My husband, Stephen, was 62 years old when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2008.   We got great advice to do as much as we could for as long as we could – so we did. We bought an RV and crossed the US seven times before he became too ill to travel.

The first symptom that Stephen manifested was severe sleep disturbance.  He would cry out in his sleep, violently thrash about, and had terrifying nightmares.  After that came tremor and rigidity, and then dyskinesia. Dyskinesia causes involuntary, uncontrollable muscle movement and is directly caused by the medication used to control other Parkinson’s symptoms.  It made it impossible for him to perform many daily tasks including feeding himself and dressing alone. In late 2015, someone mentioned that he should try CBD – but I didn’t know what that was, or where or how to get it.

In 2016, a family friend gave us CBD oil from a source they had carefully researched, and I started giving it to Stephen every day. I wasn’t sure how much to give him. I looked all over the Internet for guidance and found lots of confusing and conflicting information. I ended up giving him an entire dropper full, about 50 mg. After 6 weeks of following this regimen, his dyskinesia was gone. He also had greatly reduced sleep disturbance, and much less anxiety and depression.  His doctors had never mentioned anything about CBD and they seemed surprised when I told them about his improvement. At this point I began to seriously study everything I could find about cannabis.

Stephen eventually developed dementia.  He would become extremely agitated and restless late in the day, would endlessly pace, and had vivid hallucinations that, while mostly benign, would occasionally cause him great distress.  His doctors prescribed Quetiapine and clonazepam, both of which left him in zombie like state with even less quality of life.  I started to substitute cannabis in the form of THC infused edibles to see if that would have a positive effect.  The cannabis drastically reduced his agitation, boosted his appetite, and helped him to be able to laugh again.  Cannabis couldn’t cure him or save his life, but it helped make the life he had more bearable.

In 2018, I began to use cannabis every day for health issues that many of us regularly face.  It provides profound relief for my arthritis, helps me enjoy restful sleep, and controls the symptoms of my neuropathy.  It’s also helped ease the anxiety and depression I have experienced since my husband’s death.

I have continued my studies of cannabis and have completed multiple certification courses.  I try to learn something new about cannabis every day.  I am a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians as an Advocate, and I’m certified through the Healer program as a Trusted Cannabis & CBD Advisor.

My mission is to provide people with the knowledge and confidence they need to safely obtain and use cannabis. I want to share what I have experienced, demystify a very ancient medicine, and help overcome the stigma of cannabis use.