Submitted by Leah W. from traveling the United States

I am 65 years old, born in Panama, lived in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona cumulative 50 years, currently traveling the United States looking for my forever retirement home.

I went through nine years of lack of deep rem sleep with chronic and crippling pain

Dealing with complications of Arnold Chiari 1, severe osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and bone marrow edema, spondylosis, disc degeneration, stenosis Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, accompanied by daily severe muscle spasms and stiffness, multiple foot injuries/pins screws surgeries, and jaw bone infections.

The most challenging was when doctors early on labeled me as “A middle-aged overworked, overweight, depressed woman with fibromyalgia.”

In the early 90s, a psychiatrist with antidepressant pills in his hand; told my husband, “Take her home, give her these.” At a pain clinic therapy pool after a grand-mal seizure, I had a nurse tell me to get out of the facility and find another doctor, which I did. I found a pain clinic that pursued a true diagnosis of Arnold Chiari Malformation 1 with pelvic and leg asymmetry and spine—years of antidepressants, muscle relaxants, even Fentanyl patches, seizure meds, other narcotics, and sedatives. I made a choice to cold turkey stop all of them and that is not recommended! I chose to suffer working grueling shifts with various pain and muscle issues.

It took years of surgery and I am grateful for them, but often you trade one symptom for another.

I went through years of epidurals, Trigger Point injections weekly, Ultrasounds, PT, and Pool therapy (my favorite) but insurance does not cover often. For 20 years, I wore an adjustable three-factor Tens unit to work. My shifts were 12 hours and I would move those four pads around all day to keep a grip on function and pain.

The Reclast that was prescribed to improve my osteoporosis absolutely destroyed my bones. Never have I had such intense pain and chills....... I lost and continue to lose jaw mass with broken teeth into the jawline that became infected, requiring surgery and now cannot resolve the last jaw with broken teeth.

I am happy to be rodded, glued, pinned, and “roboted out,” as my daughter says.

I was resistant to Cannabis initially until…

I met Debi Wimberley in 2018 through a business referral in Phoenix. I have had over 37 surgeries. The last two were very serious neurosurgery c2 through c7 and L1-S1 decompression with rods. Debi was great for me because she opened my eyes to a little bit more extensive use of Cannabis and the specific strains you need for certain medical conditions to work through the fear of using Cannabis. Meeting with her changed everything. I learned principles from her like minimizing, starting low and working up to the optimal dose. I have learned so much from her.

I am truly grateful for Debi as my pain clinic discontinued their services and Effective Cannabis has filled my needs for education from then on. Working with a Cannabis coach and the support of the Effective Cannabis group will improve your life; it is a commitment of your time well spent. To follow up with her, you need to value the time she has spent researching and the experience that she has. It is just a whole different ball game having the facts around the benefits and proper dosing of Cannabis for better health.

My family for generations has been in the medical field; no one values and is quite suspect of Cannabis!

In Texas, Cannabis is very illegal and not welcome to talk about where my family lives. When I began homeopathic and naturopathic care, my doctor recommended Cannabis which I never would have considered being a licensed nurse. My profession as a nurse in Arizona after legalization did not allow for it but did allow RX narcotics etc.

Narcotics prescribing changes in Arizona after implants and neurosurgery, or any surgery, leaves a giant gap of relief for patients. I was fired as a patient for reporting my use of CBD and later Cannabis salve that I made myself, requiring me to take a weekly drug test to get Tramadol 50 mg..........I did not like that feeling about myself; I thought I had chosen a better path.

After meeting the people I have through markets and cancer clients, it is a much broader world with Cannabis treatment options on the how, when, what, who to provide, and where. The whys are gone. I am set on my path and must know the laws because of travel. I travel with CBD and alternative tinctures of another kind.

After surgery, twice daily, I logged my CBD, THC, Vital signs and any peculiar effects

My daily routine starts in the morning. I rub a 1:10 Kief oil on any joint area or spine for mobility and pain; relief in 30 minutes. I also use a strain-specific salve for squamous cancer that I topically apply to lymph node areas, lungs & ribs area front and back. My extracts and tincture vary from 3:1 to 1:1 CBD/THC strains specific for either sleep or just awake relief. Sublingual before physical therapy, I take a 1:1 THC/CBD 1-2 drops or cool flower vape 1-2 puffs 30 minutes prior.

Because of severe asthma, I do not smoke often but I do have a cool temp vape. I do vape a couple of times a week varying strains for sleep, pain and muscle spasms relief. Salving daily over the years, I believe I keep my levels stable for pain relief and stiffness through the skin bypassing the liver and not interacting with other systemic RX. I make suppositories that are 100mg THC oil/ 1000mg CBD isolate. For 3 years now I have been making an extract from Cannabis root balls and drink daily as a tonic.

With regular daily protocols, I follow with small doses to adjust to higher doses of CBD and Cannabis, adjusting the ratios in extracts, tinctures, diffusers, breathing treatments, cool vape, and of course my head-to-toe topicals that keep me mobile and comfortable with reapplication as often as needed.

Before using Cannabis and CBD, I was taking so many pills, juggling insurance and all the appointments with various doctors to justify my Rx use

Neurontin, Valium, Gabapentin, Baclofen, Flexeril and narcotics just made me dull, inactive, somnolent and unable to participate in my children’s lives. I totally lacked motivation to do life. There were never any plans to limit the time on the pills or hope that the unknown causes would ever go away.

I control mostly the quality of treatment with the benefits of Cannabis and CBD

I sleep without multiple rx as others in my family are doing; I don’t need daily alcohol or lots of entertainment to keep my life full or distractions to keep me from thinking about pain. I have a great physical relationship with my husband; we are actively traveling, hiking and gardening, taking pictures, and just really living life more.

I did see a reduction in lung nodes after five years of scans. I believe a lot of cancer healing and prevention has a lot to do with attitude, balance of rest and activity, good nutrition and a quality environment. Cannabis balances out all of it in the direction of my own tolerance and observance of how I feel. It’s the control I want. Bad days are rare and do-able.

Now with tumor markers positive and varying up and down, my antennas are up for any Cannabis opportunity treatments. Now pretty much since 2017, I see a naturopath once or twice a year.

This journey is very new with the spread but I choose not to do chemo or radiation and try all else in a positive way; I think it will be a long and GOOD journey. I will keep you posted.

This is Leah’s personal story and not meant to be medical advice. It is for informational purposes.

To work with a medical Cannabis professional, please visit our directory of coaches, educators, and medical professionals. Everyone’s Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is different; good results start with the right approach. You don’t have to figure it out on your own.

 If you need help with any terminology in this article, you may find some answers in our glossary.