Inspirational Patient Stories: Phyllis A.

“If I didn’t have medical marijuana to help me through, I don’t know how I would have made it.”

For Phyllis A., medical marijuana was her saving grace after being diagnosed with stage 4 Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma. Phyllis suffers from scleroderma, fibromyalgia as well as several other syndromes that accompany both health problems. But now, she can happily say that she is cancer free!

During the spring of 2019, Phyllis came down with an ear infection and was given a high dosage of steroids. The steroids made her feel weaker and did little to help her pain. Shortly after, Phyllis developed a horrible toothache and scheduled an emergency appointment with her dentist. Following oral surgery to remove the problematic teeth, it was discovered that Phyllis had an infection. She spent five more weeks going back and forth with the oral surgeon, but only continued to feel weaker and weaker. Her glands became incredibly swollen. After seeing the amount of pain she was experiencing, her boyfriend decided to call for an ambulance and take her to a hospital.

When Phyllis finally woke up in the hospital a few days later, she was surrounded by her family and a doctor. Feeling confused and disoriented, her doctor told her that she was being diagnosed with stage 4 Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma. Within the next three weeks, Phyllis’ treatment began, and she was scheduled to complete six R-CHOP treatments and four Intrathecal spinal methotrexate treatments.

Due to her cancer diagnosis, Phyllis was able to qualify for medical marijuana.  She was quickly approved and began using medical marijuana to help her deal with the pain from her treatments. During one of her treatment visits, she was vaping in the hospital and a doctor walked in. Doing a double-take because she was unfamiliar with the hospital’s policy, the doctor started to laugh and said, “Too late, let me see what you have. And by the way, it’s legal here.”

Thanks to medical marijuana, Phyllis was able to endure numerous rounds of chemotherapy without any adverse side effects. At the same time, she was able to reduce her opioid intake. She has now completed her treatments and is cancer free!

Thank you to Phyllis for sharing your incredible story! It’s stories like this one that inspire us to work hard every day to help our patients across the country.

Think you might benefit from medical cannabis or know someone who wants to learn more? Click here to learn more about our medical cannabis products or click here to contact a Vireo patient care coordinator.