Her neurologist ‘was not against the idea’

Frank Lucido, MD, was thanked in the letters column of the San Francisco Chronicle December 28 (and so was the paper itself).

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your extensive research into medical cannabis. You have saved my sanity and given my life back to me. I have had a mild seizure disorder for 30-plus years, and have struggled with the side effects of various medications prescribed to control it. Honestly, the meds had more impact on my life than the disease: muddled thinking, balance problems, not caring if I woke up in the morning and more.

I am a violinist. Shaky handwriting is one thing. A shaky bow arm threatened my career. I began considering cannabis when I read the Chronicle’s Green State coverage in March. My neurologist was not against the idea but was unwilling to help me, because there is almost no research on adult epilepsy and medical cannabis. I had no experience with marijuana and was a little frightened of experimenting on myself.

Through The Chronicle, I found Dr. Frank Lucido, who prescribed a tincture of cannabis, without the psychoactive component THC. It’s been almost a month with no seizures, and I feel like my brain belongs to me again without the mind-numbing effects of nasty chemicals. I am forever in your debt!

Katherine Button, Alameda