aduhelm or aducanumab treatment study in 2016

i started infusions for 18 months that turned out to be placebo
the study was delayed twice once by the pandemic and once by problems with the study 
it was eventually restarted and i received 34 months of aduhelm infusions

in the fall of 2023 my last amyloid pet scan was negative for amyloid plaque

in February of 2024 i had a final interview and studies for the biogen aduhelm study 

so the goal was to remove the amyloid plaque
it aduhelm did its job

these drugs called moncolonal amyloid antibodies slow down memory decline by about 25-30%

my drug aduhelm was removed from the market in favor of its sister drug leqembi which showed slightly better results and had all its initial clinical trials completed 

so leqembi is approved for use in mild cognitive impairment due to alzheimers and for early alzheimers
the sooner you take it the better it works
another similar drug kisunia also was approved

now here i am 1 year after having all the amyloid plaque removed from my brain
what do i do now
wait

well no i dont l like to wait

so enter this thing below

this is the leqembi auto injector
it probably will be approved by the fda for administering leqembi

when i got my infusions it was a 3 hr drive to ucla and a 3 hr drive home
a visit to see the neurologist to approve the infusion
a wait for the meds to be mixed up by the pharmacist 
an hour infusion time to get the meds
total time 9 hours

enter auto injector
time involved 
15 secs to inject
done

if the autoinjector is approved by the fda then folks ie me can give it myself at home eventually

they are seeking approval by the fda for leqembi to be given as a maintenance injection once a week to keep the amyloid plaque from reaccumulating

i am anxiously waiting its approval

here is a review article about this from alzheimers weekly

my thoughts
ill definitely do it

if you are in the santa barbara area join us for our walk to end alzheimers at the link below
or
join a walk where you live
here is the link to our team organicgreendoctor to join or donate 
see you on saturday november 16th at chase palm park

the organicgreen doctor

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #212 -why we walk

organicgreendoctor: my story revisited #212 -why we walk: MY STORY REVISTED #212-WHY WE WALK this is a picture of my first walk team for the walk to end alzheimers in austin in 2011 it was the first...

my story revisited #212 -why we walk

MY STORY REVISTED #212-WHY WE WALK

this is a picture of my first walk team for the walk to end alzheimers in austin in 2011
it was the first walk after i was diagnosed
i will have done 13 years of these walks this month

the flowers we carry at these walks have the same names on them 
there thank goodness have not been any additions 
well maybe my name could be added

i wrote this to ms b to tell her about my younger brother who died with alzheimers
plus my mother who died with it and my father who probably had it when he died

this year we will do the local walk here in santa barbara
this year i will not be talking at the open ceremonies like i have done for years
i look forward to it 
just savoring the moment with my family
i promise to cry
__________
10-12-2015

DEAR MS B-YOUDVE LIKED HIM


ok ms b this will be the last sad blog i write to you
well i hope it is

you have two ancestors named joe
both are not with us now
both taken down by two different diseases
one taken by an als like disease
the other taken by alzheimers disease
one your other grandpa
the other your great uncle

now your grandpa joe i only met once
even though he was ill you could tell he
was a powerful man
powerful in the way he carried himself
but
compassionate

i wish i could have got to know him better


the other joe
your uncle joe
was also compassionate
had a great smile
worked for years as a fireman then later a deputy sheriff
loved his family like the other joe did
loved life like the other joe did
loved hunting and outdoor stuff the other joe loved the outdoors

ms b he had two daughters and two granddaughters
so he knew about raising girls

now this weekend ms b
we will be honoring uncle joe
at a walk to end alzheimers in little rock
walking with his familys team
#joe nash

we will be walking to raise money for the
alzheimers association to use for research and education
on alzheimers disease

you see ms b
we are getting close real close to finding a true treatment
and a cure
real close

when we walk this weekend these are the four folks we
will be walking for

nell-your great grandmother a nurse
charles-your great grandfather a minister
joe-your great uncle joe taken like your grandpa joe much too
soon before their lives were complete

ms b uncle joes wife 2 daughters 1 grandson 2 granddaughters
will all shed tears this weekend as they walk
as will his friends and siblings that are walking
and
those who cant be there will be thinking of him and his
family saturday morning

yes ms b
your gma and i still cry every time we do this
walk for uncle joe and our other family members
affected by this terrible disease

ms b
if you met your uncle joe
you would have liked him
his smile
his laugh
yes he would probably pinch your cheeks
maybe give you a kiss

yes ms b

youdve liked him
_________
ms b you would have liked him
all kids did
yes
like me 
he would tease you a lot
and
make your smile

this is why we do the walks
to honor these relatives affected by this horrible disease

yes
we are getting closer to a treatment for this disease
lucky for me i was able to receive treatments that may slow things down
which means i may be around a little longer to tease you

if you are in the santa barbara area join us for our walk to end alzheimers at the link below
or
join a walk where you live
here is the link to our team organicgreendoctor to join or donate 
see you on saturday november 16th at chase palm park 

the organicgreen doctor