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The Third Opinion

on August 30th, 2017 by Rebeccca

A friend gave us the name and number of a man in Regina, Stuart Martin, who has been advising cancer patients for a couple of decades and is a cancer survivor himself. We needed someone to advise us on the ins and outs of using medical marijuana. There are so many different online companies and way too many options for products. I called him this morning and the person answering arranged for Stu to call me back at 10:00.

He did call me back and advised me for about 20 minutes. He asked what our goals were: maintain a quality of life or kill the cancer. Well, duh. Lets go for the full deal. After listening to me tell Galen’s recent medical history and asking a few questions, he suggested that we buy the Indica strain, which is more sedating than some of the strains. And to make up suppositories with .4 per 00 gel capsule, along with MCT oil – a liquid coconut oil. A smaller dose can be taken orally.

He has lots of stories about people who had one week to live . . . and miraculously are still alive. Or variations on that theme. Not that I put a lot of stake in how applicable those stories are to our situation, but it does give one hope. Whether it is false hope, who knows? At this point it doesn’t really matter.

One of Stu’s stores is in Saskatoon on 2nd Avenue, so I took Galen’s prescription down there and purchased about 8 days worth. I made up a couple of capsules and Galen took an oral pill and now, 7 hours later, he appears to be still stoned. I guess I’ll have to give Stu a call and talk about reducing the dosage. He has been vomiting too, in spite of all the anti-nausea drugs. And I thought marijuana was supposed to help with nausea.

We are still at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, waiting to transfer to St. Paul’s once a bed is available. Will keep you posted!

| Posted in Galen

7 Responses to “The Third Opinion”

  1. Mavis
    August 30th, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    Must be pretty good stuff! 7 hours! Rebecca maybe you can try some too, might mellow things out for you too. You could use a break.

  2. Leanne
    August 30th, 2017 at 9:06 pm

    Sending love. Sometimes it takes a few days for the body to figure out how to metabolize a new drug for the system… be it dexamethasone, dilaudid or medical MJ. Hopefully things will level out. We see people in palliative care here in Victoria using MJ and it certainly can assist to manage symptoms. My friend uses MCT oil for her very disabled son and it was basically like a miracle drug. I think anything that can give you comfort or hope is worth a try. The alternative is to not try and then to wonder later if one should have… and that’s a tough one. Thinking about you both a good deal these days and hope you also get some moments to rest Rebecca, as hard as that can be to do.

  3. Brigitte
    August 31st, 2017 at 5:00 am

    I really like what Leanne just said about how this is worth a try. We need to remember we always make the best decision at the time, given one’s situation and the information available at the time. I love you guys xx xx

  4. Ann
    August 31st, 2017 at 5:42 am

    Keeping you two in the light. Where are you staying Rebecca ?

  5. Vaughn kauffman
    August 31st, 2017 at 6:19 am

    Thankful for your posts Becky.

  6. Patricia shabbits
    August 31st, 2017 at 8:39 am

    Morning Rebecca & Galen ,thanks for the update.hope is always good it helps to keep us positive. Will try to pop in for a visit soon, hang in there

  7. Jeanne & Bill Blackmon
    August 31st, 2017 at 5:55 pm

    So hard to know what to do . Praying for you both. God bless -

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