Leah’s Success Story
At age 8, my joint pain began. At 9, I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Fast forward through years of multiple pharmaceuticals including low-grade chemotherapy drugs, a variety of immune-supression medications and pain medicine. At 17, I was living at home in Colorado and decided to try cannabis.
The effect on my pain and anxiety was nearly immediate. My pain wasn’t just lowered, it was gone. I hadn’t felt relief like this before. I felt energized and happy; I felt like me for the first time in years. It was time to go home and tell my mom that I wanted to get my medical cannabis card.
My mom – who is an RN – researched medical cannabis in great depth and reached out to a prescribing physician for my appointment to be evaluated for a medical card. As a medical cannabis patient in Colorado, I discovered lotions were my favorite. I could rub my knees, hands, and ankles and be able to regain full range of motion within minutes. My parents were thrilled. I wasn’t in pain and life was looking up.
Fast forward again. Now in my mid-twenties and pursuing my undergraduate degree at the University of New Mexico. I am successful, pain-free and able to say I have also beaten the depression that came with my diagnosis. All with the help of medical cannabis. While my journey has not always been smooth, I stayed with it until I found what worked for me. Now, it is my passion to educate other cannabis patients like myself who are just looking for basic quality of life. There is hope.
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