Sinaloa: Grandmother fights to use Cannabidiol, to treat her grandson's seizures

Lucio R. Borderland Beat

Culiacan, Sinaloa.-  The life of Jesus Gael Ayon Palomino  took a radical change when the three-year-old began suffering seizures.

The first effects of the seizures left weakness in his body and difficulty walking.

Later he lost his eye sight.  Since the seizures began, the child has suffering from a degenerative process in his  body.

Gael, seven years old, was a child who loved to be in the company of his cousins, his  friends and family, and enjoyed  doing outdoor activities, such as running or cycling, making it painful for his family to witness how it is now  impossible for him to enjoy those activities.  

Desperate

For a month the child has been in intensive therapy at Regional Hospital No. 1 IMSS, and  has been in a medically induced coma three times, so far,  because his seizures become uncontrollable, this despite the fact he is provided  various anti-seizure medications, they continue and stopping them becomes  impossible.

"The doctors prefer to induce coma, because there is no medicine to take effect on him," said his grandmother 52 year old Teresita de Jesus Becerra, who desperately sought the support of different doctors so they can successfully treat her grandson so that he is able to have a better quality of life and return home to be surrounded by his family.

The child is on a ventilator, and hospital personnel say it is difficult to transfer him to another hospital where specialists in these conditions can give an accurate diagnosis.  The grandmother still does not know what is causing the seizures or what condition is causing them.  She has only been told "seizures are difficult to control", without further explanation.

Mayela Benavides changes her daughter Grace after bathing her in their home in Monterrey, Mexico, orace suffers from Lennox Gastaut Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, she is barred from trying cannabidiol (NYT)

Cannabidiol

So in the fight to help Jesus Gael, his  mother and grandmother have  found a possible solution… cannabidiol, a component found in the plant of marijuana and has been proven in many cases to be successful against seizures.

Teresita has sought contact with doctors working with this substance, but there is a process required by  the authorities of the state and nation must follow before the law can provide the use of drugs containing this herb.

"I want my child to be assessed by one of these doctors, having them  say if cannabidiol is suitable for Gael",  says Teresita, who called on the state governor to pay attention to the case. And to ensure that the family is supported by the authorities, Gael  a Sinaloense,  would be the first child to have a treatment based on this plant.

Although doctors who have taken the case of Jesus Gael do not expect him to live a long life, his grandmother says she clings to the hope and possibility of  better living conditions and to watch him improve.

Meanwhile, the family of little Gael  hope that the authorities in Sinaloa become interested in the case of Jesus Gael and assist him, as well as dozens of children who are in the same situation and that lack of resources.

Read "Pot Kids" about the use of cannabodiol in the U.S. by using this link