Anthony, 31, is a single father of two from Richmond, Texas. He was born with a clubbed foot and during his life he had numerous surgeries and years of physical therapy to correct the foot. In May 2016, at the age of 28, Anthony and his doctors decided that if he was going to have any quality of life that it was time to amputate his leg.
The other day I sat down with Anthony to discuss his life since the amputation and how CBD has helped heal him, both physically and mentally, since the surgery.
Anthony, what type of amputation did you have? Ertl, it is a below the knee operation where the surgeon takes a piece of bone and creates a bone bridge between the tibia and fibula.
With this Ertl amputation do you think you are better off in comparison to other amputees? How so? By far. It allows me to be more weight bearing, which in return allows more impact with almost no pain.
We have all heard of phantom limb syndrome, when the body still remembers the feel of the amputated body part, but what we don’t really hear about are the phantom pains associated with the syndrome. The Mayo Clinic notes that the pain can be described as, “shooting, stabbing, cramping, pins and needles, crushing, throbbing, or burning.” Can you please describe what a phantom pain feels like for you? There’s 2 types of phantom episodes. One is “phantom sensation” where I pretty much always feel my foot. The other is “phantom pain” and this is the one everyone associates as a generic term. The pains I have experienced so far have been minor electrical zaps/nail thru the toe feelings that are intense, but not constant, foot being crushed in a vice grip, feels like my foot is being slowly ripped off, broken bones (sometimes several at a time) or just that itch you can’t scratch that will drive you mad. It all really depends really.
What did your doctors prescribe to treat phantom pains? Narcotics and Gabapentin.
But you didn’t like the prescriptions because they didn’t grant you true relief, how so? Did you find anything to bring you relief? I had this surgery to free my life, I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life tied down on pills. They never actually helped. In fact, they made my whole situation worse. Finally one day I decided I wanted to do it on my own, not knowing what I was in store for. I lost total control of all my phantom pains and actually started to lose my shit. That’s when I decided to try cannabis.
You started treating with cannabis and found relief? How did cannabis help? Yes. I took one dose of cannabis and was instantly better. When I say better, I mean I was 100% better.
Other than what you just said, did you notice any other changes within yourself that you attribute to your use of cannabis? Since that day I have never taken a single prescription pill for anything. Every single doctor I speak with has been floored that I don’t even take Tylenol for my leg. I have noticed a complete difference in my life.
Recently you switched to CBD. Why did you make the switch? I made the switch because I saw what a difference it was making in my sister’s life. I watched my sister change overnight from someone who wasn’t able to get out of bed most days because she was so sick from her autoimmune disease to someone who barely seemed sick at all. She’s still fighting a battle but her quality of life is so much better. After seeing that, I had to see what it would do for me.
Have you noticed any other positive changes through your use of CBD? My body feels so much cleaner without putting that poison [prescriptions] into it anymore. I wake up everyday before the sun comes up fully energized and ready for the day.
If you had one thing to tell others who are like you, amputee’s battling phantom pains, what would you say? I would say to throw out the poison and actually get your life back.
What brand of CBD do you use and why? Green Compass Global, like my prosthetics, its all about the quality.
You can buy Green Compass Global CBD HERE.
Sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/phantom-pain/symptoms-causes/syc-20376272
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