Heather Allen and Brandon Allen rescue severely abused and neglected dogs. After nearly 20 years of crippling pain and bizarre medical treatments, Heather can walk her three dogs in the sunshine and smile thanks to Real Scientific Hemp Oil, CBD oil by HempMeds.
Brandon went to the same high school as Heather, and was there the night Heather fell from bleachers at an event and suffered a traumatic head injury that has affected her every day since. The couple met again in 2011 and were married in 2013. “I’ve been sick the entire time I’ve been with Brandon. He’s been there for me through it all,” Heather said.
After the accident, Heather sought a specialist for her horrific jaw pain, and discovered she had one of the most complicated jaw injury cases doctors had ever seen. At age 34, she still lives with the pain, which intensified over the years. Central Sensitization Syndrome makes her acutely sensitive to pain, and the pain lasts longer than it would for most people.
Heather also lives with memory loss, asthma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. Many of her physical symptoms are similar to those of neurological disorders. Heather has been diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, a rare condition that can cause her to faint or black out when she stands after laying down.
Although she has lived with chronic pain since she was 15, Heather’s determined to make a difference. “I always wanted to save people from the kind of life I’ve had. My whole life has been working toward being a cop,” she said. She gained notoriety as a 911 dispatcher, handling a hostage situation and receiving multiple commendations.
On Christmas Day in 2010, Heather answered a 911 call for a dog that had been hit by a car. She never could have guessed the dog she saved would end up saving her. Bryson, a beagle basset hound mix with three legs, is now Heather’s service dog. Bryson will lay down next to Heather when she has terrifying neurological episodes.
“My episodes are complex,” she said. “They come randomly and intermittently throughout the days and nights, they embark like a ninja and exit with cannon fire. I might have several a day, I usually begin to have trouble thinking, I feel sudden weakness, dizziness, my body starts to twitch and move involuntarily. At this point I may or may not pass out.”
Despite her achievements as a dispatcher, “In 2012, my career was falling apart,” she said. “I was having memory loss, slurred speech, all these neurological symptoms that make you act like you’re drunk.” In 2014, she was asked to take medical leave from work.
Heather tried just about every pain treatment method on the market. “I’ve seen every doctor from Indianapolis to North Carolina,” she said. “We’ve tried traditional medicines and alternative medicines.” She took up to 26 prescription medicines daily, saw an Amish healer, and met a holistic hypnotist.
She even tried experimental treatments. A doctor engineered a treatment that uses electrodes to shock and stimulate the nervous system. Heather tried this procedure six times.
The medications and treatments took a toll on Heather’s body. She had her uvula amputated and esophagus stretched. She struggled with dependence on Benzodiazepine tranquilizers. With her body ravaged by medication and procedures, she didn’t have any hope left.
By chance, Heather’s neighbor worked in the medical cannabis industry and introduced her to Real Scientific Hemp Oil eight months ago. On the second day of taking RSHO, Heather started noticing tremors were gone from her hands. Soon, she could get out of bed and move again. “It’s brought me back from a decrepit person who’s falling apart to living my life,” she said. She’s lost 45 pounds, is off antidepressants and decreased her other medications.
Brandon said before trying RSHO, “I couldn’t leave her alone. I’d come home and the oven would be on, or the burners would be on.” Brandon said although Heather still lives with limitations, “We got results we couldn’t get from anything else. Now she can take the dogs for a walk, she can read. She’s enjoying life again.”
Brandon and Heather were recently able to go on their first date in years – to the movies.
Heather said she has felt better than she ever felt in her life. “I’ve always felt that I was meant to help people. I lost my identity when I lost my career. Living with chronic pain, I lost all my friends, I lost everything. I’d watch the clock for Brandon to come home.”
“Now I am motivated and I have a purpose, my suffering has not been in vain, and even though my diseases will never go away because they are degenerative, I’ve finally accepted them. I’m not angry all the time anymore. If my experiences and my story ends up helping others like I believe it can, and I can be part of the flame that fuels the fire of change with the way we treat healthcare in this country, then everything I have been through is worth it.”
She wants to continue to educate other patients about RSHO, especially those with lesser known disabilities. “It would be like having the cure for cancer and not telling anyone,” she said. “I really want to be part of getting people the help they need.”
Brandon and Heather intend to keep rescuing severely disabled or abused dogs. “A year ago, I wouldn’t have needed a service dog because I couldn’t leave the house,” she said. Brandon and Heather are planning to take her service dog Bryson and their other two beagle dogs to Beagle Fest next year. “I’m happy for the first time I can remember since the accident,” Heather said.
Source: cannaeffect.org
