Anxious countdown: 12, 11, 10 days until surgery. Nine days until I have new incisions -- will they be big or small? Will they break my sternum again? Will I leave the hospital with all my organs? Or will my spleen and the tail of my pancreas be staying behind? Such a twisted knot of emotions, desperately wanting yet equally dreading surgery. I am trying not to think about the struggle of recovery but instead focus on the goal. Eight days until cancer free!!
For the next week, I will continue to push my surgery anxiety aside and bury it behind a huge pile of "how cannabis kills cancer" research. After my amazing CA125 results I launched into more investigating. I read mainstream books and the crazy fringe conspiracy corners of the internet. I struggled through abstracts in journals with catchy names like Cancer and Metastasis Review, Gynecological Oncology and Journal of Clinical Oncology. I watched TED Talks and videos from the Canna Med conferences. For those of you intrigued about cannabis and cancer here are a few curated links...
videos from the 3 researchers doing the best Canna cancer research.
To summarize. Cannabis was in the pharmacopeia for thousands of years. In 1974, THC was first documented to kill cancer cells. But back in 1936, after a particularly ill-informed and deceitful process, cannabis was placed in Schedule 1, which by definition means no accepted medical use. This classification has made it illegal/impossible to do cannabis research. Finally, in 2000, Dr. Guzman from the University of Madrid rediscovered cannabinoids' antineoplastic effects. A few pre-clinical studies began in Spain and Israel. For the past decade cell and mouse model data started trickling in with hopeful and amazing results.
After poring over the latest studies, I am confident that cannabis has hundreds of therapeutic compounds. Maybe even one that cures OC; maybe not. It is wild speculation if there is a *curative* compound in there for me. But I do believe cannabis is slowing my tumor growth and I hope to have clear and dramatic proof after surgery! But how does it work? What dose? Can it kill the stubborn OC stem cells? Do I need to take maintenance doses for life? Which compounds are actually working? Will I get the answers to these questing in time? I doubt it. I feel like I have been killed by Schedule 1. Not an addictive destructive drug, but a lack of knowledge. Oh, the irony.
Tomorrow is World Ovarian Cancer Day. To honor all the women fighting this horrible disease, please call your member of Congress (find your member here) and ask them to support medical cannabis research by signing on to Rep. Eric Swalwell's letter dated May 7th, 2019 urging faster approval of medicinal cannabis research. Ask your congressperson to contact Andrew Ginsburg in Swalwell's office to sign on to the letter.
MK
P.S. Not one hour after posting... the fabulous Lee Heller told me she had discussed with Salud, our Rep., and he will sign. You go, Lee. You WIN at Democracy.