...and the leaves are for healing." Ezekiel 47:12 – My Story
By Cathy Rogers
would take effect. If that didn't work the next
plan would be Methotrexate. Unfortunately
after each course of Prednisone the symptoms
would return and the Plaquenil and Imuran
combination failed.
Thanks to Medical Cannabis I am off thirteen
medications and in remission from Crohn's.
I no longer go to the bathroom 30 times per
day and I no longer suffer from joint swelling
and muscle pain.
My name is Cathy Rogers. I have Crohn's,
Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Asthma and a
history of multiple blood clots.
To treat the Crohn's I was given all of the
conventional drugs and when they failed I was
given a biologic drug called Entyvio by
intravenous infusion.
There was no sign of improvement and my
health was declining fast.
My
gastroenterologist
made
an
unprecedented decision to start Remicade
(another biologic) with Entyvio still in my
system.
This combination worked to achieve
remission and my gastroenterologist did a
formal presentation of my case to his
colleagues in the hope of helping other
Crohn's patients.
Unfortunately, I developed drug induced
Lupus as a side effect to the Remicade.
I had severe swelling throughout my body.
Normal protocol would be to stop the
Remicade. However, in my case the threat of
losing remission to Crohn's was greater than
the threat of Lupus.
The decision was made to stay on the
Remicade and treat the Lupus with
Prednisone, until the Plaquenil and Imuran
My joints started to seize up if I sat for any
length of time or when I lay in bed. I barely
made it to the washroom one night.
Once there I realised I could not stand up to
get off the toilet. I dropped to my knees and
crawled back to bed. I was terrified at how
debilitating my disease had become.
The following day I was given a jar of
Cannabis Salve. My friend rubbed the salve
into all of my joints and I thought nothing
more of it. The next morning, I received a
phone call from the person who brought me
the salve asking if it had worked.
Only then did I realise I had slept 7 hours
straight and that I had no pain. Since I was
used to getting up every hour or so through the
night this was a miracle for me!
I had already made an emergency
appointment with my rheumatologist, so I had
only two days to do my research on Cannabis.
I decided that I did not want to proceed with
the plan to go on Methotrexate due to all of
the risks involved.
I told my rheumatologist that I wanted to try
Medical Cannabis instead. To my surprise,
she was very supportive of the idea and made
the referral to the Cannabis Clinic.
While at Life Labs for my regular blood work,
I told the phlebotomist my story about the
salve. That same week another patient told her
that Cannabis had saved him from bladder
Cancer. My phlebotomist shared my story
with this patient who then suggested I call
him. Upon receiving the message I did call
Jack Kungel and we agreed to meet.