Mandy 2 – Cancer 0
In June 2020 I was told that my cancer had reactivated and was growing. It has spread to my liver again and also, critically, into three lymph nodes near my heart. I really need your support. My sister, Theresa, has created a GoFundMe Fundraising Appeal to fund my treatment. Please read her story and then consider making a donation.
DONATE NOW!Medical marijuana saved my life
Medical marijuana … I had no idea of the impact that this would have … not only did it change my life and my family’s lives; it saved mine!
In February 2011 a very large tumour was discovered in my abdomen. It was so large and had caused so much havoc in my body that I was given literally hours to live. Obnoxiously, I refused to die and survived the night! Steve gave the ok for me to endure 8 hours of dialysis giving my body a small chance of surviving an operation. The anaesthetist entered the room and slapped my face to see if I was a fighter, before giving the go ahead for an operation. As I was wheeled into surgery, I apparently raised my arm in the ‘Amandla’ Black Power fist and swore loudly to Steve and Theresa (my husband and my sister) “They’ll never take me alive!” Quite belligerent really, for someone who had almost shuffled off this mortal coil the night before…
They anxiously waited for 8 hours until finally receiving the news that I had survived. The operation removed not only the 20cm x 15cm Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumour but also my Spleen, 15cm of my colon and part of my Pancreas from my abdomen. They said they had ‘’…got it all.” They were even high-fiving and taking pictures of the tumour….! They discharged me with no further treatment required. With my family’s constant support, I recovered with amazing speed and we went on to have three years of fearless fun. I had dodged ‘The Bullet’, although at this point I really didn’t realise what a massive bullet it was! Steve and I happily went off around the world….
Hardly anyone survives 4 years after the first diagnosis
Then….in March of 2014 we were told that I had another large tumour mass on my Pancreas. CEO Steve Jobs had died of the same illness. Luckily, it was discovered in the same hospital that had done the original operation, so they knew what they were dealing with. The Oncologist knew that Systemic Chemo would have no effect on this type of cancer, and the prognosis was more than grim. (Hardly anyone survives 4 years after the first diagnosis.) The primary site had metastasised…. It was another death sentence. BUT I could live as long the drugs they offered worked, but they were very difficult to tolerate and they were only designed to suppress the cancer symptoms, and to try to contain further tumour growth, which they failed to do. Rather, the problem grew worse.
Honestly, I didn’t really tune in. I didn’t really register properly that I had had cancer three years before, and so I didn’t really know what was happening to me. I even had to look up what an Oncologist did on-line! I also had that naivety typical of those who believe that those sorts of things just wouldn’t happen to them and are never as serious as people make out… I think that’s called Blind Denial. Hey it can work… for a while!
My cancer was so rare
​At this point another extraordinary miracle happened to me; surviving the massive tumour. A very wealthy, and incredibly generous, young lady offered to be my benefactor and pay for world class holistic and cutting edge oncology treatment in Germany, with one of the best Oncologists in the world. My cancer was so rare, there had been (and would be) NO clinical trials. However, maybe being able to go to this normally completely unaffordable clinic, and having treatments that were at times experimental and dangerous, could help thousands of people with this rare type of cancer to have hope of surviving.
Steve and I started researching what we could do to support me through this, and it was at this point that we realised how much crazy information there is out there, some good, some great, some terrible, some even dangerous, but one thing kept coming up… Medical Marijuana and Cannabis Oil. Steve’s sole focus the minute he heard the diagnosis was to save my life, and so he researched medical marijuana in great depth, worked out how to make it, and then with his mate, made cannabis oil in their back garden, a la Breaking Bad! It was very strong, and we weren’t sure if it had residual solvents or if it would affect the hectic treatments that I was having in Germany and the strong bio-chemo pills that I had to take when I was at home. Also, we weren’t convinced it was completely safe.
Vanessa – a real firecracker
There was so much conflicting information on the internet about CBD & THC it was hard to know what was right and what was nonsense. After a year of Immune therapy, Immune support and other conventional treatments (alongside a raw food diet and a lot of green smoothies – or pond scum as we fondly named them) the cancer had progressed, and I was depressed. Five hundred thousand euros worth of cutting edge treatments and my symptoms were deteriorating! Lots of fellow patients we had met had passed; it was a dark, dark time. Then we met Vanessa from London. She was a real firecracker, and was openly advocating the use of illegal Cannabis oil to treat cancer. This was exactly what we had researched and concluded. Vanessa turned us onto a highly professional Dutch company that made laboratory tested, organic, high THC and CBD whole plant Cannabis oil. I started taking it, and took it like a Rock Star for 18 months. In the interim we moved clinics, following our amazing Oncologist to Stuttgart. Thankfully he was fully aware and supportive of the fact that I was taking the oil in conjunction with all the treatments he was offering me. What amazed him was how well my body tolerated literally all of the ‘school medicines’ (conventional medicines), better than any other patient he’d had. The results began to improve, and more quickly than anyone expected.
I achieved a stable result in March 2016, and was put on observation for 9 months. I didn’t want to go back after 9 months, and was happy now only taking the oil and not having any treatments or bio-chemo pills or horrible side-effects anymore. So I pushed it to a year and only took THC and CBD oil during that time. The next scan in March 2017, which everyone in the cancer-world expected to be stable again, actually showed MORE pancreatic tumour regression and, very excitingly, the disappearance of tumours in my liver. This overall tumour reduction of over 60% and the 80% reduction in my tumour marker put me solidly in Partial Remission! Miracle number 3!
I have complete belief in my use of Cannabis Oil
I still don’t believe I really have cancer. I still expect a ‘God’ in a white coat to look bemusedly at my results and say there has been a terrible mistake. But in my ‘other world’ (cancer-world) I have complete belief that because of my use of Cannabis Oil, both THC and CBD, taken alongside a strong immune support programme and cutting edge Immune therapy, a ‘God’ in a white coat WILL one day say “Mrs Hazard, you are a walking miracle. You have full remission from stage IV pancreatic cancer.” Don’t doubt it. I don’t!
The last three and a half years have brought many incredible people into my life, and taken many beautiful and strong people away from my life. It is this which has made me so passionate about this plant. I decided that I would continue our research and publicise the findings with a view to helping others in the same situation with high quality, honest advice. People’s lives are definitely improved and have been saved, because of this medicine. We cannot continue through this life without spreading the knowledge we are gaining through this ride.
Thank you for your attention and time, I know how precious that is.
Peace and healing,
Mandy
Watch my presentation at ‘Breaking Convention 2019’, London
In August 2019 Mandy spoke at the Breaking Convention Fifth Annual Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness at the University of Greenwich in London. Her speech was titled Cannabis : Medicine of the Gods… Heroic doses of THC versus Pancreatic Cancer.