Episode 415: Her 22-year-old Son is Now Cancer Free After Neuroblastoma Battle

Cannabis Health Radio Podcast

Episode 415 Transcript:

Welcome to Cannabis Health Radio, a podcast where we share stories from people around the world who are using cannabis as medicine. The information is meant to raise awareness about the health benefits of cannabis,

which should not be taken as medical advice. Now, here are your hosts, Ian Jessop, and Corrie Yelland Welcome to the cannabis health radio podcast.

I'm Ian Jessop. And I'm Corrie Yelland. In the years we've been doing this program, we've only had one interview related to neuroblastoma, which is a cancer that develops from immature nerve cells found in several areas of the body. It most commonly affects children aged five or younger. Our guest today is going to tell us the story of her son diagnosed with neuroblastoma as an adult.

And joining us from London in the UK is Catherine who doesn't want us to use her last name so we won't. Catherine thanks for doing this and you know in reading the write -up you sent us I can't imagine what your son has gone through and you along with him.

Now it's been nearly five years since the original diagnosis. What is the journey being like for him and and yourself? Wow,

that's a big question. Well, when he was first diagnosed, it was such a shock because the tumor started in his smell nerve and it had eaten away at the sinus bones behind his eyes, wrapped around his eyes and it was as big as a small orange. It was enormous and we just couldn't believe it. He went into hospital and was kept in because of his saline levels and a nose bleed and we were so blessed because an amazing ENT surgeon was doing rounds the next day after his admittance and she simply said to us is the nose nosebleed always on one side and she sent him straight for a scan and she brought us into a side room and showed us the images and and it was really she said she you know like looking at the literature they tried to find people with this situation and it was as you say it's normally in children it had also eaten away through the base of the skull and the tumor had pushed up into the brain.

So from the imaging they didn't know if it was entangled with the brain, they didn't know if it was entangled with the eyes. So we had, she had a month to stabilize his condition and he spent quite a while in intensive care because of the salt levels in his body and then was was prepared for surgery.

Now I work with Reiki and I have a lot of friends who are complementary health practitioners and we kind of got on the case so everybody started sending Reiki, he went immediately on homeopathy, we tried to get cannabis at that point but in England we didn't have the capacity to get it at that point and then he had a very like the operation line.

About seven hours and they went in through his nose, cut out the tumour through his nose, another surgeon they cut out a diamond shaped out of his forehead, went in through his brain so he had an ENT surgeon and a neurosurgeon and they basically spent eight hours cutting out that tumour. Now it turned out it hadn't gone into the brain and it hadn't hadn't he didn't lose his eyes and it didn't damage his brain so that was the prognosis that that they could both happen and I really think that was a miracle at that stage that and neither of those things happened and when he went just for listeners how old was your son at that stage 20 22,

22. Thank you. Yeah, so they didn't know how long it had been growing for because normally it's quite a slow -growing tumor and they reckoned it could have been you know since probably the age of 16 or 17.

Now I do remember when he was 16 he fell down a stairs head first, face first and smashed up his nose and and all of that kind, like, you know, ended up quite battered. And, you know, that could have been a shock that started it at that stage. That was the, you know, who knows, it could have been latent there from when he was a child.

I don't, you know, nobody knows that kind of thing. But yes, it's very rare and very rare in adults. So for him,

it was like they felt they had got all the tumor out but they wanted him to do what's that word like radiotherapy just in case you know even though there was no visible sign of any cancer left and that in itself was a miracle that they'd managed to remove so much tumor from such a tricky area.

So now he has no smell nerve, they managed to make a seal between the brain and the sinuses. He did suffer a period of brain inflammation. And you know, we had a few tricky days, very tricky days in intensive care where he was, you know, hallucinating and brain fever and all of that kind of stuff. And funny, when he went for the radiotherapy a few months later. later the oncologist said oh right hello so I didn't I wasn't expecting such a cosmetically pleasing result when he read Sean's case and I thought it was amazing that I mean it really felt like he was blessed and that he was blessed that he didn't lose his eye I mean losing your smell is one thing you know he'll never get that back and But losing your eye is

you know quite a different scenario. So, yeah Catherine what was his response to getting this diagnosis because he's a young man when he gets this diagnosis and Last thing you're thinking about in your early 20s is getting sick.

It's about you want to get out there and have some fun Yeah, I mean he's quite incredible Corey He he was he really is he's kind of very inquisitive by nature, so he was really into the whole process of what the surgery was. He got the surgeon to take photos of the operation and then they were, because she was doing it as a lecture operation and there was lots of people watching because it was quite a complex operation.

So I remember she and he going through all the photos of the operation afterwards. Now I couldn't look at them. I mean, I just, it was just ghastly. But he kind of approached it, well, this is just something I've got to get through and I've got to get on with it. And, you know, he was so grateful to all the staff at the hospital. And, you know,

we met some amazing people and we met some incredibly kind people. And he had this experience. experience that he never imagined he'd have and it was just well,

I'm just going to get on with it. So he was in the middle of his second year of his degree and they said to him to stop studying and he said I can't if I haven't got something to hang on to I won't get through this.

So he carried on doing his studies. I remember when he was having his radio therapy he was getting the having a treatment then getting the train down to sit an exam,

then coming back to have his treatment the next day, and that he was having them timetable his treatments around his exams. And now we're talking at two opposite ends of the country, you know.

So it was really extraordinary. He was just so determined that this wasn't going to stop him and impact on his life. you know, so yeah.

And they really felt that the chances of a recurrence of a neuroblastoma are apparently quite low as well, so and fortunately for him,

the neuroblastoma doesn't react with chemo, so they didn't suggest doing chemo with him at that stage either, so come kind of...

January, so he was diagnosed in August 2019, come January 2020. He was ready for his term abroad, he went off to Italy,

and he wanted to work at the Ferrari faculty in Modena University. That has been a dream of his, because they have this amazing wind tunnel,

and he came back two weeks later. later for a medical appointment on the Friday And on the Sunday, Italy went into lockdown with coronavirus So, I mean,

I felt he was very blessed that he wasn't locked down in a city where he didn't know anyone and uni was Stranded and everything and I felt really blessed. He was here The fact that he didn't have any of his possessions was tricky.

Um, but yeah, so he he kind of got off with it, to be honest. And he hoped it was done, but they had told him that if he doesn't have a recurrence for two years,

he's got a much stronger chance of staying free of cancer. So his second diagnosis was a month before that two years was up. So that was really good.

So he got his results of a biopsy. on his left lymph node the day that he got his results of a first in his masters and his degree.

So it was a really bittersweet day, but that was a tumor in his left lymph node,

much less scary surgery, much more straightforward operation. and again the medical model was go in,

we'll take out all your left lymph nodes, fortunately they decided not to do the right ones as well, at the same time I was really saying like God you need those lymph nodes,

you know they're just so important for keeping your body clean and everything, but yeah so he went in for surgery in so that was I think 21,

and radiotherapy again to the whole neck area. And I think at that stage,

that was much more difficult for him because it was like, well here I am, I want to get started with my life. And actually he couldn't face. he went to Whistler in Canada,

he went skiing and he just didn't feel confident enough to go out into the employment market, he was just like I just want to have some adventures,

I just want to kick back, it's been really grim, so he did ski season in Whistler that winter. winter and then stayed on that summer and then again The next year again,

just couldn't think about the future and he said I don't I just can't think about a future So I don't know if I have a future, you know, I think when you face death like that So,

um, yeah, so he did two years in Whistler and he was just coming to the end of his time in Whistler This was 2023 and we went out to see him just shortly before he came back and he was starting to look for jobs and starting to feel that maybe he could do that and he started to lose the capacity to speak and his words were slurring and he couldn't get his mouth to form around a word and I remember we were

sitting, we were on Sunday Sunshine Coast staying with some friends and he was like, "Well, I've looked up and it's either like some form of neurological disease or it's a brain tumor." And we were like,

"Okay, Mr. Google, you know, his first person used to say to him, "Get off Google," you know. So, yeah, so the next couple of days later,

he was really bad at work and he went to the doctor in Whistler and because of ski accidents and everything, they had a CT scanner there, so they put him in the CT scanner. Massive,

massive brain tumour. A large plumber, a small satsuma was the definition of it and I've seen images of it and it was huge.

So that was in the end. and I'm talking about a guy who's still cycling, still skiing, still hiking, you know, doing all of that kind of stuff. He'd had a checkup in January,

full scans in January. He's on annual checkups at this stage and there was nothing. So it had grown from nothing to that size in,

well, less than nine months. - Mm -hmm. - And, yeah. So it was... really massive. So he was rushed straight to hospital in Vancouver and surgeon,

amazing surgeon. Like really, I have to say, I thought that the whole team there were incredible. And there was a lot of risk to his speech,

his movement, the whole movement of his upper body, his cognitive skills. It was in the, the left sylvian fissure between the two lobes, between the frontal lobe and the side lobe.

Fortunately it was growing out of one point and because it was in the fissure it hadn't actually connected to either side of those two lobes. So again, you know,

as soon as I found out about it, I got an email sent. sent friends, so many people sending him Reiki. He was in Buddhist prayer, you know, temples. He was,

you know, just had like all the Irish were, you know, had him on the altar and, you know, it just so many blessings coming towards him. He had the surgery.

They couldn't take out all of the tumor because part of it was under a major blood vessel and the surgeon judged it too risky. to his brain health, you know, to dig any further.

And I think that was a really good call. I remember when he came up to intensive care after surgery, he just put Sean through this kind of really quick fire, a series of tests of reflexes and words and everything, and just his face, the relief that there was no... brain damage from the operation. So there was a one centimeter piece of tumor left.

And because we're in Vancouver, I had a friend of mine rang me and said she knew someone on the East Coast to clear themselves of cancer with cannabis.

So I said, "Can you tell me?" who it is?" So they said, "Well, the best person to speak to is Corrie, but I don't know if you'll be able to get hold of her." So I was Googling Corrie.

I tried to get it in 2019, hadn't been able to get it. And then the next morning, I sent Corrie a message, and the next morning Corrie had an appointment to do an interview,

and they had technical difficulties. difficulties so she sent me a message and said if you can jump on the phone now I can talk to you so I just felt it was all again more blessings you know more miracles coming so yeah so I think we you know this was all really difficult for him this third tumor and and this is the first time he was told that he could die.

He'd never been told he could die before you know so this one was quite major. It's funny because the other one was in the brain as you know pushed up into the brain as well but somehow I mean he felt this surgery was much easier but then I think he wasn't aware of all the times he he was in delirium and in and out and stuff,

you know. But I think it was difficult because he didn't know if he could keep going on with just being ill, just being ill, feeling like I'm talking a sportsman,

you know, who he doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he eats well, you know, he's a really sweet guy. Yeah,

so it was just like, "How can I stop this happening?" So he wanted to come home and he needed to wait until he had permission to fly because they needed to make sure his wound site had healed up enough and stuff like that.

So we got him on some oils in Canada. thanks just, yeah that was really good and that was helping him,

but then he had to come back here and by the time he came back in November and they scanned him,

the tumour had massively grown again. It was, I mean it was really... very aggressive, growing really,

really aggressively. It was not quite half the size it had been when it was first operated on. It was filling the cavity, the brain cavity was still there.

And they referred them back for further surgery, which was ruled out as being too dangerous. And And they put him,

started him ready for radiotherapy. So at this stage, we'd been in touch with somebody here. We'd got cannabis oil and a load of detoxing stuff.

So he was taking that three times a day. He was going seeing a counselor, which was the first time he'd seen a counselor. So here and I just it and it was like you have to deal with physical,

mental, emotional and spiritual. You have to go at this with all levels because otherwise, you know, if you really want to know whether you can be in control of the cancer or not,

you know, you need to do this. So he's been amazing, you know, he's done the oil. diligently, he's done his detoxing,

he's been on turkey tail mushrooms, he's been having reiki every day, he's been on homeopathy, he's been having acupuncture three times a week,

he's been on a totally vegan alkaline diet since, like he was vegetarian before but he was eating a lot of dairy produce and you know he was eating occasional eggs and stuff so it's just everything got cut out you know every scrap of sugar got cut out every everything and the oncologist said to him in November that it was asking a lot of radiotherapy to clear the tumor that he felt that a good result would be if

it stopped growing basically. basically. And he was wonderful. We've lost Milla Karyankar.

Yeah, he was wonderful. Like the consultant was really treated Sean like a human being, you know, just really fantastic. And we just thought,

well, no, we're, you know, we're going to do everything and see, see what happens. And so the whole way through radiotherapy, they wouldn't do a scan until,

like they weren't going to do another scan until I think three weeks after the radiotherapy finished. So it started, so the diagnosis where it was growing and growing and growing was November,

2023, last November. And then radiotherapy started at the beginning of December, radiotherapy all through December. December into January, and then they scanned him the middle of February.

And when they did the scan, there was like the brain had all closed up and the tumor, it looked like there might be a tiny element of the tumor left,

but it was completely like you know from where it was before it was like just all gone. And he didn't know. whether it was tumour still, but I've seen so many scans of cancer at this stage.

It didn't have the bright white look that cancer has on a scan. It was kind of blurry around the edges, you know, didn't have defined digest.

So they spoke with us about chemo at that stage because they said this is chemo is the only thing else that we have, but we wanted to adopt a wait -and -see policy,

so they said they'd scan again in another month, so they scanned them in the middle of March and there'd been no change in that little blob that was left, so they think it's just scar tissue from the original wound site,

from surgery and everything. So, it's been a miracle. It's been an absolute miracle. And I have to say, you know, the oncologist was stunned,

stunned. And the biggest impact, Corey, is that Sean knows now how to stay cancer -free because he knows it wasn't just the medics.

He knows it was everything else that he did. You know? know. Right, right. When he, when he was just talking a little about the dosing of his oil. So how much was he doing and what method?

I mean, I know he was on a multi -stream four to one ratio that much. I know. But was he doing it all rectally? Yes, absolutely, all rectally.

And one of the things, one of the reasons he didn't, this is really important. One of the reasons he didn't want to do. do the oils before is he wasn't prepared to take anything orally because he can't bear that feeling of loss of control or high or anything.

So when you advise that he could take it rectally, that was such a game changer for him. You know, it was just like, yes, I can do this. So he was having one meal three times a day rectally.

(mumbles) November. So that's every day and now he's gone on to a maintenance dose of eight drops a day and he's going to experiment between,

he's still taking rectally rather than taking orally and what he did is he got a narrower syringe like a very narrow syringe.

because he ended up at one stage. The biggest impact, and we think it was the steroids, not the cannabis, was he had to do a poo frequently.

So he would do his treatment, then he wanted to go for a run and then he was needing to go for a poo. and this was really impacting on him.

But it turned out was the steroids that he was on to stop the swelling in the brain while he was having radiotherapy had impacted on the muscles in his anus and his buttocks so much that that's why he couldn't stop.

But anyway, he ended up using a smaller syringe. syringe which he found easier to insert and then you know,

he could still do the one mil with that. So yeah, that was that was that's still his preferred method. And I think we'll see whether he goes to having it under the tongue as he goes along because he's only been on this maintenance dose now for three weeks.

or something like that, you know. So, yeah. And he's very happy to continue taking that for the rest of his life. And he said to me, you know, it was funny, because he was doing so many things.

And some people were saying to me, well, how do you know what's working? And I said, I don't need to know what's working, because everything's working together, you know, like everything's working holistically together.

So, he said, but I do know know that the cannabis oil is the most important thing that I'm doing and if I miss anything that is the thing I don't miss you know so I thought that was really interesting because I was so pleased this time to be able to get it because I thought now he just has a way of keeping the cancer at bay you know so he's going to stay on his vegan alkaline diet that's an brainer for him,

no alcohol, no brainer, no sugar. And he's finding ways to live, and as you can imagine living in London, where eating out is such a big thing and night -slubbing are such a big thing,

you know. But he's wanting to find people to have outdoor adventures with. And, you know, he's been hiking on the South Downs and he's been, you know, doing some wild camping and he's training for a marathon.

You can believe it. So yeah, I mean, he's pretty determined. And when he got the diagnosis that he was clear, he walked out and he said,

now I know I will live to see another summer. So I was crying. I mean, you know, 26 year old, you know,

nearly five years with cancer and yeah, yeah. An extremely aggressive, you know, as it turns out to me, it's extremely aggressive in this case.

And what he's accomplished is nothing short of a miracle. I mean, it's absolutely amazing. Yeah, in such a short time. Yeah,

to turn around from having a tumor that's re -growing so aggressively in November and then by February, it's gone. I'd say that's pretty good.

Catherine, did this change your attitude about cannabis? Oh, well, yeah. Listen, I work as a healer.

healer. So, you know, and I met Charmin and, you know, I work with Reiki and it's incredible plant medicine. I just, what's so frustrating to me is,

you know, the value of what he had with the multistrains and the whole product and all of that. And they think, oh, well, this compound and this compound and then they strip it out and they take it,

all these different, elements and separate them. To me you don't understand, like they don't understand what they're doing, they don't understand how topically the whole plant works together and all the different strains work together.

So it's kind of nature creates this incredible product and then you mess around with it and you take out half compounds, you know it doesn't make any sense. So that's why I'm on orchestra.

this the UK company GW pharmaceuticals who does does that is it GW pharmaceuticals yeah I think so yeah but I think it's the same in Canada now I mean my friend who I was staying with in Vancouver her son is growing on the roof and all the rest of it but when she talked about the medicinal stuff she said since the new legislation it's just got so much worse because now you can't get the whole product you know

yeah so it's like well we legalize this proper not this part and that's just because you don't understand you know and I think just because you don't understand doesn't mean you you can mess with it you know yeah yeah you know you know Catherine I have a I have a saying that God what the Creator Creator,

whatever your belief system did not put that plant on the earth with all these properties in it for it to all be separated, period. Yeah, yeah. And I have to say one of the things the homeopathy has been doing is working to counteract all the like the radiotherapy and the steroids and doing a cleaning from that.

And it's like, I feel we've got one thing that's helping clean up. up all the drugs. And, you know, the medical companies will say, well, there's nothing in homeopathy. There's, you know, but it's energy medicine.

Yeah. And with cannabis, I think you've got the energy medicine element as well as the physical. You know, for me, it's working on all the levels, which is one of the real gifts that it has,

because not every plant has that. No, absolutely. Catherine, you remember when we started this interview, I asked you how these five years have been for you? And you said it was a good question,

but you kind of, you didn't answer it. Okay. I'm used to interviewing politicians. So I saw you slide by that one.

How is it being for you and your son? Let's start with you first. I Have to say it's been really intense one of the things that's been difficult is because I work as a healer I Immediately had a role to play and for my husband.

He felt he didn't have a role to play and that was difficult You know that was difficult for him and it was difficult for our marriage. I think it was difficult balancing.

I have three sons, so it was difficult remembering, okay, I need to, I need to be here for all of them. Um, and it was difficult to let him go when I needed to let him go and hope that he was well and,

you know, let him get on with his life. It's also been such a profound gift to me. get to know somebody so well and to have such a deep relationship with my eldest son,

you know, that's been an extraordinary gift. And I've seen things I would never have seen in life. I mean, I've seen incredible things in hospitals that I've become so intimate with hospitals in a way for someone who's never been ill.

you know, just witnessing things that go on when people are really unwell has been a gift and it's been, I think one of the biggest gifts Sean has given many people is the capacity to give to him because he's just the first night in intensive care after the diagnosis.

He said, "Mom, you must contact everybody you know and ask." them for help and ask them for Reiki." And I promised him that and that was so challenging for me because normally I'm quite a private person but I contacted everybody and I mean in excess of 100 people were sending him healing and then people were just coming up going,

"I heard about your son and can I help and I can do this. Would you like me to do that for him? I can do this. Would you like me to do that?" and he was so open to being helped this whole journey.

The openness and the exploration was just so rich. I can't explain it.

And he will say he doesn't view it as a bad thing at all. It's just been a very enriching journey. Yeah. And when he looked like he might die in November,

he said, I have no regrets. He said, I've done everything I wanted to do. And if I go now, I have no regrets. You know, he'd had his two years in Whistler,

he'd jumped off mountains, he'd been up in a helicopter and jumped off a mountain, he'd gone hiking overnight out in nowhere. You know, he'd just just had all of these adventures and he never let his health stop him having adventures,

you know, because he said, "If I can't live, there's no point in being here," you know. So yeah, and he's really shown all of us how to live.

Well, he certainly has. I mean, what you said, "If I can't live, there's no point in being." being here. I mean, that is a great comment about most of the world who just exist from day to day.

And without any appreciation for life itself. And when you get into a life -threatening situation like that, you do have an appreciation for life, a renewed appreciation. And I think that's what he has.

And you yourself I imagine, have been given renewed appreciation for the life, his life, and you look at your life differently,

do you? - Oh, absolutely, absolutely, yeah. Yeah, I mean, both my husband and I are working part -time where planting trees and making time in nature and all of that kind of stuff.

And we've just trimmed our financial outgo. to match our incomeings and just gone, no, we can't wait for some future Nirvana point,

you know, we need to live now. Yeah. Yeah. And that's interesting, because so many people spend so much of their life being afraid to die,

that they don't live, you know. And I think we have completely flipped that and actually, you you know, if I was to go tomorrow, I have no regrets You know, there's lots of things I still want to do But I feel that,

you know, we're having adventures in the moment Just not putting things off anymore, you know, because that's a very big thing. I'll do that next year I'll do that next year, you know,

and next year never comes. So damn it. Catherine do it now. Yeah Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Catherine, it's a wonderful story you've told us about your son and what he's gone through and what the two of you,

what you've gone through as a family. And I think other people listening to what you said will be inspired. And I know that somewhere in the world you will change a life or a number of lives from what you've told us.

We greatly appreciate it. - Thank you so much. Thank you. And no, there's always hope. If you have a will to live, the universe responds to that and will tell you how you can do it.

That's the biggest lesson I've learned in all of this. Before we go, I want to let our listeners know that you can help us spread the word about the amazing, often life -saving health benefits of cannabis. cannabis, just by sharing the podcast, writing a review, or rating us. We very much appreciate the help of everyone who's done that already.

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