Mary’s story: Living life to the fullest in her golden years

Can you tell us about your health history and the conditions you’ve been diagnosed with? 

I'm 84, so quite elderly, and I've got a curvature of the spine which is very severe. My orthopaedic surgeon calls it “spectacular”, so that kind of sums up how severe it is—both curved and twisted, which doesn’t make me very happy. Just standing is absolutely costly, and walking too far is quite difficult. 

I’ve had spinal issues since I was a teenager, but as I got older it continued to get worse, and it eventually resulted in a pinched sciatic nerve, which gives me a lot of pain. As anyone who has chronic pain knows, it can be exhausting. 

Over the years, I've been prescribed various painkillers, and I've had all the injections—you name it, I’ve tried it—but nothing seemed to work. I don’t go to the doctor regularly for my back any more, because what can they do? Not much in my opinion. I’ve mostly just dealt with my backaches on my own. 

And, what does an average day look like for you? 

I live near my son and daughter in the countryside in Dorset. I still drive, thank goodness. And I always say to my family, “Use me when you can!” That’s what you do when you live in the country: drive teenagers and children around to the places they need to go. So, that’s what I do. 

I recently bought myself an Efoldi scooter, so that has freed me up. I mean, I hate it. Who wants to be on a scooter? But it does help me, and it's easy to handle, so I can get around by myself when I need to. 

I have to try and stay physically healthy at my age, so I do Aquasize about three times a week. It’s the only exercise I can still do, and being in the pool is very low impact, so that helps. 

Some days, I help my son at his office—he has an online business—but mostly I study: I'm a history student, and I'm doing my master's degree. 

Amazing. What made you decide to get your master’s degree in your 80s? 

Back when I was at school, everybody kept telling me, “You know, you could do better.” A few years ago, a friend of mine began studying dyslexia, and she offered to test me. It turns out I’ve had dyslexia all my life. 

After seeing the results of the test, I thought, “Well, I'm not as stupid as I think I am, so I think I'll do a degree.” I did it. It took several years, but I finally finished my degree. 

Then, I thought, “Now what? I guess I'll do a masters!” So, that's what I'm doing. 

How did you find out medical cannabis may be an option you could try? Was there someone specific who recommended medical cannabis to you?

It was my daughter. My daughter said, “Why can't you try it and see if it helps with your pain?” She searched online and found the Releaf website. I looked at it and thought I’d give it a try. Why not?

 I got in touch, and the treatment has really helped. 

I take a mixture of both THC and CBD oils. I've had two consultations so far, and in the last one my doctor changed the ratio of the two oils, which I found a bit heavy. To fix that, the only thing we needed to do was change the dosage. I just take a lower my dose in the morning than I do at night and, since then, I've evened it out and I sleep much better.

It’s all very easy to access if you can turn on a computer. I always feel like if I really need something, I can always log into my account and speak to somebody quite quickly.

And, has your daily routine improved because of your treatment?

Oh, yes! I'm not so exhausted any more. I'm not looking at my garden and thinking, “Gosh, I am not going near those roses! Not today, maybe tomorrow!” Now, I just get to work. This has made a huge difference to me. I really was exhausted with all the pain, constantly thinking, “Oh gosh, I can't do that today.” That’s an awful feeling. 

Of course, the pain is not gone completely, but I didn’t expect that it would. The main thing is that I am not so tired. That's the best result so far. 

People get used to pain, and they don't know how much pain they're in until it finally stops. Occasionally, I think about stopping the cannabis as an experiment, just to remember how effective it is, but I don’t want to risk it. 

And finally, what reception has your new choice of treatment got when speaking with peers? 

I’m aware of the stigma, but this is medical cannabis, so it's different from the cannabis people may have come across over the years. I’m now able to do things I couldn’t before. It's a simple thing that really has helped. Long may it last! 

No one wants to take medicine, but this is natural, and I'd rather take this than any kind of pharmaceutical pills. With every pill, there’s an ill, isn’t there? And the effects of the medications I was prescribed by my GP always wore off over time, so I always needed to change them. I feel that the medical cannabis is a bit more holistic.

Since I began my treatment, I’ve seen medical cannabis help other people in my family. I have a grandson in America, and his wife was terribly anxious. Oh, my goodness. She was having problems leaving the house. She is taking medical cannabis now and she's a completely different person.