Grandmother with cancer who used cannabis oil talks about her amazing recovery

[Michael Komorn]

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/gran-cancer-who-used-cannabis-768651

Karen Roberts said: 'I was sent home to die but am pleased to say I am very much still here'

By

Cheryl Hague

• 14:17, 22 DEC 2017
• UPDATED14:21, 22 DEC 2017

A grandmother of six diagnosed with terminal cancer and sent home from hospital to die is in remission after using cannabis oil - and is now looking forward to spending time with her family.

Karen Roberts from Derby had aggressive lymph cancer and was told she was terminally ill just weeks before she lost her husband Garry to leukaemia in 2015.

She said she was sent home by the hospital to die as they said there was nothing else they could do for her - staff even took all her medication away.

But she has defied the medics' beliefs and after taking cannabis oil she saw her tumours shrink.

That was two years ago and now she is remission and looking forward to spending more time with her six grandchildren.

Karen Roberts when she worked at Asda in Sinfin before she was diagnosed with cancer

The former charity fund-raiser at Asda in Sinfin said: "I should be dead now but am happy to say I am in remission and am having four monthly checks at the hospital."

And she has her three children to thank for her new life as they persuaded her to take the oil after they read how it has been responsible for helping other cancer sufferers.

The 58-year-old said: "I wasn't bothered at the time, Garry was dying and I was ready to go myself but my kids had read about the oil online and persuaded me to try it. That was two years ago I haven't looked back since.

"I was sent home to die but am pleased to say I am very much still here and have gone on to see three grandchildren who I never thought I would see."

The cannabis-based oil which has helped Karen in her cancer battle

She said she has been inundated with people asking about how the oil helped her but warns it will not help everyone.

She said: "I took it because I had no choice as all other options were closed to me - had I been offered medical help at the time such as a transplant or chemotherapy, I would have taken it and not used the oil.

"I always tell people that their medicine is more important and you can't mix it with cannabis oil - you need to trust your doctor or consultant as they are the experts.

"I asked my consultant last time: 'Why do you think I am here is it because of the oil?' He said he didn't know but that I could have been in remission at the time I was told I was terminal and there was a mix-up. We just don't know.

"I am just glad I have been given another chance and can't wait to spend time with the family. They have offered me so much support it has been brilliant.

"My main aim was to get back to work but now it looks like I may have to take early retirement as I am having problems with asthma."

A cancer expert said cannabis-based drugs had showed “some promise” in tests.

Karen said she ordered the substance online and it arrives in brown bottles at £40 a time. She uses just a few drops of the substance at any one time.

A senior science communications officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “The only way to get scientific evidence that a treatment is effective is through clinical trials.

“The limited results we have so far on using cannabinoid-based drugs as a cancer-fighting therapy show some promise – but we’re far from knowing for certain if these drugs benefit cancer patients, what types of cancer they may be effective against, or at what dose.

“More research is needed, which is why we’re helping to support the only two trials of cannabinoid-based drugs taking place in the UK.”

The oil has not yet been approved for use on the NHS - but is readily available to buy online as a food supplement - although it has been widely reported to help other conditions such as arthritis, depression, MS and other illnesses.

Research into the health benefits of taking cannaboids - particularly for cancer - is currently being undertaken at St George's, University of London.

Dr Wai Liu, senior research fellow at St George's, University of London, said: “Cannabidiol, which is just one element of the cannabis plant and one that does not have any psychoactive effect on people, has been shown to target communication signals that are malfunctioning in cancer cells.

 

“It is thought that by correcting these signals we can enable cancer cells to essentially die rather than duplicate. So it may hold the key to understanding how to defeat cancer in some areas.

“We at St George's, University of London, have shown how this can be done. Although our data has mainly been laboratory- based, we have a growing and large collection of testimony from patients using cannabidiol, usually in a cannabis oil type product, who report positive effects on their battle with this dreadful disease."