Pubdate: Wed, 06 Apr 2016
Source: Morning Star, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 The Morning Star
Contact:  http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1352
Author: Kevin Parnell

CANNABIS OIL SAVING GRACE

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

Today, her cancer is in remission and she has lived well past 
December 2013, the date her cancer doctors gave her 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, approaching Cheryl 
and telling her 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 onto trying to become 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 
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 late 2013, Chris had gone through the process to 
receive medicinal marijuana as a treatment and could legally possess 
the drug. Using the Rick Simpson 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. But 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 travel and love each other, and to say goodbye. However she stayed 
on the cannabis oil. It was the only thing she was taking. Seven 
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 both tumours.

The positive results would continue as tests showed the cancer in her 
body was decreasing. She soon passed her date of termination and was 
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."

By March 2014, Cheryl Pearson was officially in remission and 
recently, she spent Easter with her loving 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 December. 
It was impossible that she made it to 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."
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