By the time Abby Muszynski turned 3 years old, she had already tried eight different antiseizure medications for her epilepsy. None of them seemed to help much. Her parents, Rich and Kim, were terrified that they wouldn't find a successful treatment for Abby.
After so many failed medication treatments, their doctor, board-certified epileptologist and pediatric neurologist Ngoc Minh Le, told them that trying other antiseizure medications would likely end with the same results.
Dr. Le recommended a type of medical marijuana called Charlotte's Web. Florida's governor Rick Scott had just legalized the treatment, so the timing seemed perfect.
Rich and Kim started Abby on the treatment and saw minor improvements with Abby's grand mal seizures. Rick and Kim had hoped that Charlotte's Web would be a miracle drug, but it wasn't helping as much as they expected.
Dr. Le explained to them that Charlotte's Web only had very small amounts of THC, one of marijuana's psychoactive ingredients. He told them that Abby's best hope would be trying a type of medical marijuana with higher levels of THC.
High-level THC wasn't legal for Abby in Florida at the time, though, so the family uprooted and moved to Colorado. The Muszynskis had to leave behind their friends and family, but they were willing to do anything for Abby's health.
Since it wouldn't be safe for Abby to fly on a commercial jet, she would need to take an air ambulance to Colorado. Because of the sky-high medical bills that were not paid by Medicaid, Abby and Kim were left homeless and staying with friends for days before they were finally able to fly to Colorado and meet up with Rich.
Once in Colorado, things changed for the better. Rich, Kim, and Abby were reunited and living in their new home, and they began Abby's treatment with high-THC marijuana oil.
The higher-level-THC marijuana was immediately successful: Abby has not been to the hospital once for a grand mal seizure since moving to Colorado. According to CNN, "the high-THC marijuana has almost completely eradicated Abby's grand mal seizures. When they left Florida, she was having about two to four a week, each lasting about eight to 12 minutes. In Colorado, she's had about one a week, and they only last a few seconds."
Plus, Colorado Medicaid has paid for Abby's doctor's visits and prescriptions, and Rich and Kim haven't had to struggle with the Medicaid program at all.
Now, instead of watching helplessly while Abby's pupils enlarge, eyes fixate and extremities shake, Rich and Kim can put a drop of the high-THC marijuana oil under Abby's tongue, which stops the seizure almost immediately.
Abby has made huge strides since her seizures have decreased. She is now able to hold small items, like forks and blocks, and her bubbly personality is beginning to show more. Rich, Kim, and Abby are now much happier as a family, and their other kids, who stayed behind in Florida, have come to visit. Everyone is impressed with Abby's improvements, and Abby is making steps toward becoming the happy, thriving child her parents always knew she was.
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[H/T: CNN]
