Pubdate: Wed, 30 Mar 2016
Source: Lake Country Calendar (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Black Press
Contact: http://www.lakecountrycalendar.com/contact_us/
Website: http://www.lakecountrycalendar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2229
Author: Kevin Parnell

Cannabis Oil

TREATMENT A SAVING GRACE AFTER END OF LIFE DIAGNOSIS

Cheryl Pearson has never smoked pot. Given just months to live after 
finally receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer, the Lake 
Country resident was at first against the use of medicinal marijuana 
as part of her treatment.

But after a tumultuous ride through Canada's medical system, which 
for nearly four years had misdiagnosed the reasons behind the rapid 
decline in her health, the impairment of her motor skills and the 
loss of use of her bodily functions, Pearson is now a believer in the 
controversial treatment.

Today her cancer is in remission and she has lived well past December 
of 2013-the time her cancer doctors gave as her "end of life date."

And while no one involved in her mainstream treatment is going to say 
it, it appears cannabis oil, made from the marijuana plant and 
administered to Cheryl by her family, played a major part in 
extending her life. It has given the family hope and has become a 
regular part of life for the Pearsons, a family of five, with three 
kids attending UBC Okanagan, including the couple's oldest, who is 
now studying the effects of marijuana as a potential cancer-killing agent.

*

It was 2009 when Cheryl's health began to take a turn for the worse. 
Originally she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Over the next 
four years Cheryl's health rapidly declined while she and husband 
Chris fought for a proper diagnosis and some sort of treatment.

They had gone from an active family travelling around the province 
and supporting their kids in sports like motocross, to people 
bouncing from one frustrating appointment to the next.

It was during this time that Justin, an honour roll student at George 
Elliot Secondary, told his mom to hang on, asking Cheryl to keep 
fighting long enough so he could become a doctor and save her.

"Seeing her condition and how frustrating it was, as a kid you look 
at it and don't understand," said Justin, now just days away from 
turning 22 and in his fourth year at UBCO studying biology.

"You feel like doctors should be able to provide the best to heal 
that person. In my mind that was when I made the decision that 
medicine was what I wanted to get into."

As Justin turned his focus to becoming a doctor to save his mom, his 
parents continued their struggle to get help. In 2013-four years from 
her initial MS diagnosis-they were finally told it was ovarian cancer 
after two large tumours were found. Doctors told the family to 
prepare to say goodbye and planned some final chemotherapy treatments.

Driven to help his wife, Chris had taken to researching alternative 
treatments and found all kinds of wild tales of how to fight cancer. 
Finally a friend in the community called him over and told him about 
cannabis oil and how it had helped their family.

The friend pointed to research done by fellow Canadian Rick Simpson, 
who through his ground-breaking research had published what's become 
known as the Rick Simpson Protocol, containing specific instructions 
on how to extract cannabis oil from marijuana plants.

Simpson says he first discovered the healing properties of cannabis 
oil in 2003 as a potential cure for cancer as well as for many other 
ailments. Hearing about the Rick Simpson Protocol, Chris Pearson dove 
into action.

"With a termination date of six months, my number one focus was that 
the kids could remember the magnificence of mom," said Chris. "She 
has been an amazing mom and I've watched people deteriorate when they 
get sick. I didn't want my kids to remember her that way. I wanted 
her to go with dignity and be positively remembered as a happy person 
and easy to get along with. I absolutely didn't think it would work. 
I thought I could just give her something for the pain."

So as Cheryl began to prepare for a double-dose treatment of 
chemotherapy in July 2013, Chris went through the process to receive 
medicinal marijuana as a treatment so they could legally possess the 
drug. Using the described protocol, he produced cannabis oil.

But he still had to convince Cheryl to take it. Finally, it was in a 
meeting with the head pharmacist for the Canadian Cancer Society 
where Cheryl was convinced.

"My wife is dead set against cannabis, doing something that she grew 
up to believe is criminal," said Chris, noting that the meeting with 
the pharmacist started to change her mind. "When I asked if it would 
work, he said there are no clinical trials but he advised us that 
three of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies had applied for 
patents for synthetic forms of this specifically for the treatment of 
cancer, so there is obviously something to the concept."

A few days before her first chemo treatment, Cheryl started taking 
doses of cannabis oil. Then, just a few treatments into chemo, it was 
found that Cheryl was allergic to the chemotherapy drugs. She 
wouldn't be able to continue with her chemo and again doctors 
informed the family to prepare for her death and to say goodbye.

However, she kept using the cannabis oil. It was the only thing she was taking.

Five weeks later they received a call from her oncologist stating 
that a recent CT scan had noted a dramatic improvement in her liver, 
and a 25 per cent reduction in her tumours.

The positive results would continue as tests showed the cancer in her 
body was decreasing. She was sent to Vancouver for surgery to remove 
the tumours.

"We went for the surgery and both tumours came out well," said Chris. 
"Both tumours were completely dead when they ran them through tests."

Soon she passed her date of termination and by March of 2014 Cheryl 
was officially in remission. Last weekend she spent Easter with her 
family by her side.

"Her end of life was going to be December 2013," said Chris. "The 
chances they gave us were a five per cent chance to make it to 
December-it was impossible that she would make it through December. 
The fact we are now two-plus years later is something that doesn't 
make a whole lot of sense."

"I guess I never would have believed it-the results I saw from this 
plant," added Cheryl. "Initially I only thought you could smoke it 
and I was not going that route. I didn't have the knowledge. I was 
just thinking it was a puff of smoke and if I have cancer I'm not 
going to add to it."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom