Eat It to Beat It!

On my birthday, as great timing would have it, I got my expiration date.

My oncologist finally convinced me to have an EGD and a colonoscopy, even with my kicking and screaming, because I am old. You have to do things when you are old. Even if you don't want to. But, since I lived through it, I know now that I was a serious over-actor. Colonoscopies are a very good thing, and now that I have been through the process, I encourage you over 50 to get one.

I was scared, nervous, anxious, didn't want to do the prep. That is such BS. I did a lot of self stress for no reason. It was a piece of cake! So, just do it. A colonoscopy might save your life, that is, if you are in a state that has legal medical marijuana laws. If not, good luck.

On my birthday, I got the "both end" scope diagnoses from the both end biopsies. So, now that I know I have new cancer cells, I want to go back next year for my, not-so-feared scope session, completely cured by eating marijuana.

I know marijuana  kills cancer cells. I know marijuana greatly controls seizures. I know marijuana works great on nausea. I just wish there was more money for research. They haven't even scratched the surface on the benefits of marijuana.

My diet is very healthy, I'm not a vegetarian, like my grandson. I don't diet or exercise, but I stay active and busy. I am in good shape and my lab tests are all good without taking any meds. I just want to be living proof that cannabis kills cancer. Since marijuana will not be on the ballot until 2016, I sure don't want to wait that long to experiment.

I, like everyone else in Wyoming, will be making a road trip to stock up on edibles. I really don't know about smoking for a cancer cure, but I truly believe you can eat it to beat it. Since I can't pick up stakes and move,I am going to attempt to grow it and eat every bit of it. I just know it will take a lot of plants. If they all turn out like my 1st little Charlie Brown baby plant -- I will not die of cancer, I will starve to death.

On a happier note, I know states who make cannabis edibles that will save my life, or at the very least allow me to be my own guinea pig and prove cancer can be cured by cannabis.  I am going to eat it to beat it!

Weed Wyoming

I recently watched the induction of Cheech and Chong into the Hall of Fame. During this, I reminisced about the first time I was introduced to marijuana. I didn't know it was illegal, because I didn't know what it was. I came from a Wyoming family that didn't drink or dance, and since drugs were a part of the "other side of world", never had a discussion on drugs.

After college, I got a job in Houston, the "other side of the world", for three years. That first summer in Houston was a revelation into the brilliant lights that were going to always be a part of my life. I discovered Reggae and Marijuana (what a combo!) and I played my first game of pool. At 25 years young, I was having the best (sex-free) time of my life. But since I hadn't really LIVED, every experience was a wow factor. With my upbringing, everything I was doing was deemed wrong, so there were a few things I wouldn't do out of fear of the unknown. Funny, everything I did was an unknown. I have never done IV drugs or cocaine, because I am totally content with weed. I was able to see other drugs and the effect, and just wasn't interested.

Aren't we all amazed how things have changed since our parents' young adulthood's! (Ha, I mean anyone over 50). On the news this morning, my ears shot forward and my head snapped toward the tv as I heard the word "marijuana". Hooray! Wyoming IS a progressive state! However, mj still has such a stigma, I swear I could hear sarcasm in the announcers voice as he told about NORML working on getting mj on the 2016 ballot. That announcement made my day, and I did a happy dance in the kitchen and hoped I live long enough to smoke my first legal bowl. I will certainly show up to vote!

Thank you NORML and WEED WYOMING. Happy Holidays!

Pharmaceutical Companies Don't Want Marijuana Legalized

I can see why pharmaceutical companies don't want marijuana legalized. Take a $4 blood pressure pill with a glass of grapefruit juice, and you might get the effects of $1.75 of that medicine. Wow, with a whopping 47% of medicine ineffectiveness, it seems like a giant waste of money for a product that won't do you any good if you eat certain foods or drink some juices. You are still depressed? What juices or caffeine products are you drinking with your meds? What foods are you eating with your meds? Antidepressants, antivirals, birth control pills, cholesterol and blood pressure meds are all affected by food and/or drinks, especially juices.  Oh forget that, just triple the dose! (Sorry for the sarcasm). 

Some meds are quite expensive, and if you eat or drink designated foods, you just threw the money out the window. Besides the cost, why take a medicine that has many contraindications? How about the side effects? Liver or kidney failure, heart arrhythmia. It is amazing how many people take meds that have to be increased because of ineffective results.

How many people don't know or think about telling their doctor about food/drink preferences, when there are a lot of foods or juices that make some medicines ineffective or slows the metabolism time so the med is not absorbed properly, therefore making it ineffective, therefore the need to be increased. What a vicious cycle! 

Most pharmacies give written information about the med ordered, but many people don't read or understand the jargon, and by the time they get to "don't take with juice", they are asleep or gave up reading. But they just can't figure out why they feel so crappy after their med dose was increased.

Marijuana is in the news, all over the internet, and people are just talkies, especially those who mj has helped,(like me). But the bottom line is that there is no bad press about marijuana. "Kills cancer cells", "Helps with depression", this one is a biggy to me--"Fights nausea"! It absolutely does, and I will (figuratively) go to the ground against anyone that says otherwise. I KNOW IT WORKS!

Why can't we pile on the money for cancer research with marijuana! Regulating blood pressure with marijuana, halting mood swings and depression, the list gets longer every day!  The beneficial effects of this plant are just beginning to surface. With REAL research and development, this may just be the new "Super Drug" that will replace many of our older medications, the ones with vast side effects and contraindications. Even doctors agree some medications need to be retired. 

Another concern with older adults-- they take their meds, get busy or get out of routine, and don't remember if they took their meds, then go get another dose. Numerous older adults are hospitalized for that very reason. Give them a daily cannapill for their blood pressure, and it won't hurt them if they take another. When I get old enough to start having problems, I will take marijuana products, legal or not. I can see a lot of senior citizens who would benefit from a morning dose of cannabis, they can eat or drink anything, and it would improve their appetites. I am 63 and mj takes the hurt out of my hips and stops my post chemo nausea in its tracks.

I really think this little plant is going to make a big change in the medication world, especially with the new younger generation coming on who are ready to challenge and change old world of medicine. Hooray! 

Marijuana Sleeping Pills... Where Are They?

On the Casper news this morning, the poor overused sleeping pill was being bashed. "Too many women are taking sleeping pills. Older, educated females take more than men." I wonder why!! No, I'm not going to man-bash. I just think it is mindless that marijuana isn't legal. It is a great sleep aid, and a whole lot cheaper than pills without the side effects. There is even a strain of weed grown specifically for sleep. I learned that form the Queen of All Things Weed. One doesn't even have to smoke it anymore! I was absolutely tickled when she introduced me to mj butter. Sure wish I could have brought some home!

Sleeping pills are so highly addictive, pot is not. They didn't say that on the newscast. Didn't even mention weed as an alternative to prescription drugs, and it is legal there, (Denver news). Maybe someday.  I think it is great when the side effects of pills are mentioned. The advertiser talks as fast as possible, hoping you will not be paying attention, those 20 seconds.  An ad for marijuana would go like this. Side effect from marijuana, ummm, none.

It is so pathetic that a great medicine like this can't be marketed for its proper use as to those who need it. Target sleep problems, target mood problems. I already know it works for nausea. Weed is a great sleep aid, non-habit forming, wake refreshed, not drug hung over. Women would use a dash of mj for a good night's sleep, instead of pills, if it was decriminalized. Let's get the mj sleeping pill on the market!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

I really do learn something new every day. My grandson came over for the weekend, and being so very proud of having my blog printed, I had to show him my, "Piece of My Mind". Pride in ownership thing. His response was just as I expected, but definitely not from the direction I thought it would come. He was quite angry and straightforward. "My kids are going to read this shit & think it's okay to use!"

He was very informative for the next few minutes. He is completely right about everything he said, and a lot were things I hadn't even considered. I didn't think about kids under 21 using marijuana any worse than they do now. Being regulated, I just figured it would be just like alcohol. Over time, people are going to become disinterested, desensitized, and mj will be no different than alcohol. Right now it is illegal and in the news. Kids who are going to try it are going to try it, and kids who have respect for the law will leave mj and alcohol alone until they are 21. Or, they will try it and leave it alone. Everybody has a choice and most know right from wrong, therefore most will abide by the alcohol/marijuana laws, and play by the rules. I would still be abiding by the marijuana laws in this state, but I found it helps my nausea profoundly. I just saw on the internet yesterday that a man died because he couldn't use his mj for his nausea. I almost cried. I know what he was going through. Makes me sad right now for him. That is such a shame.

So, at this point, now that I have seen marijuana from a different perspective,  I will be a complete and total advocate for education. It is a must for some of the tax money from sales be used for billboards,magazine ads, video games! Let everyone know the ill effects of mj and alcohol, all pros and cons should be known. But most of all, reminders, straightforward to the point ads, NO alcohol OR marijuana until you are 21.  Ads that will be targeted to that age group, media that they will see and that will reach them. 

Marijuana should at a minimum be decriminalized for those over 21. So, I hope by the time my grandson has kids, this marijuana war will be a thing of the past and every one over 21 will have a free choice - it just won't be a big deal anymore.

I Like to Smoke

I like to smoke marijuana. 

I do not smoke cigarettes, because I don't like the smell, but I don't condemn because my daughter smokes. I am tired of drinking, I don't like how I feel anymore with booze on board.

I have learned through experimentation that weed works wonders on nausea from chemotherapy Been there, done that. It even helps with after chemo nausea. Mine hasn't gone away yet.  I would like to have access to marijuana, but can't because it is illegal in this state. 

I am 63. Why shouldn't I have a choice? It has to be such a secret! I can't afford to move to a state where it is legal, I have a business. There are numerous people in this town who smoke weed. They are responsible adults, but they have to keep it a secret. If everyone who smoked weed in this town were to come forward, I would put money on the fact there are more smokers than nonsmokers. Everyone has a different source, how silly. We should be able to buy from the same source and pay tax. Our state would love the infusion of money. We finally got the lottery!  We were the first state to give women the right to vote and one of the last states to outlaw prostitution, so we are in a forward moving state. I know some of our politicians smoke weed.

I went to Seattle last year and did not see a single lunatic, crazy from smoking weed. I was pleasantly surprised when people were smoking in public, discreetly, too. I learned quite a lot while I was there. It certainly gave me a different perspective!

I decided to "bite the bullet" and ask my neighbor what he thought of marijuana in Wyoming. He is a 75 year old, single, potbellied, retired government professional. He definitely likes his beer, he is friendly, and a nice guy. His response was really surprising to me, because I had him pegged for the "straight arrow" type. So, I asked him if he would use marijuana if it were legal.

His response, "Sure! I certainly wouldn't drink so much! The med thing is a big issue. It is stupid to try and stop it. People are going to use it. I think it is a huge waste of state money for incarceration, it screws up the lives of productive citizens after incarceration. Alcohol messes you up a lot more.  How about the money taxes and permits would generate!? That money could be used to help alcoholism!"

He laughed and we started onto something else. What you can find out by asking!

My daughter and grandson know I smoke when I can find it, because we are a close family.  I just don't want trouble, so I am afraid to ask anyone. Pretty stupid. My 22 year old grandson thinks it is "ridiculous" and "stupid people use it". He tried it while he was living in North Dakota, and didn't like it. I am damn happy about that! Leave it for the older generation.  He just says "Grandma, you are old, you should do what you want"  My daughter is against it, and she frowns at me as much as I frown on her smoking.  At least mine isn't laced with arsenic. 

Are there as many side effects with marijuana as there are with cigarettes? 

Think about it.

Piece of Mind

I am a professional in the medical field. I make $32 an hour, and I am 63 years-old. The state where I live – Wyoming — still believes marijuana should remain illegal, is bad for you, will make you insane, good-for-nothing, and anyone who uses it should go to jail.

Most people around here have not seen the little girl with epilepsy, with constant fits, fighting for her life. They have not seen that same little girl now almost seizure-free because of medical marijuana.

Weed has changed her life, as well as everyone around her! I find it wonderful that she doesn’t have to take two handfuls of pills anymore, the manmade chemical compounds which have numerous side effects and contraindications.

I find it amazing that people are so willing to condemn the parents for giving their child cannabis. Would they feel the same if it were their own son or daughter going through hell? Personally, I opt for a natural substance with proven qualities; it’s too bad they can’t experience the difference. I did.

Two years ago, I had breast cancer — surgery, chemo, radiation, the whole 9 yards. Me, and more than a million other men and women. My pain was pretty well controlled with Advil, or in my case an Advil clone that I chose for the price.

My nausea — Oh Boy! You don’t know puking! We started with Compazine, oh no–we won’t even discuss that med. Zofran, ok, that was my friend, when it worked. I am not a good pill-taker, and sometimes I would gag on the pill I was trying to swallow for my nausea.

So, I decided it was easier to throw up a few time a day than swallow that pill. Besides, I like to have a drink in the evenings, since I don’t have marijuana access, and I didn’t want the side effects of the medicine on my liver and kidneys.

Chemo was bad enough. Before one of my 4 hour oncology visits, I saw an “older” woman, (ha, my age), smoking a pipe. I went over and asked her if I could “visit”.

She let me in her car and for the next 15 minutes before our IV session, she told me about the effects of weed on nausea and how it has helped her. She gave me a small amount and a pipe to try when I got home. I was very nervous about it, because of my job.

Always, without fail, I would have to pull over and puke 45 minutes into my 1 1/2 hour trip, and again within a few hours of being home. That day was the same. When I got home, I put a hit in the pipe to get it ready when the nausea butterflies struck. Marijuana works for nausea! I know that it works, because I did the experiment myself.

Bye Bye Nasuea

The wait was only 3 hours. After I took the hit of weed, I just waited for the puking to begin. After a couple of minutes, I knew it wasn’t going to. Wow, nice! I had no more nausea for the next 7 hours.

Weed was my recourse for the next 3 days to control my vomiting. I no longer had dry heaves before breakfast for 3 days! It really messed with my diet plan, since it stopped my after breakfast puking. I did lose 15 pounds from puking, though…

We both finished chemo and radiation, but we didn’t keep in touch. I still have episodes of nausea, and wish I could have some marijuana when I need to control it. I sincerely hope in my lifetime that our state will allow the legalization of marijuana.

Marijuana works for nausea! I know that it works, because I did the experiment myself.