Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Fibromyalgia blessed my life!?!

Strange but I realize this morning that when I count my blessings I had to include my fibromyalgia. Sounds weird but here's why. If I never had this pain filled diagnosis I would have never started down the path that has become my life. 


First I simply used Medical Marijuana to relieve my own pain with smoking and edibles. Over the course of those first years I researched and learned so much. I learned about concentrates and topicals. I learned how to extract the helpful cannabinoids using various techniques for various purposes. 


After a lot of trial (and error). I developed formulas and recipes that worked well for my pain, spasms and other symptoms.


Here's where the blessing comes in.... I began to share some of my lotions and potions with other folks who were having pains and problems and they worked for them too!  The blessing for me now is looking back and seeing how I've been able to help others with such varied health problems and looking to the future with the hope and knowledge to continue. 


I have a patient with a skin disorder who had tried every kind of rx cream his doctor could prescribe but nothing was working.  He tried a lotion I made with medical marijuana and sure enough his skin is healthy again and the pain it was causing is gone. 


I have another patient who contacted me through her granddaughter. At age 94 she has multiple health problems and was on loads of rx pain meds. She still struggled to have the quality of life and mobility she wanted. It turns out she loves candy so we tried a cannabis infused mint and a few other canna candies. Sure enough this more natural approach allows her to have more mobility and less pain. Best of all she was able to drastically reduce her use of rx painkillers and the nasty side effects that go with them. 


Another patient and friend of mine was diagnosed with lymphoma awhile back. His doctors told him to get his affairs in order because this disease moves quickly through the body and his prognosis was bad. He began making his own concentrated cannabis oil and taking this to treat his cancer. As his disease quickly progressed he became unable to make the oil himself. We were able to step in and help him with that project. He continued his cannabis oil treatment taking 1-2 grams per day. We watched him get better each time we visited. Now he has even amazed his doctors. About 6 months ago he had a full body scan. Where his lymph nodes had been swollen and diseased with cancer in the previous scan now were healthy normal lymph nodes. His doctor was amazed. They couldn't even find the cancer anymore. 


I have more and more stories from degenerative disc pain relieved through topicals to surgical scars diminished with topicals to anxiety and depression relieved through edibles


So this is why I count my Fibromyalgia among my blessings. If I had never become ill, I would have never looked for alternative treatments. Had I been healthy I would have had no reason to learn to make my medicines.  Had I not needed help myself I would have never been able to help others find relief. And helping others is really the biggest blessing of all. 


What are your blessings?  


THChristi