I met Anne Mari, Genevieve’s mother by sheer chance. I was very busy preparing for a trip to meet compassion patients, when a notification appeared on my cell phone. My two phones are always busy being a director of compassionate alliance. Most of the time, I have them on silent mode. But to date, I still do not understand why I had sound on them.
I looked at the text message, which was from a mother desperately in need. She wanted help. A friend had brought her some CBD and she didn’t know how to use it on her thirteen-year-old daughter.
The daughter was suffering from severe Autism and experienced unending seizures. She couldn’t attend school until she got a UCLA clearance. I was touched and I couldn’t disregard the text.
When you have spent much of your adult life representing kids in administrative law and special education issues, you get used to getting urgent messages. When it comes to medical marijuana, I never overlook such messages because I know that usually, it’s a matter of life and death.
In the United States alone, tens of thousands of people succumb to seizures annually. That’s a fact. Meaning, many patients do not live to give their own accounts of survival stories.
Genevieve is not only a survivor but a special case of love. With severe ODC, Epilepsy, and Autism, here life had become virtually become of no value. To a large extent, she became the worst adversary to her own skin. She had to be to be in gloves every time. She couldn’t walk alone in the house since it was no longer safe for her. She experienced seizure more than 25 times a day. Due to her condition, everybody in the family had to sacrifice a little for her sake. To add salt to the wound, some years ago her father had passed away. Nobody ever realized, until later, how much this girl needed a father figure in her life.
From the very moment I set my eyes on Genevieve and Anne Mari, I came to a conclusion that their situation needed urgent help. Days passed and I was again busy with the Compassion Program.
One day I got a text message from Anne Mari, telling me how they saw Genevieve holding a photo I had taken with them, pointing at where I was and exclaiming the word “daddy”. My heart skipped a beat.
The next I met Genevieve, she was busy on her iPad watch a Simpson’s video. On the video, she pointed at Homer, the Dad and then immediately pointed at me and again uttered the word “Daddy”.
One day, while on a jaunt that included dropping at Anne Mari’s house, I had a very strange feeling that I belonged there. Honestly, this freaked me out. Even when I was with my own family, I didn’t feel as peaceful as when I was with Genevieve and Anne.
Anyway, let get back to how things unfolded. When I arrived at Anne’s compound that day, I encountered a very worrying situation. The little girl was helpless on the floor seizing. The seizures were very severe, and her case was too risky. Having epilepsy myself, I knew the harm seizures can cause. For young people like her, seizures may hinder the developmental process.
Quickly, cannabis oil was administered to the little angel. I noticed the CBD that was used on her was quite unsuitable for the condition on hand. Fortunately, I had carried mine, so I gave her some. Right away, the seizures dwindled.
I thought of checking her medical history. Just as I expected, she had a plethora of medical prescriptions, some of them even for countering the side effects brought about by the medicine themselves. Genevieve was basically on a combination of medications, which were not helping. None of the pills made sense but luckily, her physician agreed to change the dose.
I spent the night in their hometown, so I could visit the Genevieve early the next day. During this trying period, there was a time Anne, felt as if she was losing her daughter. Days of seizing had turned into weeks, then months.
I explained to Anne Mari my own battles against epilepsy and how we should try it on the daughter. Both of us have an intractable/refractory type – No Rx meds are acknowledged to control seizure. This is the reason why, these kinds of medications haven’t been successful for Gen or I. For instance, for Gen, she had a severe allergic reaction to typical seizure pills that worsened her situation.
Positive changes
Cannabis oils, however, brought some positive transformation. When Gen stabilized and her seizures became minimal, Anne Mari requested me to stand for her to get Genevieve back to school. We succeeded in proving to the doctors how fast cannabis oil helped the girl. Her recovery was such an incredible one that doctors, were left in awe. In fact, a neurologist who was one time hesitant about the whole issue later changed his mind and became one of our biggest supporters. “What has she been using?” I remember him asking Anne Mari. What can a medical specialist say when the drugs he had earlier prescribed gave birth to more problems while CBD oils along with cannabis have overturned those problems?
When Genevieve started using CBD oil, not only was she able to attend school, but also the OCD-created gashes on her forehead and hands started to heal. I remember, when she started talking everybody present was stunned. The oil practically freed her from the chains of suffering and agony. Seeing Genevieve start talking, walking and do other things, was miraculous.
As days passed, a bond was born between us. We had little by little turned into an inseparable family unit and it seemed right to give fate a chance – get married. I could picture the universe giving us a standing ovation us when we got engaged.
Sharing our story
Our story though was nowhere in the mainstream media. We had planned to maintain some privacy for the sake of our union. However, day by day, bit by bit, we started shared our story on social media. Many people were touched.
Now, we both consider it the right time to tell the universe how well marijuana works and how it can save and change lives. It not only saved Genevieve’s life but also gave me a loving family.
Nowadays, we try as much as possible to use Genevieve’s story as an encouragement to others who have the same condition. In fact, as far as the world of social media is concerned, I believe she has changed the lives of thousands, if not millions already. So many parents now send us queries. Some of them had earlier blocked me on social media networks for repeatedly posting about benefits of medical marijuana.
Looking back at where all this started, when she wasn’t talking, couldn’t move around the house without seizing, and wasn’t even able to use her iPad, I am just grateful.
My brief life story
If you would be interested to hear about my story, it is pretty frustrating as well. In 1995, when on a pro tour, a career-ending wreck caused extreme head and bodily injuries that lead to incapacitation. I was left paralyzed.
For many years, canes and wheelchairs became part of me. Severe refractory epilepsy accompanied all this incapacitation and it was so difficult to conduct my duties at the special education department normally. In 2013, I learned about cannabis and CBD and started using them. Didn’t matter if it was indica or sativa, the seizures immediately stopped. Also, since that time, I have been diagnosed with Chronic Lyme twice, but thanks to CBD oil, I am doing very fine.
If you reflect on it, life with a wound on my right eye from the wreck and chronic Lyme was not easy. However, cannabis has helped me a lot. And it can do unbelievable things for you too. A good number of people rely on medical professionals who do not understand the basics of cannabis.
After reading this story, many ask “what next?” Well, first we enjoy every moment we have a family. Secondly, everyone is helping Genevieve to adapt to life normally since her growth was synonymous with delays in development. We also have a therapist who helps her form new positive behaviors. Thanks to cannabis, my daughter now has a future.
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