Olivia Newton-John: From Sandy to Cannabis Supporter

Olivia Newton-John finds help herself then opens center to help others. 

Olivia Newton-John is likely best known for her iconic role as Sandy in the classic Grease movie which inspired good girls to rebel. What she’s not as well known for is her battle with breast cancer. When diagnosed in 1992, Olivia went through a treatment regime including a mastectomy, breast reconstruction, chemotherapy, as well as holistic add-ons like acupuncture and meditation. For those who have experience with breast cancer, the road to recovery is long and arduous, as well as physically and emotionally exhausting. Nevertheless, she persevered and found herself in remission eventually.

Unfortunately, in 2013, her breast cancer returned, having attacked her shoulder, and with it, severe pain from a tumor in her sacrum. She described it as “months and months of excruciating, sleep-depriving, crying out loud pain.” The pain was so intense, that not only was she unable to walk unassisted, but the impact to her career manifested in the inability to perform. Her medical team treated her with morphine for pain, but she made the decision to wean herself off of the dangerous drug by using cannabis oil. She was astonished at the side benefits it offered such as helping with anxiety and sleep and her husband now grows her medicine.

Today, she’s vocal about touting cannabis as a game changer, and swears by its effectiveness for pain management. Her own journey with cancer inspired the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Center in Melbourne, which she supports in caring for cancer patients and conducting clinical trials.

a guide to cannabis and cancer

Physicians aren’t Immune to Pain

Physicians & Cannabis | The Cannabis Care Team of Kansas City, MO

Dr. June Chin finds relief for her own autoimmune condition.

Dr June Chin has the unique distinction of not only being a physician, but also a chronic pain survivor, AND a cannabis advocate. While many people in the cannabis industry have moved into the business as a result of their connections to people who they’ve seen benefit from the use of the plant, June has experienced the healing and relief herself – making her a credible and respected advocate and doctor.

Diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) as a teenager, this kind of arthritis causes extreme stiffness and nerve pain, Dr. Chin tried treatment after treatment with little success in alleviating her pain. After her mentor witnessed the constant toll the pain was taking on her, he pulled her aside and gave her a tincture. He told her it was marijuana, but assured her it would not get her high. While she was surprised and somewhat shocked, she was also desperate.

Like many suffering who find relief with cannabis, she continued to use the medicine, but kept it hidden from her peers. Today, after a self-guided exploration of cannabis as a medication, Dr. Chin not only offers cannabis as a recommendation for her own patients, but is a true case study in the power of the plant. Her work today includes serving as an advocate for cannabis as medicine and her company, https://askcmd.com/ is a personalized cannabis service where June treats both children and adults.

For a printable pdf from Project CBD on what cannabis therapy may be best for you, click the button below. 

project cbd brochure

Cannabis Helps a Cancer Patient

“Your visit eased some of her fears and she had me go buy her some gummies after you left!”

It’s messages like this one that remind me I am doing the right thing.


This particular message came from a gentleman in his sixties, who shortly after he retired, was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. After a few treatments with immunotherapy infusions, and suffering the often disabling side effects, he decided he would give cannabis a try. It had been a few decades since he had consumed any marijuana, but living in OK, and seeing dispensaries everywhere he thought, “What can it hurt?”

For a few days after his infusions he wasn’t able to get out of bed, was depressed, and felt horrible pain all over. It took some experimentation with smoking, vaping, edibles, and oils, as it often does. There were times he was high, times it didn’t do much, but now he has a routine that gives him the relief he was looking for.   


Cancer patients frequently look to cannabis for symptom relief, but also in the hopes it can fight the cancer itself. There’s promising research that cannabinoids could someday be incorporated into cancer treatment, but until its federally legal, it’s not likely to happen any time soon.


Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) is a concentrated form of cannabis I am frequently asked about and, although I have heard success stories from patients, I inform patients that from the research we have now, it’s best to discuss complementing traditional cancer therapy with cannabis with your physician, not rely on the cannabis itself.


During the visit this patient is referring to in his message, his concerned wife was there and rapid-fired question after question, myth after myth; “I always thought people just did it to get high,” “What negative effects does it have on your body?, “How does it work?,” “Could it help me sleep?”…


I guess my answers and the evidence I provided were sufficient because she wanted some gummies to help her to get to sleep that night.

 

April

A Patient's guide to cannabis

OK Road Trip

OK Road Trip | The Cannabis Care Team of Kansas City, MO

I could never convice my grandmother to try cannabis, but many Okies (and Missourians) are.

When will Medical Marijuana Dispensaries be open (in Missouri)?

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked that question I’d be close to owning that farm house on 20 acres I’ve had my eye on.
“I don’t know” doesn’t really evoke confidence in my patients, but it is the truth, could be August 2020, Nov 2020, or June 2021.

For now I discuss the best legal options for them and the one that seems to work best is to take a road trip to Oklahoma. Of course I would love to send some Missouri caregivers business, but most of my patients are cannabis-naïve and have no idea what will work for them and how much they will need.

Fortunately, for me I lived in OK for 10 years and when my grandparents were in their 80s and 90s I would take frequent trips on short notice, sometimes going there and back in less than 24 hours. My grandparents lived in Claremore and I hear there is dispensary on every corner now. It does make me feel a bit sad and angry and grateful too. When Medical Marijuana came to Oklahoma I tried so hard to have that conversation with my grandmother. For the last few years of her life she was physically addicted to opiates that didn’t really seem to help the pain much. She was taking them just to prevent withdrawal symptoms.

I attempted to have a few conversations with her about trying cannabis and I was not only shot down, the next time I was there she showed me a book that was the 2015 version of “Reefer Madness.”

Once Oklahoma implemented a strict opioid monitoring program getting her Norco filled every month became a source of extreme anxiety. Every 30 days a woman who was 93 would have to plan for someone to take her to the doctor to answer questions like “Do you get anxious if you run out of pain medication?” “Yes.” Do you experience any of these withdraw symptoms? Diarrhea, Abdominal Pain, Outbursts of Anger.” “Yes, yes, and yes.”
Her physician actually talked too much, very friendly, but one time kept her in the office for over two hours talking about politics, “tree huggers,” opioids, and just about everything he had an opinion on. She sat there, probably not listening to much of what he said, wondering when she could get that script. She always got her prescription, but not before she felt like an addict and that something was wrong with her because she experienced pain.

Now onto the pharmacy. Hot off the prescription pad she takes her script to the Wal-Mart pharmacy. If she’s lucky the doctor appointment coordinated with being able to get her refill, which also meant she had about a days’ worth of Norco, not an amount she was comfortable with.

As usual, the pharmacy refilled her script. Then it was back home to count the pills to make sure she had the 120 the script was written for.

During the last few years of my grandmother’s life she didn’t go to her Wednesday hair appointments or many shopping trips, but she did have to get out and go get her Norco.

There was a point when she thought she needed to cut down on the meds. So she did, but not as slowly as she needed to. One day she was laying in her bed and told me she was dying. She had told me that she was not afraid to die and wanted to go on her own terms. I asked if she was ready. She said she was, but she was in too much pain and could not take it any longer. She wanted to go to the hospital. She was admitted for opiate withdrawal and cardiac changes. Unfortunately, she passed away.

It could have been so different with cannabis. I wish I could have taught her what I am now teaching patients, how to heal without getting high. My grandmother trusted me and wanted my opinion on everything related to her medical issues but unfortunately she couldn’t overcome the stigma of marijuana

So now back to the point. When will the dispensaries open? Well they are, but you’ll have to take a drive to Oklahoma and pay $100 to get that temp card. Enjoy your road trip because I know I enjoyed mine even when I wasn’t able to convince my grandmother that a little cannabis chocolate could really help her manage her pain.

See below for a link to apply for your temporary card in OK. 

OMMA Temporary card Application

The Hochstein’s Find Hope

Cannabis & Epilepsy | The Cannabis Care Team of Kansas City, MO

A Nebraska family advocates for the use of cannabis.

Medical marijuana has been making a sweep across our nation as legalization efforts bring the medicine that shows remarkable results to patients in need. While some have been using marijuana as medicine for decades, in recent years, we’ve heard about families with small children who feel as if their children with epilepsy have run out of options without medical marijuana.


The Hochsteins of Nebraska, are one of these families. Son Jayen, aged 10, has intractable epilepsy and suffered from his first seizure at just 4 months old. Jayen had brain surgery in 2014 and has a VNS which is like a pacemaker installed in 2019 and now his family contemplates another brain surgery to stop his seizures.


They have tried every treatment offered to them, but few have been fully successful. Many treatments carry side effects or have not been approved yet for minors. Balancing risk and reward is a balancing act for the family. After a year of steroids, another seemingly viable option at the time, the couple said the seizures returned. Other medications have only worked for a short time.


Nicole Hochstein said she isn’t sure her son can endure many more procedures or unsuccessful treatments. However, she said she also fears he could succumb to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).


The youngest Hochstein’s use of cannabis treatment could lead to other benefits, according to his father.


“If he had alternatives such as medical marijuana, it could be possible to take him off some of his current medications that have side effects,” he said. The Hochsteins have become some of the largest and most active voices in Nebraska in terms of legalization efforts and like in many other states, parents of children who have debilitating diseases have found themselves in the role of advocates for an industry they never considered relevant for themselves.


Read more about this family by visiting mom Nichole’s blog. http://nicolehochstein.blogspot.com/

Read their blog here

Green Crack for Martha

Cannabis & Martha | The Cannabis Care Team of Kansas City, MO

Seniors want new strain names and so do I!

About half of the patients I speak with are over 55 years-old. Now a 55 year-old may not qualify as a senior citizen for some discounts or social security, but in my practice they are seniors. They are educated, professional, and want cannabis to replace a few of those Monday am meds.

Some of them have had some experience with recreational cannabis in college or an edible here and there, but they are new to cannabis for medical reasons.
Pain, cancer, and anxiety seem to be frequent conditions that get them to me. And how do they get to me? Most often a friend or the physician who certified them gives them my number.
They don’t want to smoke. They don’t want to be high. They just want to get better.
When we talk we review their goals for treatment, delivery methods, dosing, and what products they may benefit from. Oils & Tinctures are well received among this age group and is a wonderful method to consume cannabis with no odor, no smoke, and no one the wiser. However, if they have pain, anxiety, or breakthrough symptoms they want something that acts fast. And this is when we talk about flower.
These patients have been handed hundreds of pill bottles through the pharmacy drive-thru window so it is a liberating experience when they get to go into a dispensary and pick out something for themselves. All of those jars packed full of dried cannabis flower lining the shelf gives them an abundance of options for ailment A-Z. Can you smell it? Because I can. And then its ruined when they are shown and smell something that may help them with their fatigue and it’s called Green Crack, or something to help them sleep and it goes by the name of Purple Trainwreck.
Now these names definitely describe these strains well and they get the idea, and absolutely no offense to the creators of these strains, but the names just really turn off senior patients and take them back to a time when they thought consuming cannabis was a bad idea.
They love the smell and the way it makes them feel so they buy an 1/8 th and take it home. And wow!! That Purple Trainwreck sure did the trick! They haven’t slept that well since before they had children!
But what about when they are trying to discuss their newfound favorite strain with the family doctor they have seen for years? Again, they are taken back to a time when cannabis was a no-no. They don’t want to be seen as anything other than a patient who is just trying to find something that helps. They want medical cannabis and so do I.

How can we do better?

Now there are dispensaries who are dedicated to providing strains named by their effects, such as “relaxing,” “uplifting,” and “energizing,” and my hope is that we have a few of those of my home state of Missouri, but for now its Green Crack for Martha.