WHATFG
Well-Known Member
From 420 magazine...
This is the story of two little girls.
But their lives are no fairytales.
Tabetha and Georgia-Grace Fulton have grown up with the knowledge that their rare form of degenerative diffuse lung disease will probably kill them.
The disease prevents their cells from absorbing oxygen properly, which leaves the pair hooked up to oxygen tanks 24 hours a day.
Most heartstrings would be tugged by the family of eight's fight to keep the pair alive, by moving to Canada for medical marijuana (cannabis) treatment.
In July, seven of the Fultons will board a plane set for Vancouver with nothing but a suitcase of belongings each. The eldest Fulton son will remain in Australia with his fiancee.
The journey was prompted by 12-year-old Tabetha's most recent brush with death.
In October 2014, her parents, Bobby and Marcus, received a call.
Tabetha had collapsed at school.
Frenzied trips to the hospital and medical specialists ensued over the coming days, and the Fultons received heartbreaking news.
Tabetha was toxic due to the amount of steroids she was on, and her organs began to shut down.
The steroids were used as an anti-inflammatory for Tabetha's lungs and airways, but the amount she was taking had reached beyond-reasonable limits, and needed to be reduced.
But they also needed to be increased for effectiveness.
In an impossible situation, and refusing to watch her daughter die, Bobby began researching herbal treatments, leading her to the politically-controversial use of cannabis oil.
And if there is anyone who can sway a person's belief in cannabis' medical properties, it's a mother of six desperate to save her daughters from the fate they have been handed.
Bobby secured a two-month supply of cannabis for Tabetha.
It was soaked into oil, before draining it and using the oil in a smoothie.
The cannabis was not heated to the temperatures needed to make it into what it's normally known as: a hallucinogen.
Bobby said it targeted Tabetha's ill-working lung cells, reducing inflammation and stimulating regrowth.
Within two weeks of taking the oil, Tabetha was awake, and the side effects of the steroids she had been taking - such as the lump on her neck, weight gain and depression - were decreased.
Tabetha's health was so improved that she could take part in a local youth surfing program.
Being allowed off her oxygen tank for long enough to surf was an epic feat for the young girl, who has spent most of her life hooked to a tank by a 20-metre cord.
The family does not want to leave Australia, but feels they must so the girls can legally restart the cannabis oil treatment.
Due to political debate surrounding the medical use of cannabis, Bobby believes it would be four-and-a-half to five years before Tabetha could try it again in her home country.
But time is something Tabetha and Georgia-Grace do not have on their side.
"October 17, 2014: she (Tabetha) was not even awake for 45 minutes that day," Bobby said.
"This cannabis oil has worked for her, it reversed her steroid damage.
"She had required a wheel chair just to go down the street. To go from that to surfing, then back, how would you feel?
"So now we have to let nature take its course, or relocate to Vancouver."
Tabetha becomes emotional when she talks about leaving Australia to recapture the health she had while using the cannabis oil.
"I would love to go over there (to Canada) and be on it again, it was amazing," she said.
"I could go out, I could have fun with my friends, I could ride my bike.
"Being told you can't have anything anymore is quite annoying. I'll end up even sicker going back on steroids."
The Fultons received more bad news when Marcus was also diagnosed with a lung condition around New Year 2015.
He is living with bullous emphysema, also known as invisible lung disease.
Bobby described the disease as fluid-filled "balloons" expanding in a person's lungs.
"When the balloons burst, you lose that section of lung," she said.
"It's pretty hard to repair tissue that's not there anymore."
Marcus could cause his lungs to collapse with a cough.
Bobby is afraid her husband's condition is so progressed that he might not make it back to Australia, if the family ever returns.
But the Fultons are determined to stop Tabetha and Georgia-Grace's conditions in their tracks, to give the girls the best shot at life.
Bobby believes education about cannabis use needs to change, to incorporate its medical benefits - not only its negative effects when misused.
"At least by going to Canada, Tabetha can fight it legally, and they take it seriously over there," she said.
"People are gonna do stupid things with everything - take alcohol, for example.
"It's the very close to dead they're punishing here (by not legalising it)."
Bobby said people just need to look at her daughters as an example of why cannabis should be permitted for medical use.
"Try sleeping in a doorway because you don't want to take your eyes off your kid in case she turns blue," she said.
"It's a plant, that's what we need, a green plant vitamised into juice.
"It's just life, that's all Tabetha wants."
To raise money for their relocation to Canada, the Fultons will hold a garage sale at 26 Drummond Circuit, Hayborough, on Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7.
This is the story of two little girls.
But their lives are no fairytales.
Tabetha and Georgia-Grace Fulton have grown up with the knowledge that their rare form of degenerative diffuse lung disease will probably kill them.
The disease prevents their cells from absorbing oxygen properly, which leaves the pair hooked up to oxygen tanks 24 hours a day.
Most heartstrings would be tugged by the family of eight's fight to keep the pair alive, by moving to Canada for medical marijuana (cannabis) treatment.
In July, seven of the Fultons will board a plane set for Vancouver with nothing but a suitcase of belongings each. The eldest Fulton son will remain in Australia with his fiancee.
The journey was prompted by 12-year-old Tabetha's most recent brush with death.
In October 2014, her parents, Bobby and Marcus, received a call.
Tabetha had collapsed at school.
Frenzied trips to the hospital and medical specialists ensued over the coming days, and the Fultons received heartbreaking news.
Tabetha was toxic due to the amount of steroids she was on, and her organs began to shut down.
The steroids were used as an anti-inflammatory for Tabetha's lungs and airways, but the amount she was taking had reached beyond-reasonable limits, and needed to be reduced.
But they also needed to be increased for effectiveness.
In an impossible situation, and refusing to watch her daughter die, Bobby began researching herbal treatments, leading her to the politically-controversial use of cannabis oil.
And if there is anyone who can sway a person's belief in cannabis' medical properties, it's a mother of six desperate to save her daughters from the fate they have been handed.
Bobby secured a two-month supply of cannabis for Tabetha.
It was soaked into oil, before draining it and using the oil in a smoothie.
The cannabis was not heated to the temperatures needed to make it into what it's normally known as: a hallucinogen.
Bobby said it targeted Tabetha's ill-working lung cells, reducing inflammation and stimulating regrowth.
Within two weeks of taking the oil, Tabetha was awake, and the side effects of the steroids she had been taking - such as the lump on her neck, weight gain and depression - were decreased.
Tabetha's health was so improved that she could take part in a local youth surfing program.
Being allowed off her oxygen tank for long enough to surf was an epic feat for the young girl, who has spent most of her life hooked to a tank by a 20-metre cord.
The family does not want to leave Australia, but feels they must so the girls can legally restart the cannabis oil treatment.
Due to political debate surrounding the medical use of cannabis, Bobby believes it would be four-and-a-half to five years before Tabetha could try it again in her home country.
But time is something Tabetha and Georgia-Grace do not have on their side.
"October 17, 2014: she (Tabetha) was not even awake for 45 minutes that day," Bobby said.
"This cannabis oil has worked for her, it reversed her steroid damage.
"She had required a wheel chair just to go down the street. To go from that to surfing, then back, how would you feel?
"So now we have to let nature take its course, or relocate to Vancouver."
Tabetha becomes emotional when she talks about leaving Australia to recapture the health she had while using the cannabis oil.
"I would love to go over there (to Canada) and be on it again, it was amazing," she said.
"I could go out, I could have fun with my friends, I could ride my bike.
"Being told you can't have anything anymore is quite annoying. I'll end up even sicker going back on steroids."
The Fultons received more bad news when Marcus was also diagnosed with a lung condition around New Year 2015.
He is living with bullous emphysema, also known as invisible lung disease.
Bobby described the disease as fluid-filled "balloons" expanding in a person's lungs.
"When the balloons burst, you lose that section of lung," she said.
"It's pretty hard to repair tissue that's not there anymore."
Marcus could cause his lungs to collapse with a cough.
Bobby is afraid her husband's condition is so progressed that he might not make it back to Australia, if the family ever returns.
But the Fultons are determined to stop Tabetha and Georgia-Grace's conditions in their tracks, to give the girls the best shot at life.
Bobby believes education about cannabis use needs to change, to incorporate its medical benefits - not only its negative effects when misused.
"At least by going to Canada, Tabetha can fight it legally, and they take it seriously over there," she said.
"People are gonna do stupid things with everything - take alcohol, for example.
"It's the very close to dead they're punishing here (by not legalising it)."
Bobby said people just need to look at her daughters as an example of why cannabis should be permitted for medical use.
"Try sleeping in a doorway because you don't want to take your eyes off your kid in case she turns blue," she said.
"It's a plant, that's what we need, a green plant vitamised into juice.
"It's just life, that's all Tabetha wants."
To raise money for their relocation to Canada, the Fultons will hold a garage sale at 26 Drummond Circuit, Hayborough, on Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7.
