Pot Party at the Ballard's?

About a month ago I posed a question on Facebook to people regarding their thoughts on medical marijuana. To the best of my recollection, only four people responded. Three didn't see anything wrong with the idea and one left their viewpoint as "I would consider it if there weren't any other options." So I pose to you, what if there aren't any other options? What if there are other options, but this option seems the most attractive? What if everything you learned as a young person could be.............wrong?

This summer we got a phone call from Kelly's mom telling us about a CNN special she had heard about from a neighbor friend. It was about a new strain of medical marijuana being grown in Colorado that was being reported to help kids with severe intractable epilepsy. Or, in layman's term, epilepsy that doesn't respond to medication. This is the form of epilepsy that Elise has. Honestly, in my mind, this was likely just someone's crazy idea of trying to "help" us and Elise. I put it on the back burner to be checked out later. A few weeks later I did some research on CNN.com and wasn't able to find anything. I even contacted the company, but I was only sent a transcript of a different show. As I thought, probably a crazy idea anyway. A couple weeks later, we got an e-mail from one of Elise's doctors saying, "you should check this out". Wait, a medical doctor is actually telling us we should look into "pot" for our child? This is a person whose opinion we highly respected. Maybe this was worth checking out. A little bit of research led us to the Realm of Caring Foundation.

From their website, "The Realm of Caring is a 501c3 non-profit organization that has been formed to provide a better quality of life for residents of Colorado affected by Cancer, MS, HIV/AIDS, Epilepsy, Parkinson’s, among many other debilitating conditions through the use of concentrated medicinal cannabis oil (Realm oil) provided by Indispensary/Stanley family." Families by the dozen are beginning to flock to Colorado in search of a new form of treatment to help their child. Sounds crazy right? 

When I took Elise to her last neurology appointment I asked her doctor about this. Without batting an eyelash he said, "I absolutely believe this is something you should try for Elise." Wow, that's pretty definitive isn't it? Now, in the State of Kansas, or Missouri where we saw her doctor, it is not legal for a doctor to prescribe medical marijuana. So, it's not that easy for those of us that don't live in Colorado. In all honesty, it's not that easy for those that live in Colorado either. He was quick to reinforce that it is very early in any research to tell how effective this truly is. But, there have been some pretty positive responses in some very difficult cases.

Elise has literally taken more than a dozen medicines to "help" her seizures. She went on the ketogenic diet for seizure control. We have flown to two different specialists in other areas of the country only to learn there really isn't much that we can do about her seizures. Parts of her brain appear "dead" on her MRI. They are just gone. Since being diagnosed with seizures in 2010 we have watched her mental capacity slowly and painfully slip away. We have been told to continue doing what we are doing with her as you can never really know when something will occur that could lead to improvement for her. We have never stopped trying to find something to help her, but truly, our options are pretty limited. Elise is not a candidate for brain surgery because her seizure activity is in every quadrant of her brain. She is not really a candidate for the vagal nerve stimulator either for much the same reason. That leaves us with medicine, and to date, that has been ineffective as well.

Kelly and I, some would say, are pretty straight laced people. There were plenty of opportunities to try pot in college, but it never interested me. I believed it was "wrong". Of course, the people I knew using marijuana weren't treating anything other than an insatiable craving for Taco Bell and a desire to enter the world as a productive adult citizen. It's safe to say we aren't really talking about the same thing here. To think about giving this to my child is actually kind of a shock to my system.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently said, "I know the discussion around this topic will no doubt get heated. I have felt that heat. But I feel a greater responsibility than ever to make sure those heated discussions are also well-informed by science." As a society we are quick to judge that medical marijuana is really just a way for us the taxpayer to pay for someone else to get high. But I wonder, would you still feel the same if it was you in that situation? Could you look into the eyes of your family member and tell them that their cancer pain really isn't that bad? Could you look into the eyes of your child and tell her you are doing everything you can even if you knew there were other possibilities out there?

Right now the overarching concern for me is that medical marijuana is not legal in the state I live in. I don't consider myself an activist and I am certainly not a rebel. If marijuana of any strand could help Elise I would certainly be able to find some here in my college town right? Without a doubt! But, I would then run the risk of losing my job, therefore my benefits that provide for the care of my child in need, or worse, having her taking away from me by the government for giving my child marijuana. Most days I don't know what to do to help her. I cannot imagine the struggle of someone that would be left to care for her not knowing anything about her and her history. That is not a chance I am interested in taking. 

So for now it's all about education. I want to know everything there is to know about what is being developed. Like all previously approved medications, there is no guarantee something like this would even work for Elise. I'm not about to pack up my family and move to Colorado in hopes that we could be considered to travel down this historic road. Besides, we just hung up the pictures in our house! So for now, it's still safe to eat the brownies in our house, and we haven't begun using a bong to hold our fake flower arrangements. We haven't decided that this is the best thing for Elise and her future either. But, there is more information available every day and I am intrigued by what is coming out.

If this is something that interests you, check out the new CNN special on Tuesday, March 11th at 9:00 p.m. central. It is titled "Weed 2: Cannabis Madness". You can also check out the first CNN special here. As I stated earlier, I am no activist. I don't believe this is right for everyone and I'm still not positive that it is right for us. But, I am working my way through public perception into fact to find a long term solution for my daughter. In the end, whatever that solution is, I want to be able to clearly look into her eyes and I tell her I have done everything in my power to help her be successful in life. Isn't that the same thing that any parent would want?

Another new leaf?

It seems like I have spent the last several years turning over one new leaf after another. That opportunity has come once again. Fortunately, it doesn't mean another move! Especially since we just hung up the pictures in our house. I don't think Kelly would look too favorably on another move right now anyway.

The groundwork was laid for this opportunity more than a year ago. I didn't know what to do with myself professionally. Honestly, sometimes I still don't. One of my thoughts was beginning to work on a PhD program in Hotel and Restaurant Management with an emphasis on event planning. This is what I do for a living now. After finishing my conversation with the department head I asked, "do you ever have opportunities for people to be hired on as an instructor for a course?" After telling me I should have come in a couple of weeks earlier and they would have hired me on the spot, she told me she would keep my information in case something ever came up.

We have spoken a few times over the past year plus as I would see her around campus or at K-State events. Lo and behold, the opportunity presented itself and I happened to be in the front of her mind. Last week I was formally contacted about becoming an instructor for a class that has been going on since January. After some consideration, prayer, and many conversations with Kelly and the department head, I accepted the offer to become an instructor in one course at KSU. I won't be giving up my current job, but rather piling a little more on my daily plate. Crazy huh?

I met with the class for the first time on Monday afternoon. It was a pretty good experience. I do believe I have the heart of a teacher. I miss the opportunity to interact with a younger generation and getting to experience life through their eyes. This class is full of seniors taking their last semester or next to last semester in college. Most of them know what they want to do (sort of) but they are hungry for the tools to get them there.

I won't profess to be an expert. I never did that with my students in my previous teaching life and I don't plan to do that now either. I have a TON of new work that is just beginning and I plan to give them some real life experience by exposing them to my life as a meeting planner and walking them through the process with me. No theories, very few lectures, but hands on experience being immersed in event planning.

I look forward to the challenge. I'm comfortable in my knowledge of the process. I'm comfortable in my ability to relate to the students. However, I'm not comfortable that I am prepared to jam all the information they need into the remaining 10 weeks of class. As one of my mentors once told, "you only have to be one step ahead of the kids". I hope that advice serves me well in this endeavor too!