Hi. Sorry for delay in responding. My Mom passed on Wednesday so it has been a very tough few days. I also had Mohs surgery to remove a Basel Cell Carcinoma and then plastic surgery to repair the hole left by the Mohs surgery. It had to be done 3 weeks prior to my SI Joint fusion which is on 10/3.

Here is my story of Medical Marijuana. I was on the maximum dosage of Oxycodone, Oxycontin & Fentanyl for about 7 years.My family decided that I needed to come off the opioids. I did this cold turkey with the exception of the Fentanyl. At the same time New York State passed the Medical Marijuana program but not for chronic pain. Finally they added this as an eligible condition. My doc couldn't decide what was chronic pain. I pushed & pushed until he made a decision. It took him 6 months to finally do it. During this wait someone suggested that I try non-medical marijuana. I did and It worked better than any other pain relief method that I tried. After the wait, I became his first registered chronic pain patient. He prescribed a tincture that you put on your tongue. It tasted horrible and took over 3 hours to actually work. I told them that this was not working for me and they said this is all that they will prescribed. I left the practice after 13 years. I did lots of research and found a practice that prescribed other options. They prescribed a vape that was 20:1 (THC to CBD). This was definitely better than the tincture but not as good as "pot". Medical Marijuana is not insured as the Federal Government considers marijuana & its derivatives illegal. It costs approximately $400 per month for the medical marijuana.I have decided to stick with the pot ($400 per month) which helps me way better than anything else has. As with opioids, most folks with severe chronic pain don't get the "buzz" that others typically get so I am not "stoned". Unfortunately, pot is illegal in NYS so I am a criminal but with less pain so I will take it. Every state that has legalized medical marijuana has different policies so do your research. It is very costly and this will not change until someone (such as a President) recognizes the potential of marijuana. So get out and vote.It's insane that you can kill yourself with opioids and the Federal Government is OK with that! I hope that this info helps.

If there is any research anyone needs, please let me know as I have LOTS of time on my hands & love to do research. Hang in there 🙂