Medicinal cannabis oil in the fight against cancer - by Pauline Lomas

This week's blog is another from Pauline Lomas, author of And So We Heal, who beat breast cancer using no orthodox therapies and only non-invasion alternative therapies. Here she discusses her experience with medicinal cannabis oil.

I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become – Jung

“Plunge in then,” ……says a faraway voice.

…well hardly a voice, but that familiar inner whispering that comes with a reminder to get a move on and put my thoughts down in writing. No more procrastinating – May is on the horizon for God ‘sake and the ‘blog’ is very much behind schedule. You get the picture? Not that I ever promised to write daily – phew!
But months behind again this time! Oh well…..no excuses…we do our best!
So much going on as always in this inquiring mind of mine, but never so much as since I started my new ‘regime’ – the long sought after ‘Rick Simpson’ medicinal cannabis oil. It came out of the blue in a chance encounter; but then I have been actively enquiring after procuring some – so be careful what one asks for eh!

It had been years since I had seen my doctor at the Biomedic clinic in Malaga, Spain.   The wonderfully passionate Doctora M.Eudoxia Lopez Peral, had been at the helm during my ECT treatments in 2005, and since Javier and I had decided to rent a small apartment this winter in Almunecar, Andalucia for three months, I could finally manage to see her again. And thanks to ‘New Approaches to cancer and the beloved Dottie I was able to have some Vitamin C infusions in Spain, as it has been a while since my regular trip to ‘Vision of Hope’ clinic in Brighton. It’s quite a struggle going back and forth, as flights are expensive and I really want to fly less.

Doctora Doxi highly recommended a homeopathic protocol from the ‘Hildegard pharmacy’ in Brussels, and I take the remedies twice daily for a few months, so more on that soon.

But back to the cannabis oil, the black gold:

One of the doctors that share the clinic space in Malaga suggested I do the Vega machine test as I had recently had a hair analysis which showed elevated lead and cadmium and low zinc, and so since I am following all leads as they come to me I was keen to do it. He then added “It’s a bit controversial, but have you considered medicinal marihuana –RSO, Rick Simpson oil, in particular?” Errrr…..Yesssssss!!! The tides were indeed turning – I felt to have won a health jackpot that day…As I have mentioned before, this beautiful cannabis plant is one of my ‘medicines of choice’, and I am grateful to be able to discuss it openly now without feeling that I am some kind of drug- addict looking for a high.  I was sad not to include the subject of medicinal cannabis in ‘And so we heal’, but at the time it took every ounce of strength to publish the book and I did not want to add the possibility of more stress with a likely stab from the media, or anyone, for my daring to even suggest that having an innocent puff on a pipe to see me through when times were quite frankly – I won’t use the word ‘horrendous’( let’s reserve such vocabulary for those being hung, drawn and quartered) but I have suffered a monumental wound to my torso nevertheless – and am in continual ‘treatment’, to hold things at bay.

Since no one was talking about cannabis oil back then in 2001, inhaling was the only alternative to increasing the cannabinoids in one’s system. Time and again over the years I had asked my doctor if there was any medicine that included cannabis, and could I possibly be prescribed ‘sativex’ perhaps which is a licenced cannabis medicine for MS patients. ‘No’ was the answer and not unless I had MS on the subject of sativiex.

But, times are changing …and fast…all over the world in fact. One only has to type in ‘medicinal cannabis’ on Youtube alone and you’ll be reading open-mouthed at the truth.  There is a wonderful revolution happening – and I am happy to be a part of it, although at the current price, who knows how long I can continue.  my only real hope would be to make my own but I wanted to avoid the hassle.  For the moment – thank God for credit cards when you need them, as when I left the clinic in Malaga that day I had my very own tiny bottle of the sticky black gold – RSO. It is very messy, be warned, but there are lots of different ways to administer the tiny dosage which begins at the humble size of half a grain of rice gradually increasing the dose. Since the bus ride along the Andalusian coastline was ninety minutes, I decided to take my first dose of my new found medicine and see what the effects would be. Certainly the beautiful landscape needed no help to appreciate, and I enjoyed a most blissful state, reminding me of something I read recently about the award winning Israeli scientist, Raphael Mechoulam who is almost universally referred to as the father of research on cannabinoids. In 1992, almost three decades after synthesizing THC, Mechoulam identified anandamide, a naturally occurring human cannabinoid neurotransmitter, (translation: the stuff that makes you feel high when you haven’t ingested anything.)   Given the opportunity to name it, Mechoulam turned to the Sanskrit word ananda, meaning supreme bliss……

It’s been 2 months now since beginning my regime with RSO (Rick Simpson oil.) I do need another bottle which has just arrived luckily as I am down to slim pickings with the original bottle. The idea is that one tries to take on board as many cannabinoids as possible, and so one has to experiment as to tolerance levels and particular strains.

In Israel at Tikun Olam – they have developed a strain called Avidkel which targets breast cancer cells in particular which i would like to look into.

And so…..by the winds of serendipity I can now speak from experience, and although it’s still early days, I will keep a diary on the subject. The first thing to note in my case is that ingesting RSO, which is an oil extract, I am experiencing a nauseous sensation which has been gradually diminishing. It helps to eat a little something as a chaser, or inhale vapor. With the advent of vaporizers one can now bypass ‘smoke’, and furthermore juicing the plant is a viable option for those lucky enough to grow. I am still quite novice and the vaporizer I bought has possibly short circuited, but what I did experience was my idea of an acceptable medicine, and much preferred to what is on offer from the big pharma I just ask that I am given free choice and access to it, and the right to grow it for myself and my family. With all the evidence it seems absurd that I’m not.

But let me tell you how nicely the universe works – as quite by chance whilst looking to find the RSO, I stumble upon ‘the cannabis club of Almunecar.’ Another jackpot! Although they still do not have oil available it surely is only a matter of time. My membership allows me to purchase what I need ‘legally’ and hopefully continue to document my use and speak up on the subject as are many. A dear friend from Belgium who is suffering with painful fibromyalgia vaporizes the plant in a special device easily available, in all shapes and sizes.

Looking back on my particular journey has been …ahem!…’wondrous’ in many ways these last thirteen years, teaching me much about all manner of things really – survival, heading the list needless to say, or there would be no list. Illness needn’t be all doom and gloom. Far from it! Of course it’s still too early to say how the RSO has affected things with my health as I am awaiting new blood tests. I do remember that first night’s sleep being quite tormented with a lot of what was to become severe leg aches which have lessened greatly. What I have found is that I am much more at ease about the things I used to worry about, I laugh a lot more easily, and in the beginning cried some too! Perhaps the biggest reward is that I sleep like never before which gives my body time to sort out its complex machinations. I feel so lucky in any case having been so close to the sea, to the water and the climate there on the ‘costa tropical’, as it is known. There was an exotic touch of the ‘multinational’ blending in with nature’s wonderful vibrant colours and the Phoenician-Arabic influence. A perfect winter choice.

That ‘time out’ has allowed me to re-connect with the elements. To absorb the power of the sea that I had longed for even though the water had not yet warmed up enough for submersion. Lately I do try to find much more enjoyment in life and have a new sense of hope for the future of my own health, and for that of others. How lucky I am to be  transported now as if in a dream back to this idyllic paradise that is Asturias. Back amidst the apple trees and wonderful green pastures, and even though I miss the wonderful sea being at my fingertips the truth is I have to start harvesting the red clover, not to mention the dandelions, nettles, etc. The garden is so wild with all the winters rain. It will soon be time for getting back to the UK so I must try to make the most of it. I continue with infra red saunas and ozone, as well as being beneficial, feel so warming to the bones as the air is still chilly up here.