Surviving cancer and its aftereffects with cannabis

I’ll bet some of you are waiting to read more about great cannabis products! I will get to that very soon, but first I wanted to tell you a bit about being a two-time cancer survivor, since cancer is the reason I became a believer in medical marijuana.

In 1999, at age 43, I was diagnosed with a rare variation of ovarian cancer called Primary Peritoneal Cancer (PPC). I had a hysterectomy a few years earlier, and both of my ovaries were removed then. But with PPC, cancer shows up in the lining of the abdomen instead of the ovaries. PPC is considered virtually the same disease as ovarian cancer since the cells of the peritoneal lining develop from the same type of cell that lines the surface of the ovaries.

The cancer was advanced, and treatment was surgery to remove the tumors along with six months of chemotherapy. The treatment worked and since then, I have been what we in the cancer community call NED – no evidence of disease. But as most know, chemo takes a toll.

Chemo killed my appetite, and I started to lose a lot of weight. You’ve got to be strong to fight this disease, so not eating wasn’t helping my plan to survive. My doctor suggested marijuana, but we lived in South Carolina, where it was illegal in all forms. Lucky me, I had a friend who had a friend who had a cousin in North Carolina who once smoked dope, so my friend drove up there and got me some.

It was a risk, because my employer did random drug tests, but all I could think about was surviving. I hated smoking it, but it was instant relief. I’d be sick and miserable on the couch, and my husband would bring me a little joint to smoke. Pretty soon, I’d be like what’s for dinner? I gained back the weight I lost and stayed steady and strong throughout my treatment. I never got called for a random, and as soon as my treatment was over, I stopped using marijuana.

Sixteen years go by, and I’m living just fine without cannabis. It never occurred to me to use it, and I was always employed by companies that had drug policies anyway. In 2015, a routine mammogram revealed DCIS, a usually not-so-bad form of early stage breast cancer. Because of my history, they did the genetic test, and I was positive for the BRCA 1 gene mutation. Both of my cancers were caused by this mutation.

With the mutation, even DCIS is potentially more dangerous. Normal treatment would have been removing the lump and radiation, but my doctor said we needed to be aggressive, so I had a bilateral mastectomy. I chose not to have reconstruction and am a proud member of the Flat & Fabulous community. If you look at the picture above, it sort of appears I have nipples, but those are just lumps and bumps from scar tissue.

For me, the long-term effects of ovarian cancer are all related to having no estrogen. Other than a nasty scar, I’m not much worse for the wear – even though the chances of me living through it were slim. The breast cancer was far less of a threat to my life, but the long-term effects are much greater. You just don’t realize what happens to your body when they amputate your breasts and remove lymph nodes. For many of us, the pain and discomfort is persistent.

To relieve the pain, I tried physical therapy, massage and over-the-counter pain meds. All of it helped to some extent, but I was going for the holy grail. Shortly after I retired, I read an article about Kikoko Sympa-Tea, a new cannabis product high in CBD and low in THC. I’ll write more about my love affair with Kikoko and CBD in the coming weeks, but I’ll just say now it was a life changer. Cannabis cured the pain and helped in unexpected ways – anyone with anxiety?

Now that I’ve survived cancer twice, I’m all about enjoying life to its fullest. I was so afraid I would die young, but now I’m trying to figure out how to age badass!  All you cancer survivors out there –  stay strong and don’t give up hope. And anyone else who stumbled across this blog – I hope you will come back for some thoughts on how cannabis can improve your life.