Episode 462: From Tumors to Triathlons: Jessamyn Way's Cannabis Journey

Welcome to Cannabis Health Radio, where we share powerful real life stories from people around the world who are using cannabis as medicine. The goal of this podcast is to raise awareness of the healing potential of cannabis and is not intended as medical advice. And now, here's your host, Ian Jessup.

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Welcome to the Cannabis Health Radio podcast. I'm ian Jessup. In 2012, Jessamine Way's World changed forever. A brain tumor diagnosis led to six brain surgeries, the removal of her left hippocampus, and extreme uncontrolled epilepsy. At her lowest point, she was taking 25 pharmaceuticals and weighed over 300 pounds. Today, she controls her seizures with cannabis, has shed a massive amount of weight, and now competes in triathlons. She's truly an inspiration to us all. Jessamyn, thanks for doing this. When was your last triathlon event?

2 days ago on Sunday. I competed in Olympics or no, in a sprint triathlon.

Sprint triathlon, yes. Did you ever think in your wildest dreams years ago that you'd ever do that?

Well, years ago, before the beginning of the last five brain surgeries, so between brain surgery one and brain surgery five, I did begin racing triathlons and was just doing sprints only, but I would only do, you know, once in a while. I think I only did, you know, maybe one or two, you know, per year. And this year I've already done five and I have two more coming and I've moved from just sprint to doing sprint. And Olympic. And Olympic are basically double the distance of the sprint.

Okay, now, what was life like for you prior to your being diagnosed with a brain tumor?

Well, I was the very first brain tumor. I was pregnant to deliver my boy anytime, my fourth child. And during that pregnancy, the doctor had told me that the, the migraines and the headaches were just due to pregnancy or a few times I was prescribed antibiotics for a nasal infection because I kept having liquid drop dribbling out my nose. And when my baby was born and he was 10 days old, the migraine had become horrifically worse. So I went, you know, called the doctor and they said, well, just go to the ER and. And so I walked in and the doctor said, okay, we're just going to do a quick scan and see what's going on. And it was up at Edmonds Swedish, and they just did a quick CAT scan. And the doctor came back in and he pulled his seat up next to the bed and took my hand and I'm holding a brand new baby and looking at him and even in my head at that moment, I just went, oh, crud. Something's gonna happen. Because a long time ago, I was an EMT firefighter, and I knew when they did that it meant something. And he. He took my hand and he said, I'm sorry, Jasmine, we have found a brain tumor. And, you know, we need to send you or, you know, you're gonna have to get surgery on this, and we have to get, you know, all this looked at. And I said, okay, you know, and I'll go get the appointments and prepare, and la da da. And he said, no, no, no, I'm sorry. There's an ambulance here to take you. You're going, you know, to. To go see Dr. Ryder Gwen Rider. And that was, you know, down to Swedish Cherry Hill. They shipped me immediately. They took my brand new baby from me and handed him to his father, and that was that. And the brain surgery was done basically, you know, 24 hours later.

What was going through your mind when you got the news?

Well, like I said, you kind of go into shock. And when the. When he had sat down and told me, and then also, you know, with my history, I said, okay. And once I saw them at the hospital, The Glenn Rider, Dr. Grimm Rider, he let me know, you know, you got a 5 to 10% chance of making it through this because it's so large and there's so much of the fluid dripping out your nose and so many issues that, you know, we're sorry, but be prepared. And that's what I got to think was, okay, I'm about to have an emergency brain surgery, and I, most likely. I didn't think I was going to live. I really thought that was that.

No. And you just had a child as well.

Yes.

Oh, my God. The emotional impact of that just must be catastrophic.

Yeah, but it was. You know, I woke up and I had survived and doing that. I. When you wake up and you make it, you have a brand new baby in a whole life. And I looked, you know, I got to go home and I looked in the mirror, and at that time, you know, I was over. I was over 300 pounds. I wore a woman's size 24. I had all kinds of problems with, you know, with my knees and my back and all kinds of things. I'd already had, you know, other. Multiple other surgeries for other medical issues. My, you know, gallbladder removed, I had back surgery, knee surgery, just everything. And I finally just hit the stop button and I said, no, I need to change because something isn't right with this. And, you know, Eating Kentucky fried chicken and McDonald's and things like that, that is not food. And I said to myself, okay, I can no longer do this. I need to change. I need to lose weight. I need to feel better. I need to be better. So I basically learned about the ketogenic diet and went hardcore into doing that. And it was great to.

Oh, no, I was just going to say, you know, in. In the western world, there are so many people overweight, but they don't realize a lot of the food they're eating is full of chemicals and junk. I think you came to the realization when you had a child, when you had a. Had a brain surgery and all of this just. It opened your eyes, didn't it?

Yes, yes. When you realize, this is not food. This is not good for us also, it was just, you know, being that heavy and then just never, no matter what I ate, I never felt good. So I started, you know, researching about, you know, what to eat and why and, you know, how to be healthy. And that's when I discovered the ketogenic. And so I began that, and I dropped the weight. And that's when I, you know, even, you know, I actually lost weight then and lost enough to begin, you know, I started really cycling a whole lot and swimming and jogging and, you know, began trying the triathlons, the sprints. And at that time, I. That relationship with that. With that partner ended.

Okay.

And I moved on and started, you know, doing the triathlons, the sprints, and just biking all the time and met somebody that he also was. In his past. He had actually raced cycling races professionally. And so making friends with him, I was able to get, you know, a lot of free training. And that's when I went crazy. And actually, after about a year of doing all that with him, we got married. And that's when I. I did have our first. My first daughter with him, which was my child number five. And she. With that, seizures increased because I was already having seizures that were caused from the first brain surgery to have the tumor removed. And then seizures started increasing and increasing and increasing. And so up at OHSU Hospital in Portland, you know, started scanning me and giving me all kinds of studies and everything. And over time, they realized. And that's when they started trying me on all the pharmaceuticals. So in that time between the birth of my fifth and sixth daughter, all of that going on, I tried more pharmaceuticals, and that's how I got all the way up to, you know, 17 different ones, multiple types at a time, and not having all those pills I ended up being allergic to nine of them is on my medical records now and the others just don't work or the side effects were just too horrific. I. Goodness sakes. There is a pharmaceutical oral cannabis that you can take and right now I'm not remembering the name for it. It's actually completely legal. If you look up just legal cannabis oil for epilepsy, it'll come up online. But I did try their products and it does cost $2,500 a month. But they were nice enough to let me test it and I did like it for the epilepsy aspect of. Did work to control the epilepsy, but the side effects that that pharmaceutical cannabis caused were horrific as well. It actually made it so that I had to wear a diaper because I, yeah, I had problems after using that one. So even that one, I said that was, you know, number 17 and I went, okay, never mind, I'm done with all of this. And I switched to the stuff that I produced and it's. I. It goes into a capsule and that way I can take it. Now every four hours my alarm clock goes off and I am taking my cannabis oil made with coconut oil. And so you take coconut oil, fights cancer too.

You take. I'm sorry, you take it every four hours?

Yes. For me, I've had to test because my epilepsy is so extreme. And also back in, my second brain surgery was in October of 2021 and they were. They put in 18 probes into my head and that was the beginning of them doing the. The installation of the neuro stimulated the RNS device which they put in epileptic people, which it sends out electric pulses to help control seizures. And the device does work to a point, but that was when I was also able to discover that I still have to take cannabis. And OHSU knows it and they have it on records now that I am taking cannabis and when I'm taking it, it's all in my medical records now. And they do agree, do not stop because they can see now with the RNS device that if I stop taking the cannabis capsules, I produce it, give it 24 to 48 hours and I will be having grand mal seizures again. So it does work with the RNS device to control me. I am now at maybe anywhere from two to four seizures a month and I will take that over, you know, 10 to more a day. So, you know, I was dying and. But yeah, they did the, the stereotactic EEG with 18 probes in, in October of 2021. Was the second brain surgery. The third brain surgery was in June 2022, and that they did the laser ablation of my left hippocampus. And losing your left hippocampus is basically when I woke up from that brain surgery, I didn't know who I was, what I was like. It was, it was vicious because you're basically removing your memory because left hippocampus is for your short term memory. And it was a big deal.

How do you deal with that?

Well, again, when I woke up and that's when you had spoke to me the first time. And I think that was like nine or 10 months post that brain. The last set of brain surgeries. And they even told me, ohs, you let me know that it can take, you know, three to five years post this major brain surgery and that removal for me to be able to have some memory return and me be normal again. So I am getting more memories are finally working. I mean, they all won't ever completely come back in, but it used to be that I would. I'd meet somebody and then walk away from them, and the next day if I saw them, I wouldn't know who they are. And that issue still does happen now. But I'm good with memories. When I meet someone now, if they walk away, they can walk away for a month and come back and I'll know who they are or even a little longer. And then I can look at them and go, okay, I've met you. I know your face, but don't ask me your name.

Well, you remember that we did an interview with you two years ago.

Yes, yes. Well, and I monitor what you do too, because now I really do believe that Zen has placed me here to have gone through all of this to prove that cannabis is medicine. Cannabis healed me. Cannabis cured me. Without the lifestyle change, I wouldn't have lost the weight and become healthier and all that, but lifestyle change wasn't it. Only I needed the cannabis to cure the cancer. And when I, you know, it was the. They diagnosed me with the. When they did the intrinsic brain stem glioma diagnosis, they actually had told me with that one. They sat down to. Pulled up and sat down and said, okay, listen, you. We found an intrinsic brainstem glioma. This is an inoperable, incurable tumor. And you, right now, we want to let you know that you have, you know, six months to a year. And if we give you chemo, if you don't get chemo, it'll. You'll probably pass away sooner. And we want you to be prepared. So that was my next diagnosis after already having one tumor removed. Then I get, you know, I get that one diagnosed and. And I was like, okay. And also at that time I kept having. My throat kept collapsing and they would have to put a device in to stretch it back out just so that I could swallow liquids. I was no longer even able to swallow smoothies. It was literally I had to just get liquid water to go down my throat. And that's. At that point I dropped down to 114 pounds and I could barely walk. And at that time I went from. The cannabis I produce right now is only a 3% THC and the rest is like 60, some odd percent CBD and then CBA, CBG, like all the different types. And my. What I like to share with people is that the medicine you get at all the like I'm in Oregon and we do legally sell cannabis here, but at those stores right now, with it being a schedule one, the THC they sell is pure thc. It doesn't have anything else. And I've looked into that, but that would not cure my cancer. That would not treat my epilepsy. I need everything. And so the stuff I am using currently is what is treating me medically for the epilepsy and for me regrowing any more tumors. They do keep scanning me. Every six months to a year, they give me a brain scan to see what's going on up there at ohsu. And they keep saying, you know, that tumor is still gone and you're looking good. So, you know, again, when I was at the time that I became my sickest and had that terminal diagnosis, I actually did though, at that time take something that's like, if you've heard of Rick Simpson oil. Yeah, I basically went made, had that and. Or Stephen Hawking's Kush is another one. And those is those types are what you need to fight cancer. And they have a high THC. They still have the CBD. They're more of like a 50 50. And that's what I'm trying to tell people about. You know, get on that if you're fighting cancer. The stuff I produce also. The CBD stuff I produce also fights cancer, but it just keeps it from coming back. And it's more of the epilepsy control. If I was to see any more tumors coming in, you would see me go back onto the more extreme, extremely high THC cannabis stuff from Rick Simpson or the Stephen Hawkins.

Yeah, yours is strictly for seizure control with a little bit of thc to.

Help cancer, but yes, to keep it from ever regrowing.

Right, but if. If it started to regrow, you'd go higher thc.

Yes. I would go back to the Rick Simpson capsules or the Stephen Hawking cooks, and I put them into capsules. You can just pop them in and swallow it like a medicine.

So you take it every four hours?

Every six.

Every six hours, yes. Okay.

My alarm clock goes off and then you.

You have it by your bedside table, Your alarm clock goes off, you take a capsule and then go back to sleep.

Yep. And it works amazingly well that way. It doesn't, you know, it initially with the doses I put in there. Like, it still, you know, Will, I've let friends try it and they go, yeah, I did get mildly baked from that. And I said, yeah, but if you bet on it every day at the highest dose that I am now, I just feel normal on it. And when I take it. I used to also be on antidepressants because I was so extremely bad and I was very dark and now I'm off of all of those antidepressants and don't need them. And cannabis is also a good antidepressant when taken correctly, so recommend it as well for that.

Just. Just a min. In your journey, what was the lowest point for you, either emotionally or physically?

Well, probably when the laser. The laser ablation of the left hippocampus and waking up not knowing who you are did it because, you know, it was basically off and on. It was six brain surgeries total. And a lot of the surgeries were just to put into different screws and to do this and do that, to make it so that this device would even work for me. There was other tumors they found in there, smaller ones, but still went in and removed those. I think I've had. It's four tumors removed in there now. So, yeah, it's just been. It's been a lot. But again, this is my way of going through all of this. It does prove to the ohsu and they can legally study somebody who was as bad as I was and as terminal as I was. They can study someone that has now only used the cannabis instead of the pharmaceuticals. They did offer me a few months past, they did offer me another trial to try number 18 pharmaceutical. She said, you know, we can offer you this one. We found another. There is a new product, but you were allergic to one that it's related to. And I said. I looked at her and I said, then, no, I am not trying that product. Yeah, so you know, mine does work. When I feel them coming on, I can get the tingles and things like that. And I've known I even have started shaking. And I do have my product in a little squirter in a little bottle thing too. Yeah. And I can take and it's measured on the little squirter and I can do a full squirt into the back of my tongue and then sit and give it 15, 20. And you know, most of the time it will work and I'll stop with the beginning of the seizure coming on. On more stressful days and things like that. I've actually been known before the races, actually these last triathlon and the ones just before that, I took double dose of the capsules in the morning because my alarm clock goes off at 7am to take my capsule. And those days that I was racing, I, I did two of them just to make everything easier and better. And it also helps with the pain and everything. So. But cannabis does work to control seizures. And on that level there are so many people that need to be able to try it. And I've spoken with a lot and again, the pharmaceutical company has it, but it doesn't work and it's so expensive, a lot of people across the country can't get it. And then the rest of the people in other states that I've spoken to told me that the cannabis is illegal there still and they cannot get it at all. So what I'm using, I couldn't even send to them for them to use for their children or themselves. And that's right, because I have gotten off of everything and I proved that cannabis works. But, you know, if they were to take me in front of the White House and take all my medical history and show it, there is no way any politician can prove that cannabis doesn't work medically. It's secure and they just don't want to share that.

When you first told your doctors that you were taking cannabis, what was their response?

Well, that's why you saw me end up trying out 17 as they said, well, this and this because I kept taking it.

Yeah.

But I would try their product as well. And I wasn't doing what I'm doing now of having the alarm clock go off every six hours. And I didn't have them in the capsule. I was just taking this amount and this amount, you know, squirt under my tongue or, you know, a scoop of the stuff. And it was actually going through all that pharmaceutical testing that made me learn about, okay, I have to take this, at this, you know, cannabis oil at this time, and treat it like a medication should be treated.

What keeps you motivated each day? Jessamyn?

Well, I'm a mom of six, and in two weeks, I have another triathlon. I'll be doing an Olympic this time. So what keeps me motivated is the fact that I. I am alive. And a lot of my friends let me know that I'm actually healthier than they are and that I'm doing better. And they ask me, how are you doing that? And I keep telling them it's lifestyle changes and the cannabis, you know, that cannabis works on so many other levels, too. Not only, you know, with the depression and with the seizures and that, but it helps with pain. It, you know, it helps with stomach issues, with joint issues, just everything on so many levels. So when you get to be on this, you get to be off of other things. And that's how I want to live, is to be able to know who I am and what I'm feeling, you know?

You know, Jessamyn, when I like, I like to repeat this on podcasts, when we talk about people with brain. Brain tumors. But we've interviewed, Corey and I, we interviewed about 25 people who've had brain tumors, and 23 are still alive. And they are alive because of cannabis, nothing more. And of course, there's dietary changes which encompass their recovery. I think it's really valuable for people to understand that cannabis is not necessarily there just to get high for the psychoactive effects. It's a medicine. And I think most people in the public don't realize that. They think it's just a hippie thing, that you get high and you get wasted.

Well, again, with what I make now to treat my epilepsy, I don't get high and wasted. It does calm me. So it works like the pharmaceutical antidepressant I used to have to take. So it does calm me down. But, you know, I don't act. If you take it correctly, in the right doses, it just is calming and controls the seizures. And again, I have tried so many things, and I. I did want initially to be able to just pop a pharmaceutical and be fine, and it didn't work that way. Cannabis works, and without it, I will die. So I need this to live. It's not a choice, it's a requirement. And once the United States government realizes this and legalizes it across the United States, then a lot more of us can heal ourselves and feel better and control our seizures. Especially, you know, when I see it for children and for you know, elderly and all these that really need it to help treat other issues. You know, we deserve to be able to have it legally available.

Yeah, it's very well said. How much do you weigh today?

155.

So you've lost half your body weight?

Yes.

Can you imagine Jessamyn putting £150 on your back and say, carry this around every day?

No. And again, I was having physical problems too, being that heavy. Just the knee pain and all the lower back pain and just everything. And then you're just also, you're just tired, you don't want to get up and you don't want to function. And it just, you know, depression was more. And just I was sad and unhappy. You know, also when you look in the mirror and you're not happy with what you see, that's another big thing. So, you know, a lifestyle change is important. And on a positive cannabis, you know, when you take it in a capsule and everything, it's, you know, it doesn't make you so to the point of needing, oh, I need to have that kind of food and I want to eat McDonald's and I want to eat this because I got the munchies and then in it, you get more regular on it and you just feel normal. I can go around and not have to munch on things. I can, you know, not feel hungry 24 7. And that's a major blessing too. People think that, oh, cannabis only just makes you stoned and you want to eat. And when taken correctly and in the right doses, no, it makes you feel normal. And actually sometimes, you know, I go by places that are selling donuts and things and I go, eh, I don't need that.

So, yeah, you know, good for you.

It works great.

Jessamyn, thanks for doing this. We greatly appreciate it. We'll keep in touch. And all the best you in your races and, and good health care.

Thank you. Thank you. And again, I encourage that, you know, people can find me on Facebook and if they find me and they are terminal or dealing with issues like that I've gone through, I always encourage people and I do have lots of others that contact me and go, hey, how did you do this? And this is what I'm going through. And again, I'm not asking for anything. I just, if somebody has a problem and they're going through this, you message me and I will tell you about, you know, what you need to know that I can help you with. So I'm just here to help others. And again, if we can get it legal schedule. Three things are going to change across the United States, so thank you very much.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

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