About this episode
Mary Ellen began using cannabis at age 18 to manage PTSD symptoms from her brother's death by methadone addiction when she was eight, finding that cannabis smoothed out her restlessness, depression, and agitation.Stopping cannabis use in her late twenties led to everything going haywire in Mary Ellen's life, including doctor shopping for opiates, fibromyalgia diagnosis, postpartum depression, and five trips to rehab.After 11 months in a 12-step program following her fifth rehab, Mary Ellen read a book suggesting addiction was a choice and decided to reintroduce cannabis, which helped her life begin to simmer down and function properly again.During the years without cannabis, Mary Ellen's endocannabinoid system went into deficiency, and she believes seeking opiates was a sideways attempt to get rebalanced, though it only made everything worse.Cannabis creates homeostasis and balance by working through the endocannabinoid system's unique retrograde motion, where chemicals flow in the opposite direction from traditional neurotransmitters, acting as a regulator to slow excessive chemical signaling.Discovery of the endocannabinoid system's retrograde motion turned 100 years of neuroscience upside down, as it showed chemicals flowing from postsynaptic to presynaptic nerves rather than the traditional one-way direction taught in neuroscience.Mary Ellen was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare salivary gland cancer with no correlation to cannabis use, and received treatment from Dr. Gregory Weinstein in Philadelphia, who developed the surgical robot used for the procedure.Medical professionals at the treatment facility encouraged Mary Ellen to use cannabis during her cancer treatment, which she found unusual but supportive given her 40-year history with the plant.Five surgeries included endometriosis treatment, ruptured neck disc repair, breast reduction, hip replacement, and cancer removal, with the neck scan fortunately revealing the otherwise undetectable cancer.During cancer treatment, Mary Ellen took up to 60 milligrams of oxycodone per day but successfully tapered off following doctor's advice, using meditation principles and understanding that addiction thoughts are just thoughts that don't have to be believed.Cannabis continues to help Mary Ellen manage post-surgery symptoms including pain when swallowing, metallic taste from reduced taste buds, and lack of appetite, with small amounts motivating her to eat and care for herself.Remarkably, Mary Ellen's cancer surgery required significantly less intervention than planned, with surgeons avoiding skin grafts from her arm and leg that were originally scheduled, which she attributes partly to consuming CBG oils and RSO prior to surgery.People suffering from depression, anxiety, PTSD, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
