It started back when I met my husband. He came from a long line of cannabis cultivators from the Oregon area. We met and fell in love when he moved to Texas in 2008.
Over the several years we lived there, I was very curious about the plant and spent many hours learning about the positive effects cannabis has on your body and mind. What I was finding was nothing like I had learned in school, in fact, it was a big lie.
Around the time of me learning about cannabis and the healing properties, we learn that Colorado was going to be the first state to allow recreational cannabis sales. My husband and I said we'd like to move here one day and reap the benefits of this amazing plant.
Our plan didn't take off because my father's health took a turn for the worst. He had limited scleroderma, heart disease, neurological headaches and COPD among other things. I began taking my father to all his doctor appointments; I was able to help my mom out as she had to work her state job so they would keep their medical benefits. He was constantly in excruciating pain, it was something I had never experienced and it was so painful to watch. He had to have multiple amputations and surgeries due to the necrosis that scleroderma would bring on. I took him to physical therapy and did wound care on his amputations. I was very involved in my father's healthcare. It became a full time job, a job I would gladly do again.
We thought his health was on an incline so he agreed to have a routine surgery. As soon as he came back from the anesthesia, his arm began to clot so they had to do emergency surgery. The caveat was he was on blood thinners for his heart condition. When you go into surgery with blood thinners you can bleed out fast so they prep you for surgery by weaning you off these blood thinning medicines. Once you are done they increase the dose gradually so as to not create clots. As soon as he was finished with the second surgery the same thing happened again but in his foot. They had to do an emergency amputation as the foot was already necrotic. He never seemed to stabilize afterwards. He had to have a feeding tube and would pull it out. He was in a fog for weeks because of the pain medicine. As the weeks went on, his other foot became necrotic. His doctors told him they planned on taking his other foot. He would now be a man missing multiple fingers and both legs below the knee; that was if he survived the surgery.
In a moment of clarity, he called my mother at work and asked her to come to the hospital and bring us kids, adults respectively, as he had something he wanted to tell us. I knew what was about to come, I had been thinking about it lately. He had called us to his hospital bed to ask us, his family, if it was ok if he chose not to have this last surgery. He knew it would be a fatal decision and wanted us to say it was ok for him to choose this path. After many years of seeing our father in pain, we all agreed to support what ever decision he made about his health. We all sat on his bed, in that moment of clarity and each told him we supported him. It was tough, telling someone they can die is not easy. What was easy was knowing he would never feel pain again - that is the gift we gave dad - acceptance in his decision to not feel pain. He was moved to hospice a few days later and passed away a few days after entering hospice. His ashes sit on my desk.
It was a few months after his death and I was still trying to figure out what I would do with my life after his death as I had been his caregiver for so long. My husband lost his grandfather, the person that raised him. It was a very tough year for us both. We longed for a new beginning.
About a month later, my mom told me she was coming to Denver for a conference. It was a huge deal as she never traveled out of state, alone, in the 43 years of her marriage. She was excited and nervous. We jokingly told her we would meet her in Denver for dinner. Well we ended up driving 15 hours to Denver just on a whim and had dinner with my mom. I had never been to Colorado nor had my husband. As we drove through Colorado, it became more clear that this was going to be our new home.
We went to many dispensaries and learned even more about the health benefits of cannabis. We explored Denver and Colorado Springs that trip, we came back to Texas and had our plan! We were moving to Colorado Springs! It would be our new beginning and may be our own path to being healthy. Once we moved here all the puzzle pieces just started falling into place. Now, here we are, 2 years in and not looking back. Sure we miss our family, but having a fresh start as a family is something we needed.
I plan on telling you more of my story as well as stories from other families. If you would like to share your story please email kellygreen@cos420friendlymoms.com
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