I am a 60 year Old disabled veteran of the navy. My story is painful.
Basically I right now am terminal and can’t afford the meds my doctor prescribed for me. I have P.T.S.D , depression, insomnia, high anxiety and panic attacks. I have been hospitalized for one too many nervous breakdowns. February 18th marks the anniversary of the deaths of my father and little brother. Ray, the youngest of 7 children was shot in the head over a traffic altercation with an off-duty Chicago policeman. The murderer was turned in after 5 years of hiding by his common law wife had gotten beaten for the last time and went to the area 5 headquarters and told the story of that night. That was 1984. I n 2007 my father started the year off having a stroke on the same day February 18th, head trauma. Next came my 17 year old honor roll student Kathleen Marie who lost her life as a belted in passenger in a vehicle that was broadsided by an 18 wheeler while crossing a highway intersection. Next came brother Bob 3 months later, he died that year of brain cancer. To finish off the year my mother Eileen died o f Alzheimer disease, all head trauma! My family and I are devastated!
2 years before came the liver disease that I first became aware of after finding I had Hepatitis 'c' from being soaked in jet aircraft fuel (many military men who worked in aviation acquired this ghost of a disease that came on after 30 years festering in my blood. Soon after came psoriasis and finally cancer. The therapy at the time was interferon which after 9 months of treatment came to destroy much of the left hemisphere of my brain leaving it atrophied and causing nerve damage throughout my body. The cancer was put in check but the hep 'c' was still there and now was and am in stage 3 of the psoriasis.
My wife and I left Chicago and came to Grand rapids 7 years ago and stayed with a doctor here treating me for my pain and psychological disorders. Hard to believe but there's more. I was recently diagnosed with Emphysema another terminal diagnosis. I have many other diagnosis that require much therapy. De-generative spinal disorder, bone disease, gastric disorders (irritable bowel and colitis) Neuropathy, extreme weight loss As it is said that I run a marathon every 3 hours and need hyper nutrition to maintain. I have lost 45 lbs. In the last 9 months and the dentures I used kept falling out as my bones keep shrinking even those in my face so that they got all chipped up not fitting me due to bone loss. I carried 190 lbs. For the last 40 years but now weigh in at only132 lbs.
Until the opioid epidemic 2 and a half years ago I was being managed and maintained by a very reputable doctor here and was doing the best that could be understood a person of my debilitating condition could hope to achieve. Then I was suddenly weened off the meds for my pain but was also all but taken off the meds used to deal with my nervous and understandable psychological conditions. The doctors were made to make the decision to then offer medical marijuana as the very best therapy for both my pain and just plain rest as it works to ease the pain, calm my nerves, help with appetite, sleep, and when ingested has anti-cancerous properties that are supposed to really help! Over the years if I had a prescription to be filled my insurance would pay for it. I need now to eat 4 to 6 hundred milligrams of edible marijuana, c b d(derived from marijuana) concentrates and of course the marijuana flower itself and the cost of these meds is around $35 a day conservatively!
At $761.00 a month from social security I can’t even come close to being able to afford to pay for my prescriptions myself and still pay for food and lodging let alone other costs! Maybe one day these meds that I have been prescribed will be paid for by my insurance but until then in order to get to start feeling as well as I can it’s going to take a miracle to get this help and that's why I come to this site to see if some organization or individual can help alleviate my medical concerns and be able to afford this medical marijuana and all that is promised it can bring me, God knows I,m truly suffering and without this therapy my condition is compounded, please I need so much help and am not getting any.
