Recently the story emerged of a mother who is fundraising so that her son, who has a rare form of epilepsy, can travel to the US to receive cannabis oil.

Yvonne Cahalane is attempting to raise at least €35,000 to fund the treatment for her 20 months old son Tristan.

Tristan was diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, and can suffer up to 20 seizures a day, with some lasting almost an hour.

Yvonne first spoke out on The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork’s Red FM on Tuesday. The following day articles covering the story appeared in the Irish Independent and Irish Examiner

Tristan’s family are seeking to use cannabis oil which has CBD and low levels of THC among its active ingredients.

According to the Irish Examiner such treatment has been tested at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, and also in the Netherlands and France.

Speaking to the Irish Independent Yvonne said “We have a neurologist that has agreed to take Tristan on in the US and that’s what we are fundraising for” and that “We are going to Colorado when the funds are there and when Tristan is stable enough to go.”

Speaking about the oil she stated “They will find the correct dosage for his condition, age, seizure types…it’s a very slow process getting to the correct dose.”

She added “…then they will take away some of the medications he is on because he is on six, which is a huge amounts for a 20-month-old,”

Yvonne when speaking to the Irish Examiner called on the government to allow medical cannabis “sooner rather than later”

There have been an array of stories from the US of patients, or their family, seeking similar treatments for various ailments. One such story saw a family move to Colorado also due to epilepsy and since then their daughters condition has improved

Much of the interest in cannabis and epilepsy follows the introduction of cannabis strains and products specifically for treating such conditions. Charlotte’s Web is perhaps the best known example

We wish Yvonne, Tristan and the rest of the family the best of luck. We hope they get the results they expect.

It would be remiss of me to not to say that the fact families like this have to travel abroad for such treatment is a disgrace. The time has long passed for Ireland and other countries to allow more research into and access to medicinal cannabis

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