It's been a year!

We have hit a milestone today! A huge milestone!

It has officially been 1 year since Ty had his last hospital visit for bowel disimpaction. Never has he ever gone this long between procedures!

NEVER!

It has consistently been at least twice a year for bowel disimpaction, even with his cecostomy.

And that is better than it was before the cecostomy, which sometimes was 3 or 4 times a year.

One YEAR!

This is huge for many reasons. First being these procedures trigger his PTSD so badly that it feels like it takes months to recover psychologically from them, and then by the time he is improving- it's time again. But there were no other choices!

So, what's different? What has happened that it now has been 1 year since his last hospital disimpaction procedure?

I have 2 words to explain what is different.

MEDICAL CANNABIS


Yes, also known as Medical Marijuana. This has got to the the explanation for him doing so well. And the research supports it. We had hope when we decided to try it. Nothing else helped him. Nothing else was ever effective, nothing else helped him enough to allow him to be a little boy.

Until we started him on MMJ (Medical Marijuana). We were desperate after last summer's events. We are so thankful we live in a state that allowed us to access MMJ to see if it could help our boy. And it has. In so many ways! In ways we never even thought were possible. Especially for his bowels. MMJ has done something to help his bowels to the point that he is still not even showing signs of being backed up. And of even greater note: he has routinely REFUSED to do his bowel irrigations. He's older now- we can't force this on him. He has to "decide" and make the choice to do it. And despite our constant efforts, he refuses a lot. It first started with a few times, then a few more times, then a week would go by. All in all, I would say he has "skipped" well over 8 or 9 weeks total in the last year, spread out over time- but even as of today, he hasn't done his "flush" in 4 1/2 weeks. This is a whole other blog post- and yes we are on pins and needles waiting for some sign of impaction.

It will happen at some point- and well- he again has to take that control and recognize what consequence there may be. But other than supporting him and encouraging him, we can't do anything about it. But considering how much he has skipped, how long it has been since the last hospital visit, how long he has been on MMJ, it's helping him in ways we never expected.

Medical Marijuana has given our boy his life back. Given him joy and happiness that we've never seen consistently like this. Sure a few days here and there, maybe a week, or two. But it has never been a sustained mood or existence. There was always something around the corner, waiting to rob him of simple pleasures in life. Some we could control, some we couldn't. Some we could identify. Many we couldn't.

Medical Marijuana has helped our son in ways we never thought possible. We never knew there could ever be some improvement with his bowel disorder. That particular issue seemed to just be, something that wouldn't improve, and the fact that we had been talking with doctor's about the possibility in the future for bowel re-sectioning surgery to see if that could help- I still can't believe we are here, at this point in time, with him being 1 year out from his last hospital visit. Something we had just grown accustomed to since before we can even remember- his bowels were the first thing that we were challenged by since birth. It was the focus of everything since he was a newborn. It was to blame (or so we thought) for all his other health issues, developmental issues, behavioral issues. But regardless, his bowels were the cause of so many procedures, tests, hospital stays, pain, frustration, confusion, doctor's visits, xrays, and so much more.

And now, 1 year later, after 10 months of beginning Medical Marijuana, we are at this point. A point that my kid hasn't had to endure another traumatic hospital visit. Another bowel disimpaction surgery that causes him so much stress and triggers his PTSD to the point of spiraling down a black hole that seems like it's impossible to again see any hope and light.

Medical Marijuana has given our son and our family hope again. Hope that he can now find joy in life and see that there are pleasures and experiences that are happy and good. He has never had this before.

So forget about his Autism, ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, SPD- we've seen amazing things improve in these areas as well from the medical marijuana- but today I"m focusing on his PTSD, his bowel disorder, and how his PTSD was triggered every single day, robbing him of joys and experiences he should have been able to have. Medical Marijuana has helped him so much with his PTSD and clearly his bowel disorder. We may never fully understand how or why..... but even beyond the overwhelming research on MMJ and bowel disorders, our experience, our son's experience tells us it's effective. It has literally performed a miracle we never thought could happen. And I feel very compelled to tell our story, share our son's story to help others. MMJ should be available for anyone who needs it medically. It's medicine. It works. It has been the ONLY thing that has been effective and has forever changed our son and our family for the better. Our son deserves to have a happy, full, pain free life. And as of right now, MMJ is the only thing that has helped him on this new path of hope!