I really can’t go into details, but my sister insisted I at least make those in the know aware of where we’re at now.
My wife and I had a very stressful and emotional day. We didn’t know what to expect, and to be fair, we still don’t. The event is done. We did the thing that had the stuff and whatnot. At the end, we visited Alex, who was pretty darn happy.
We gave Alex some hash yesterday. He was having a pretty decent day, but he seemed to start losing that happiness, the staff told us he’d been a little up and down, and we wanted to be sure. We are very happy we chose to dose him. At first, we were a little concerned that people might think he was given medication without need, but quickly realized it was moving him from “content” to perfect. He was cuddly, smiley, and talkative as heck (for him, this means he was making lots of noises — no, our sweet angel didn’t suddenly learn to speak). And when we were asked why we dosed a child who seems fine, our response was kind of a shoulder shrug. Why not? What is the harm? We have read so much about marijuana that we just don’t see the concern.
But I realized later there’s a much more digestible explanation. So many people out there don’t trust marijuana, so we need to explain why it’s a good choice even if the BS risks you read about are true:
- Why give Alex anti-seizure medication when he isn’t having seizures right now.
- Why take vitamin D without being told you need it?
- Why get exercise or eat healthy if you aren’t obese?
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure (I REALLY WISH I HAD REMEMBERED THIS EXPRESSION YESTERDAY). It’s that simple. Giving Alex the hash when he was doing all right wasn’t just to make us feel like we were doing something. It wasn’t us trying to “stone” our son. It was because we saw something changing in Alex. Maybe it was nothing at all… but maybe his demons were preparing for another battle. Maybe he was going to have a nice night, eat well, and go to sleep easily… but then again, maybe he was going to try to top the self-abuse reported Sunday and Monday (for those not aware, we get regular reports of his self-injurious behaviors). We would rather prevent that than worry about what others believe about us.
And we are very happy with our decision. He wasn’t dazed. He didn’t lose his focus. Cannabis doesn’t affect Alex the same way it seems to affect recreational users (maybe a really high dose would, I really have no idea). It helps him focus and keeps his mood from escalating. I would make the same decision without a second thought if I had to go back.
I think things might be changing for the better for Alex soon. I’m stressed as hell (hey, the future is scary), but I think his life will improve.