About this episode
Key Points Kyle Ring experienced a severe health crisis in November 2015 at age 36, starting with what appeared to be a cold that progressively worsened, leading to multiple emergency room visits where doctors initially misdiagnosed his condition.Medical professionals repeatedly gave Kyle fluids during his visits, which was counterproductive since his body was retaining water, and he experienced extreme fatigue where walking to the mailbox became exhausting.Kyle's condition deteriorated to the point where he passed out at the hospital, his body went septic with all organs shutting down, and his ejection fraction dropped to a critically low 8-12%.Doctors immediately blamed Kyle's condition on alcohol consumption after he honestly disclosed his drinking habits on medical forms, with three different doctors telling him the heart failure was his fault despite not knowing the actual cause.Medical team required Kyle to have a defibrillator surgically implanted and wouldn't allow him to leave the hospital without this life-saving device due to his high risk of sudden cardiac arrest.Kyle was sent home with a battery-powered IV system that delivered medication directly through a line from his arm into his heart, while doctors could only diagnose him with viral heart failure.Doctors informed Kyle he would need an LVAD mechanical heart pump and eventual heart transplant to survive, requiring him to abstain from all substances for six months before being listed for transplant.Kyle began using cannabis on April 20th, the same day he was placed on the heart transplant list, after multiple prescription sleep medications failed to address his severe insomnia caused by heart medications.Cannabis provided Kyle with the first quality sleep he had experienced in months, and he continued using it despite initially hiding it from his wife who gradually became more accepting as she saw the positive results.Beyond sleep improvement, cannabis helped Kyle with anxiety, exercise performance, and managing pump pain from the LVAD device in his chest, which he could feel constantly and caused significant discomfort.Medical team discovered Kyle's cannabis use through drug testing after 6-12 months and removed him from the heart transplant list when he refused to stop using it, stating it was the only treatment that effectively helped his symptoms.Kyle's ejection fraction began improving within 1-2 months after the LVAD installation, and he regained a pulse within three months, indicating his heart was gaining strength through cardiac rehabilitation and exercise.Kyle currently takes only Eloquis blood thinner medication and has lost approximately 50 pounds from his original weight of 215-220 pounds, now maintaining 178-179 pounds and describing himself as being in the best shape of his life.Kyle advises people facing hopeless medic
