Pubdate: Mon, 18 Jan 2016
Source: Moose Jaw Times-Herald (CN SN)
Copyright: 2016 The Moose Jaw Times-Herald Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2154
Author: Theresa Simon-Worobec
Page: A1

'MARIJUANA SAVED MY LIFE'

SPECIAL REPORT: This is Part I of a three-part series that will delve
into one local man's usage of medical marijuana after he sustained
serious injuries. It hasn't been an easy road for the husband and
father of two over the past couple of years. He has battled a stigma,
lost his job and had been popping all kinds of pills until he found
medical marijuana.

A Moose Jaw man is frustrated with what he claims is an outdated
stigma against the medicine he uses - marijuana.

Chris Kuntz, a husband and father of two, has been using doctor
prescribed medical marijuana since last June after undergoing a
combined laminectomy and discectomy to repair two herniated discs and
an annular tear in his spine.

On Dec. 10, 2014, Kuntz was on his way to work when his back suddenly
gave out and he fell in his doorway. He temporarily lost the feeling
in his legs and was rendered bedridden for two days until he went to
the doctor who prescribed pain medication and ordered an MRI. He ended
up falling again on Jan. 6, once again losing feeling in both legs.

Before his surgery on March 9, 2015, Kuntz says he was prescribed
"pills, pills, pills, and more pills to deal with the pain." At one
point, possessing 16 different medications, including Tylenol 3,
Lyrica, Celebrex, and Dilauded.

After the surgery Kuntz says he immediately felt better, but after
eight days the pain was back. This time he said it was even worse than
before. An MRI showed surgical swelling and a possible infection in
the spinal chord. Once again, a myriad of pharmaceuticals were prescribed.

"It was up to about 40-50 pills a day at the worst part before I went
on the fentanyl patch," said Kuntz. "That would have been for a few
months. Most of them were prescribed to combat the side effects of the
pain medication and the side effects of everything else."

Kuntz says those side effects included weight gain, insomnia,
constipation, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, dizziness, muscle spasms,
high blood pressure, and low blood pressure.

Even Aleve, a common over-the-counter pain reliever, would cause Kuntz
to vomit blood after just a few days of continuous use. His doctor
ended up prescribing a fentanyl patch for him, a highly addictive
opiate pain reliever only prescribed in dire situations.

"I was on the fentanyl patch," said Kuntz. "It's pretty much death.
Every three days I was changing the patch and it was horrible. I
thought I was going to die. I couldn't eat, I never slept. I was on a
constant heroine trip. It's one of the only medications that you can
get that can actually kill you, and they give it out like candy."

Kuntz's well-being deteriorated to such a point that his wife Amanda
suggested he try marijuana.

"I understand you don't want to do that," Amanda says she told Chris.
"But come on, let's just try it."

"I was at the point where I was basically a drug addict anyway," said
Chris. "So I thought, well, adjust my morals a little bit."

The Kuntzs say they went to their doctor and followed all of the
guidelines set out by the Medical Marijuana Alliance and Resources
(MMAR) to acquire the controversial medicine.

"Any medication has got a lot of side effects," said Kuntz's doctor,
Hany Youseff. "He had side effects and there was no improvement for
his pain. That effected his work massively and his family life."

Youseff said that medical marijuana was prescribed to Kuntz as a last
resort, as it is with all his other patients.

"We have guidelines," Youseff explained. "We don't just go with what
the patient asks for. We go with individual medical conditions. If
everything else fails, then we resort to medical marijuana."

Since obtaining a prescription for three grams a day, Kuntz says his
quality of life has greatly improved.

"It's really been life changing," he says. "I won't take anything
else. I won't do it. I don't want to be a zombie. I've tried in
between to take an Aleve and it really works, but it kicks the s-out
of me, so the side effects are not worth what it does for me.

"There's anger and all these things that come out. You're not you. I
spent three months in bed, and most of that time I just couldn't get
out of bed because of all the medication. But now I can do push-ups, I
can do all these things now that a year ago I couldn't and I
thoroughly believe that cannabis was the deciding factor."

To help the Kuntz's during this difficult time please visit
http://gofundme.com/chriskuntzfamily
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MAP posted-by: Matt