I am Cody, a Cancer survivor from Dallas, Texas. I founded a non-profit organization called Giving Hemp to provide hemp products to cancer patients in exchange for their scans, reports, and medication lists and am also a consultant and speaker and was diagnosed with brain cancer and glioblastoma.
One day, I had a seizure. I was initially having partial facial spasms, and there were no seizures at that point and I didn't have any vision problems. So the last thing I thought it would be is a tumor. But, what I had were seizures, and was rushed to the hospital. They did an MRI, and that's when they found a mess. The tumor was about the size of a plum. I had grown up in a Church that believed in prayer. When I heard the word, I freaked out. But I did place my faith in God and his ability to keep me throughout this entire process. So I just handed my whole life over and surrendered myself.
I had radiation and chemo in January of 2007, going on through the year. I also went through surgery. So for the brain, they don't do IV chemo because of the blood-brain barrier. So it's a pill form. It does the same thing. I was nauseated. I was vomiting and lost my hair. Radiation treatment led to my hair loss. I still have some hair and just did all the standard treatments. I was getting synthetic THC and Marinol during the time of my treatment. THC is anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic. So it stops proliferation and inhibits the tumor from getting a blood vessel to derive nutrients.
The support system was my mother. I grew up in Florida, but I was born here and the whole family is here. So whenever I got sick, I had the whole family around me.
My doctors were great. They were all foreign doctors. And it was awesome because American doctors don't think outside the box. So my first doctor for radiation was from the Middle East. And he and I had a great conversation and relationship. He was the one who told me, don't look it up, don't ask anybody about it. just eat healthily and keep coming to your appointments. That was a really big change. He never said I was going to die. He didn't tell me how many months I have or whether or not I will be happy with the treatment. And so I never looked it up after I got older. When I looked it up it was a twelve-month life expectancy. I'm glad he didn't tell me.
I found friends met new people and other survivors and had time to learn history and different things to get my mind busy. I went to Bible studies with friends and lived a normal life as much as I could. My greatest encouragement was God. Things that kept me motivated during those times were Psalm 91 and Psalm 9. So resting in that shelter kept my mind from going crazy.
Whenever I got out of surgery, I was on steroids to keep my brain from falling, I ordered all the food I wanted. I was eating Skittles and all kinds of candy because, at that time, I didn't know anything about sugar and cancer. But I've learned a lot about anti-cancer stuff like herbs, fruits, vegetables, etc. I make juices with all those things that are anti-cancer, like anti-proliferative things.
Cancer made me more aware of suffering. And that's why I started the nonprofit organization. I'd say that cancer humbled me. It's changed my perspective toward other people. And it made me look more into disease, diet, and lifestyle. And if I hadn't gotten sick, I wouldn't have looked into cannabinoids or looked into alternative kinds of treatments. So learning about those helping patients and seeing the difference it makes between them and myself, I started the nonprofit organization "Giving Hemp" Course. Which is giving hemp to cancer patients in exchange for their data.
Just don't focus on the diagnosis. Keep your focus on the treatment plan. Change up your diet. Get more focused on your health and your relationships. Don't waste time trying to say things to other people that they wouldn't understand. A lot of people don't understand the diagnosis, and they can't without the caregivers out there. Caregivers already have the heart to be able to take care of cancer patients in the first place and should just keep doing it. And I know it can be discouraging with loss, but if you're in the trenches, stay there and with cancer patients. Don't submit to fear. Pray, hope, and hang out with loving people.
I think everybody should know what's going on. When I was younger, I was in high school and my teacher knew my history with my dad. He asked me if I was going to get any genetic testing. I didn't think about it. And I ended up getting brain cancer. So brain cancer wasn't known to be a part of lynch syndrome when I got it. There's a list of percentages of types of cancers one can develop with Lynch syndrome, colon cancer is number one with an 80% chance of development.
But the least likely to get is brain cancer, which is at 1%. I believe that people should be aware of what's going on. If you have cancer syndromes in your family or any kind of cancer running in your family, be monitored. Just not aware of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery but of all the types of medications and different types of natural herbs and foods that should be encouraged to use during their treatment or diagnosis.
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Nurture Hope & Healing
with ZenOnco
On Google play India
Nurture Hope & Healing
with ZenOnco
On Google play India
