An interview With Grandpa Longhurst
Author: Former FZT budtender, Chantelle
Hey Grandpa, I heard you’ve been struggling with cancer and that you’ve been using cannabis products as a treatment. I was happy to hear you are seeking natural treatments for your health and wondered if I could ask you a few interview questions about how this source of treatment has been working for you?
I don’t mind at all. In fact, I am glad for the stimulus to write this stuff down. I don’t consider myself to be “struggling” with my cancer problem, I have it but I am not having pain. I’m not suffering, but I am weaker than I used to be, which could be because of heart problems and/or pneumonia, and/or age, not cancer. It’s been interesting – my regular doctors don’t talk about cannabis as a treatment method.
- 1. Tell us a little about your condition and what you have tried previously for treatment:
Like most men as they grow older, I started to get BPH (enlarged prostate gland) about 1990. After a few years my PSA rose to 9 and with a biopsy, it was determined that my prostate gland was cancerous. I was encouraged to have treatments for it and chose external beam radiation. Between hormone therapy (Lupron) and radiation, my PSA went down to near zero and then rose again over time. Last year my PSA rose rapidly to 91. The doctors say that I cannot have chemo therapy, surgery (removal of the prostate gland) or radiation again, so I am back on hormone therapy. In addition to my prostate cancer, a couple of years ago I got pneumonia and as a result, had a CT scan, which revealed that I also have a small cancerous growth on my pancreas. Fortunately it is not a fast growing type of cancer and so far, it has not increased in size. I will get an MRI, a new PSA test and visit with my oncologist in October, 2017.
2. What were you most concerned about with using cannabis as a cancer treatment?
I did not have doctors who had experience treating cancer with cannabis. My doctors don’t consider cannabis a medical treatment because it is not AMA approved – the only approved therapies are chemo, surgery and radiation.
3. What was the determining factor that convinced you to give cannabis a try?
My daughter Sophie has a friend at church named Helen who developed glioblastoma cancer in a brain tumor. The prognosis was that she might live 6 months while taking chemo treatments. They removed the tumor surgically and then did about 6 targeted radiation treatments right away. The doctors wanted Helen to begin chemo treatments after the radiation but Helen’s daughter persuaded her to try CBD oil treatments instead. After about a year of taking 5 drops of medical grade CBD oil per day, the tumor had not come back. At this point, believing that Helen was cured of her cancer, Sophie encouraged me to try the CBD oil treatment for my cancer. I began with 3 drops and worked up to 8 drops per day. Meanwhile, after about 20 months of Helen taking CBD oil the doctors persuaded her to begin a chemo regimen in pill form. After about 3 or 4 months on the chemo regimen a new glioblastoma cancer tumor grew and she is again considered terminal – the doctors gave her just days to live. About a month and a half have passed and Helen continues to take the CBD oil.
4. How did you feel when first starting to use CBD Oil for treatment?
I was warned by the people where I got my first CBD oil that when I started, it might have an affect on me (dizzyness or imbalance, etc.) and that I should therefore take it just before going to bed. That in fact happened, but by the third or fourth day I didn’t experience that any more.
5. How long have you been consistently using CBD oil and what does your current dosage look like?
About one year. I am presently taking 15 drops of CBD oil per day, 8 in the morning and 7 more in the evening. I get no psychotic effect (“high”) at all. I have never used marijuana for that purpose, or any addictive drug.
6. How do you feel currently after consistently using this treatment?
Pretty good. It’s hard to know though, how much benefit I’ve gotten from the CBD oil because of other things going on simultaneously, such as diet improvement, and taking various supplements. In spite of the fact that, along with cancer, I have had two heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery and two bouts with pneumonia in the last few years, I feel good and continue to be active like I always have been. I am not as strong as I used to be but that is probably, at least partially, because of my advancing age. I will be 82 years old in October.
7. What advice would you give to those considering using or beginning to use cannabis for health reasons?
I recommend getting advice from an experienced medical practitioner and keeping informed on scientific studies regarding use of cannabis for health reasons, but if it’s right for you, go ahead and try it.
8. Any other information you’d like to share with those who will be reading this interview?
In my experience, I see conventional doctors starting to realize that alternative treatments, including use of cannabis oil, can be beneficial and that the use of chemo therapy for cancer has serious negatives to it. I plan to keep this document and update it after my next oncologist visit. I will give you my updated report at that time. Thanks, Grandpa Longhurst.
Addendum from Chantelle:
Cannabis can be intimidating to those who don’t have much, or any experience with it. Especially to those who want other options in treatments for their health. I am truly grateful to Helen, who went beyond her comfort zone to find alternatives that were best suited for her health, and in turn, lighting the way for my grandfather and everyone around her, that there are alternatives. My thoughts are with Helen and her family, I hope she wins her battle with the second tumor. I also hope that my Grandpa’s fight, and everyone else’s in a similar situation, ends just as successfully. I hope this interview will encourage those who are in need to research this for themselves. Always do the research before trying any kind of treatment. Your health is important and is worth the time.