How Medical Marijuana May Have Quite Literally Saved My Life

I'm not going to lie.  July and August were pretty terrible.  The side effects of the cancer drug are getting worse.  There was a span of a few weeks where I couldn't keep much food down at all, and even when I could, I barely had any appetite.  My sympathies go out to any woman who had to deal with morning sickness, I know what it's like, and it's not fun at all.


That's when it would mainly hit.  Every morning, I would wake up, between 3:00 and 6:00, and have to make a mad dash downstairs to the bathroom.  Once there, I wouldn't be able to move from that spot for another few hours.  It left me completely exhausted, and I would end up sleeping most of the day to make up for it.


That's when I decided that I needed to talk to my doctor about it.   I knew that marijuana could help with fending off nausea and increasing my appetite.  My oncologist was all for it, but wasn't willing to sign the paperwork for Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Program.  His rationale was that since it's still illegal on the federal level, and that's where his medical license is through, he wasn't willing to take that risk.  Luckily, I found a doctor at a clinic in Kalamazoo who would see me.

I made an appointment, brought him a book off my medical records, and he promptly told me that I was one of the most "slam dunk" cases he had ever seen.  His office over-nighted the paper work, along with my application fee check.  I waited the 15 days to make sure I didn't get denied, and now I'm officially able to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana.  I can't drive while I'm on it, not that I would anyway.  I can't smoke it in public.  However, it does mean that I don't have to feel like a criminal when I use it to manage symptoms, even though I still feel a bit weird being able to carry it around.  

During August, I lost 10 pounds because of the drug side-effects.  I've been legal to use marijuana for almost 3 weeks now, and I'm happy to report that I've only been sick a few times, and I'm starting to put a little weight back on.  (I was 137, today I'm 141!)  I know that the marijuana debate is a pretty heated topic.  But, I want you to know that when used in appropriate cases, it really does help.  I have been off the sutent for  few weeks now, for a short medicine holiday, which helps, but I still have some rough mornings here and there.


I owe a great big thank you to my cousin, Josh.  He is acting as my caregiver, and has helped me out a lot.  Thanks, Josh, life would have been a lot worse without your help.  

I'll be posting again soon about the trip that I Heather and I took to the Upper Peninsula a few weeks ago.  I had an idea for another upcoming blog post, and it requires your help.  I want to do a question and answer post, because I feel like people have a lot of questions, and may be afraid to ask.  I promise a no holds barred discussion.  Any topic is fair game, and I'll do my best to answer as honestly as possible.  I'll make sure that the comments section can have anonymous posting, if you'd rather ask something anonymously.  I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful fall weather.  Thanks for reading!