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Sophie Isabella Ryan was born October 3, 2012, perfectly healthy weighing in at 8 pounds, 7.4 ounces. Her birth had zero complications and I had the perfect pregnancy, doing everything right by way of diet and constant checkups with my OB. On June 20, 2013, Sophie had her first MRI scan after nystagmus, shaking of the eyeball, presented in her left eye. On June 23rd, at 8 ½ months old, Sophie was diagnosed with a low-grade, Optic Pathway Glioma brain tumor. My husband, Josh, and I were originally told that her only option would be a 13-month protocol of chemo in hopes to stop the development of the tumor. Since it is a slow-growing tumor, chemo was never meant to get rid of the tumor, and doctors told us if they saw even minimal shrinkage it would be considered a huge success.

At this point, after succumbing to an emotionally devastating situation, we decided to dust ourselves off and look for other ways to save our daughter outside of just Western medicine alone! After creating a Facebook page called “Prayers for Sophie,” a friend on Facebook put us in touch with Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein, who were filming a documentary about how cannabis oils kill cancer in pediatric patients. I was originally inspired to try for a natural birth after watching their first documentary, The Business of Being Born, so I knew if these ladies were now focused on a film about cannabis, there had to be something to it! These women worked hard to surround us with the top oil makers and experts in California, and so our journey to healing our daughter began!

Sophie has been on high-concentrated THC and CBD cannabis oil since she started chemo in October of 2013. The only side effects she ever had was a little sleepiness that completely went away as she acclimated to the oils. Now her only side effect is hunger, which is amazing since the chemo can affect her appetite. Despite several rounds of chemo, Sophie continued to gain weight and has a great quality of life despite having chemo once a week with short breaks from time to time. Her hair has grown back, she is advancing developmentally, and despite the nine blood transfusions she has required she is otherwise very happy and healthy.

After 12 months of chemo and high doses of cannabis oil, Sophie’s brain tumor is about 80 to 85 percent gone, and a massive cyst that had formed is about 90 percent gone! We were told that chemo would also not get rid of the cyst. We were told that Sophie would go blind in her left eye and her right eye would likely be compromised. Because of the shrinkage we have seen from the use of cannabis oil, we have saved her vision, and the doctors are now in agreement that the cannabis oil has destroyed her tumor! The only challenge she has is a lazy eye that we are working on correcting. From what the doctors can tell, Sophie can see extremely well and has had zero complications due to sight loss with the exception of a lazy eye that we are correcting by patching her strong eye. Team Sophie truly, truly believes that we will completely get rid of this tumor, and Sophie will not have to live with a mass in her brain for the rest of her life.

In addition to Sophie’s success, I am working with dozens of other patients directly affected by cancer, epilepsy, and other childhood illnesses by informing them of the beneficial uses of cannabis oil. I am seeing incredible success with the children I’m guiding. Three different doctors told one child who has a brain stem tumor that chemo would not work and they could not save her life. A few months after reaching a medicinal cannabis dose, the parents opted to try chemo even though doctors said it would not shrink her tumor. After only 10 weeks of using cannabis and chemo, the tumor is now 50 percent gone! The doctors are stunned, and this small child who is only 3 years old now has a shot at living a long and healthy life – one that would have been cut short had cannabis not been introduced into her protocol.

Children and adults around the globe are saving their own lives using cannabis and cannabis combined with chemo. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of sick people in states that can’t access this medicine. It’s stories like little Sophie’s that need to be spread far and wide, so more lives can be saved. Time is of the essence, and spreading awareness would be an amazing step in the right direction!

[Photo credit to Tracy Ryan]

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