A Woman’s Voice #NaBloPoMo Day 3


.

I blog to save my sanity. I had given to everyone, putting my own needs on hold. The blog was a space where I could express myself, where any filter was my own. I wanted to tell the world how cannabis saved my life. I had rheumatoid arthritis, and after thirteen years on prescription medication, I was worse than ever. So, in 2010, I made the decision to beome a medical cannabis patient.

I tried it their way. Now it was my turn.

Cannabis patients are gabby, especially when it involves talking about how they’ve survived whatever condition led them to choose cannabis in the first place. I’m no different. Because within three months, I was in clinical remission, not that my doctor at the time shared that with me. I found out later, when it was time to get copies of my records for the doctor to review at the cannabis clinic.

Patients renew yearly in Oregon. It was when I read my records that I discovered what I already knew. I was in remission. My thirteen year nightmare was coming to an end, the result of a leap of faith, or maybe a body weary of endless pain and fatigue.

I researched cannabis as my husband grew the garden. I was so ill at that time that I couldn’t help much. RA affects everything. I was never without severe inflammation and pain, retained fluid to the point of buoyancy, and walked with difficulty using a cane. I had fallen years earlier, tearing the inside meniscus on my left knee. The outer meniscus apparently had a small tear that probably happened in the dojo while training. Knee checks in Kenpo can be employed as a strike as well as a check, and that’s probably how that happened. Since walking was nearly impossible without extreme difficulty, crawling around on the floor under the plants to prune off the dead leaves was out of the question. So my husband assumed full responsibility for the garden while I researched how I would ultimately make the medicine I needed to heal.

Upon harvest, I infused cannabis bud into glycerin creating a tincture I would use in tea. I had read that glycerin had no real effect upon blood sugar, and while on prescribed medication, I became insulin resistant. I didn’t want to use alcohol as a menstruum because some people reported seeing their blood sugar spike, while glycerin didn’t seem to have that effect.

Along with smoking and vaporizing cannabis, I also infused cannabis bud into coconut oil for use in capsules. Additionally, I had read that including raw cannabis leaf and/or bud daily in juice or smoothies was a highly effective method of medicating with cannabis. It doesn’t taste all that great, so it helps to combine it with other better tasting food. Raw cannabis still contains the natural plant acids, both healthy and nonpsychoactive. In other words, healing without the high.

I began discontinuing my prescriptions one at a time in a gradual manner, still saying nothing to my doctor. And now it’s almost five years later and I’m walking eight miles a day, something I never thought I could do again. I have to be careful of the knee, and I have lots of joint damage, but I can do pretty much whatever I want now.

I thought my life was over, but cannabis changed all of that. This amazing plant has helped so many people, adults and children alike. I was thinking last night while shaping a couple of plants for the next line up how grateful I was just to be sitting on the floor, taking care of my girls. My husband still does the heavy work, but over the years I’ve assumed my share of the responsibilities. I create the shape I want, and care for them during their time in vegetative and flower stages. And now that Oregon has full legalization, the pressure that every patient felt until we legalized last year is gone. Now our focus is on healing and staying well.

Of course, one visit to my blog and you know there’s more there than posts about cannabis. I’m a witch in my Crone years, so you never know what I’m going to say. I’m an empath, Black Belt and a Reiki Master, so there’s some of that as well. I don’t like patriarchy and that tends to come through loud and clear. My boys homeschooled after a point and sometimes I talk about that because not all of us are religious fanatics. Their history text was Howard Zinn’s, A People’s History of the United States. and one of my proudest moments was when my boys stood their ground in a discussion about creationism with another homeschooler. They were respectful of the creationist viewpoint expressed by their friend, something he was unable to extend to them. We were heathens in his parents’ minds, their father ridiculing my youngest for having green hair, telling him that we were humiliated by his antics. Appalled by his verbal attack on my son, I had to remember I was a Black Belt and not just a mom at that point, otherwise no telling what I might have done. My son, far less reactive than his mother, thought it was hilarious.

So why do I blog? Because sometimes a woman’s voice is all she has. And that’s everything.

~Blessings to all!