Jadan’s Healing Story

This is Jadan Cook. She just celebrated her 22nd birthday. She loves gardening, reading, and cozying up with a good movie. More so, she loves that she is able to love these things now. For the past ten years, Jadan has battled a variety of health concerns that created a life of hospital gowns, pill bottles, and discomfort.

It began as an abdominal pain when she was 12. As the ailment became more debilitating, her doctor began trying a variety of different medical treatments to no avail, so they sent her home. She saw a specialist who added additional medicines, failed to cure the migraines, and sent her home. She turned to a psychiatrist who did the same thing. All of them trying to put the pieces together with different medications. The prescriptions piled up and so did the side effects.

In fact, the disjointed compounding of medicines caused reactions that lead to an unwanted collection of new conditions. The Topomax she took for chronic migraines caused serious renal issues that lead to chronic kidney stones. She had developed PCOS and unmanageable hypertension as a result of other reactions to medicines.

But the real fears hadn’t even begun.

She was diagnosed with an MTHFR gene mutation, which is a rare disease that can lead to serious genetic disorders and autoimmune diseases. But its real curse on her life was that this condition had been lying underneath her caregivers’ noses, all the while making the medicines they prescribed her more harmful than good.

Less than two years ago, she received the news that she had a serious blood clotting disorder. One that can often lead to leukemia. Her doctors made the recommendation for chemo. By this time, Jadan had done her research on her genetic mutation and knew that it could cause allergic reactions to chemo. Her doctor promised her that it wasn’t possible and doubled down on the treatment. Reluctantly, she agreed to heed their advice. He was wrong. She immediately had allergic reactions to the chemo.

That was it.

That was the moment that Jadan knew she had to stop going along with failing methods and fight back for her own interests in her own voice. “I was in a fight or flight mode. I was tired of trying to flee,” she said, “I decided to fight for myself.”

I was in a fight or flight mode. I was tired of trying to flee. I decided to fight for myself.

-Jadan Cook

Jadan was a child when all this started and didn’t have the capacity to make these choices for herself. Now she does. She stopped chemo. Stopped the revolving door of medications. Stopped the intersecting treatments that were responsible for so many unnecessary ailments.

She took back control.

While she was facing down chemotherapy, she began to read about cannabis. Thanks to her medical history, she had never dipped her toe in the world of intoxicants of any kind. She never wanted to risk feeling worse than she did. In her reading, she found stories of people who had found peace from their pain with cannabis without side effects. People who had chosen a path of natural relief without the mystery of mixing medications. She was tired of being a puzzle for doctors to solve. She decided to give it a try.

Jadan came to Easy Mountain for the first time after receiving a medical card. She felt out of place at first, having never tried cannabis before. “I was just going to grab something on my first visit, but then I talked to them and they guided me to a product that was right for my tolerance,” she said, “I really appreciated that because I could’ve made a decision that scared me away from it. They checked in with me every week and asked me if I had found the right dose.”

She built up her tolerance with a slow and low approach. She began to see improvements in her daily life. Even though some pain returned as a result of discontinuing treatment, she started to feel better and more free than she did with treatment. Cannabis has provided clarity as she assesses for the first time which treatments she wants to continue in the future. “It keeps me comfortable. I feel like I can live, you know.”

Jadan has come to use vape carts for immediate relief because she values efficiency, but her preferred method is Rick Simpson Oil and tinctures. She says it’s nice to have the options, to try new things and see how they work for her. It has given her something she’s never had before in her health journey, a choice.

It’s really been amazing to know that this much relief exists in my life.

-Jadan Cook

Her adoption of cannabis use isn’t without its struggles though. Friends and family don’t always agree with the choice. They still adhere to an outdated definition of what cannabis is. “It’s amazing that some people would rather see you sedated and zombified with legal narcotic drugs rather than feeling happy and free with legal cannabis.,” she said, “They look at you like you’re on drugs.”

Jadan hopes that this will change. Her kindness shows up in how she talks about destigmatization. “I think that people that are blessed enough to not know how bad it can be would approach this with an open mind and remember that everyone’s situation is different,” she said.

There is still work to do to change the perception of cannabis. Stories like Jadan’s aren’t as rare as they might seem. Millions of people across the world find peace with the healing power of cannabis. It can’t cure every ailment, but it can help people find relief.  It can help them to take back control of part of their lives. It can give them a choice.

If you’re looking for a way to find relief, our doors and our minds are always open at Easy Mountain. We will do our best to find the product and dose that is right for you.