Story
Pain relief
Age: 70
Gender: Female
Location: United States
Occupation: Retired
Patient History
Conditions
Additional Conditions
1) I had severe nerve pain related to surgery to repair broken wrist (2014).
2) I had a prolapsed bladder and uterus - I had an operation to fix this issue (2017).
3) I had breast cancer surgery January 2018 followed by 5 and a half weeks of radiation treatment in March/April 2018.
Ethnic Background
Overall health, well-being and quality of life before medical cannabis
Overall health, etc. was very good prior to my use of medical cannabis.
Additional info about this time in patient's life
When I had my wrist surgery in 2014, and took opioids (oxycontin, oxycodone, Cymbalta, Lyrica) to alleviate the intense nerve pain I was experiencing, I experienced heavy depression and anxiety as a result. I went to see a Naturopathic Doctor in Phoenix who does an all-natural detoxification using vitamins, minerals and amino acids that are contained in an IV (Intravenous) solution and slowly dripped into your blood. I had 5 of these IV bags in 4 days to help push the detoxification process along a little quicker. In talking with the Naturopathic Doctor, he let me know that I had screwed up my brain chemistry more in the month and a half that I took the medical prescriptions than if I had been on Heroin for 2 years….YOW!!!
Overall health and well-being before being introduced to medical cannabis:
8
Overall quality of life before being introduced to medical cannabis: 8
Patient Process
Path to cannabis
In 2014, I broke my wrist and ended up having 2 operations to repair the break. At the 1st operation, a nerve block was administered to stop any pain that might arise during the surgery as the surgery might take awhile and I would be under anesthesia for a long period of time. One and a half days after the operation, I began experiencing intense nerve pain in the arm and hand where the operation had been performed….apparently the nerve block that I had been given caused the pain. The opioid pain medication prescribed by my Doctor did not relieve the intense pain at all. Use of marijuana for the pain was not prescribed by the Doctor but my husband was able to obtain some marijuana and he rolled a small joint for me to try to see if that might help ease the pain. I smoked just a small part of the joint and it helped ease the pain, although I did not like the “buzz” that came with the smoking of the marijuana. At this time, I was also provided with some marijuana cream which I rubbed into my wrist and arm areas….this also helped to ease the pain and it didn’t give me a “buzz”. What a relief!! Finally, the pain was eased!
Products Tried
Firstly I would smoke the marijuana, then I tried CBD edibles and CBD edibles that contained a small amount of THC. I also used marijuana-infused cream.
The CBD edibles that contained a small amount of THC worked the best for me to relieve the pain.
The marijuana cream worked wonders to stop a rash and blisters from occurring on my skin due to cancer radiation treatment.
Patient Experience
How Cannabis has had an impact on patient's day to day life
The medical cannabis has not really caused me to have any significant lifestyle changes.
Under Doctor's Supervision?
No
Discontinued Medication
Yes
Additional info about discontinued medication
With the use of the medical marijuana to alleviate pain from surgeries, I was able to get rid of all the opioid pain medications that had been prescribed by my Doctors.
Cannabis has changed the use of other controlled substances
No
Other lifestyle changes adopted along with medical Cannabis
Yes
Additional info about lifestyle changes
A diet of natural supplements, vitamins, minerals, amino acids suggested by my Naturopathic Doctor as well as weekly IV (Intravenous) drip bags that contained vitamins, minerals and amino acids which help to keep my immune system strong.
Additional info about medical Cannabis experience
My husband and family have been very supportive in my use of medical cannabis....they saw how I improved once I started taking it to ease pain.
Overall health and well-being after being introduced to medical
cannabis: 9
Overall quality of life after being introduced to medical cannabis: 9
