How Texas Medical Cannabis is Helping Callen J., an 8-Year-Old From Lockhart

How Texas Medical Cannabis is Helping Callen J., an 8-Year-Old From Lockhart
How Texas Medical Cannabis is Helping Callen J., an 8-Year-Old From Lockhart
Compassionate Cultivation has served patients across the Lone Star State since early 2018, when the Texas medical cannabis program became fully operational. We’ve received a multitude of positive feedback from families who are grateful to have another option available when conventional medications have failed to improve quality of life and ease suffering for patients with intractable epilepsy.
Meet Callen J., pictured here (bottom, right) with his family. He is eight years old and lives with his family in Lockhart, Texas. Callen has been diagnosed with ADHD, asthma, autism, hypotonia and intellectual disability, and he experiences absence seizures (formerly known as petit mal) and tonic seizures. Here, Callen's mother, CJ, details her family’s experience with the Texas Compassionate Use Program. Callen’s story was also recently featured in a segment broadcast on ABC affiliate station KVUE. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity)

What are the biggest improvements in quality of life since you integrated CBD medicine into Callen’s treatment?

Callen has been nearly seizure free since beginning CBD treatment. He has also had an increase in speech and use of his sign language. He seems to be able to comprehend and navigate social situations better as well. How long did it take you to gain access to medical cannabis through the state program? It took two months from the time we requested access through Callen’s medical team in April 2018, until the day that we filled our doctor-issued prescription for the CBD medication last June. What changes have you and the patient noticed in the patient’s epilepsy symptoms? They have completely subsided. Have you noticed any drawbacks or negative side effects from the use of medical cannabis? We have noticed some behavior changes when starting or increasing his dose, but those seem to level off within a week or two. What was your experience with other treatments and medications besides medical cannabis? We have experienced a few years of seizure freedom with pharmaceuticals, but always had severe side effects from the medication, including digestive issues, cognitive delays, speech delays and interrupted sleep. Has medical cannabis altered the patient’s intake of other medication? We have been able to completely wean Callen off of one of his seizure medications. We are also currently considering decreasing his other medication. Would you recommend medical cannabis for other patients with similar conditions? Absolutely!!! Has the patient been able to receive their medical cannabis treatment as needed throughout the day at school or work? Due to our private-duty nursing, Callen has been able to receive his morning dose at school. What changes would you recommend for expanding the Texas medical cannabis program? I would love to see more doctors involved with the program. I think there are still far too many patients without access. Should the Texas medical cannabis program be expanded to include other conditions? I believe that medical cannabis is the answer to many conditions such as anxiety, autism, high blood pressure, pain management, cancer and so many more. How did you learn about Compassionate Cultivation? We learned about CC through our support group. What has been your honest experience with Compassionate Cultivation as your provider of CBD medicine? Compassionate Cultivation has gone above and beyond to help my family. They are truly striving to get this medicine to all that need it. The staff are always there to help and have answered any question when I call. I am so glad that we found them and that they work so hard to make a quality medicine to help patients like my son. I hope that each one of them knows how much they mean to our family!!