420 Girl - Mykayla Comstock

Two weeks ago, Mykayla Comstock, in Milwaukie, Oregon was an ordinary 7 year old girl living through an extraordinary ordeal. She's been battling leukemia since June, when a basketball size tumor was discovered in her chest. Now Mykayla is in the middle of another battle, and in the national spotlight, over whether children should be able to use marijuana to mitigate the crippling effects of chemotherapy. A newly registered member of the state's Medical Marijuana Program, she has consumed a daily gram of cannabis oil, encapsulated in a pill, since shortly after her diagnosis. The leukemia quickly went into remission, say Mykayla's unapologetic parents, and in the months that followed she has been able to cope with the debilitating symptoms associated with her traditional cancer treatments. - The Daily Beast

Mykayla1.png
 
We as parents feel that using cannabis has been the best choice we could have made on behalf of Mykayla along her journey. It has been proven that cannabis has the potential to treat leukemia by means of causing cell apoptosis, programmed cell death, but most importantly Mykayla only has to consume a gram of cannabis oil daily to counteract the damaging effects of the many chemotherapy drugs that are required for treatment that is required under under FDA standards. The average child undergoing treatment for leukemia has access to and utilizes most of the offered pharmaceutical drugs given to mitigate the same effects. Some of these drugs include narcotic pain relievers, anti-nausea medicines, anti-depressants, laxatives, etc. Most of these drugs have their own unwanted side effects and may or may not counteract or jeopardize the efficacy of one another. Our daughter has been offered in excess of 10 prescription medications throughout her treatment, nearly all of which have been denied. The logic is clear, one natural organic treatment or multiple pharmaceutical chemical based drugs for a child already going through so much. Is there anything to debate any longer? - Mykayla's parents

mykayla31.jpeg


mykayla2.JPG
 
After we gave our daughter, Brave Mykayla Comstock, her first dose of cannabis oil, it became pretty clear we would have to find some way to cover the taste if we intended on continuing with oil during her treatment. The taste of cannabis oil is not pleasant, it is very pungent, the taste is earthy and grassy with a biting bitter that lingers for some time on the tongue. A close friend introduced us to these special flavored capsules and we thought this was a fantastic idea. Soon, we had 200 bright green lime flavored 1mm capsules that held approximately a gram of oil in each. After she was done with her first dose using the flavored capsules, we asked her what she thought. She told us that she couldn't taste cannabis, but the capsule made it really yummy and fun.

brave_mykayla21.jpg
 
Life before Mykayla was diagnosed with cancer was peaceful. We lived in Eastern Oregon and were an average family living life day to day making ends meet. Erin and I worked from home and took care of Mykayla and Ryleigh. Erin was an ambitious, driven entrepreneur who spent a lot of time promoting and working on her small hemp jewelry business, PeaceLove&Knots. We enjoyed traveling and going to concerts and festivals. I was in between jobs at the time, so I worked odd jobs and grew Cannabis. We spent our days together raising the kids.

brave_mykayla11.jpg


Brave_Mykayla4.jpg
 
We were put in touch with the company that produced flavored capsules, to see if this would help Mykayla with the aftertaste. The representative we were introduced to was kind, helpful, understanding and eager to help us. The second round of capsules we were sent was a bright assortment of fun fruit flavors that Mykayla was excited to try. Strawberry, mint, berry, orange, grape and bubblegum for the kids and they sent a sample pack of coffee flavored caps for adult patients who want to try them. Every single dose of oil Mykayla has taken since our first package came has been in these capsules, and we have no intentions of changing that. - Erin Comstock

brave_mykayla31.jpg


brave_mykayla51.jpg
 
Mykayla was officially diagnosed with T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on July 14, 2012, at only seven years old. T-cell ALL is a rare form of leukemia. It is an aggressive and fast acting form of the childhood cancer. It is a cancer that is caused by the uncontrolled proliferation of Lymphoblasts into the body from the bone marrow. Lymphoblasts are immature cells which typically differentiate to form lymphocytes. Normally, lymphoblasts are found in the bone marrow only. These cells do not have the capability to die. Instead of going through a normal cellular life cycle, they remain, never succumbing to the natural programmed cell death. Instead, they are left to group together, forming a giant, liquid mucinous tumor that puts immense pressure on internal organs and wreaks havoc on a child's immune system. Mykayla's official Medical Prognosis is a 76.9% 5 year survival rate, with modern treatment protocols. At the time of her diagnosis, many of the classification markers were to her benefit, though she was ultimately deemed intermediate risk due to central nervous system (CNS) involvement. Currently, Mykayla's cancer is in complete remission. However, she is still required to undergo standard chemotherapy regimens for two more years. Her diagnosis requires a three year chemotherapy and radiation protocol in total.

mmj_mykayla1.png
 
With medical marijuana legal in 22 states and the District of Columbia, in addition to the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado and Washington state, more people may turn to marijuana as a treatment option for many ailments. However, the medicinal use of cannabis is not new, it can be traced back to ancient physicians who prescribed marijuana for pain relief, digestive problems and psychological disorders, among other conditions. - Mykayla Comstock pictured

Mykayla_Compton1.png
 
We feel that any critically ill child deserves to have a quality of life equal to their peers or as close to it as possible. Children with Cancer, epilepsy, mitochondrial diseases, Autistic children and many other conditions deserve the chance to feel the whole body benefits of Cannabis. If someone can accept giving their child dangerous pharmaceutical medications every single day, medicine that has many unwanted side effects and addictive properties, then why is it not just as acceptable to start with Cannabis before progressing on to the harsher medicine? Why should this medicine not be available to a child? I have yet to hear a reasonable answer as to why it shouldn't.

brave_mykayla7.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom