The following is a more in depth description of my medical journey with cannabis

 

The Day That Changed My Life

"Reveille, reveille, all hands heave out and trice up. Give a clean sweep down fore and aft. The smoking lamp is lit in all authorized spaces", as it would come over the 1MC. It's time to rise & shine. It wasj ust like any other morning aboard the USS Oklahoma City SSN 723, US Naval Submarine. A typical morning while stationed in dry-dock at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery ME... that is. I awoke in my cramped bunk, more like a horizontal locker with a mattress, threw on my uniform & headed to grab some grub on the mess decks and get to work.

This day, like many others, was a day of standing security watches & doing multiple jobs around the shipyard. Running errands, lots of cleaning & tons of studying. My ship was in for a complete overhaul, 2yr before it would be ready for sea trials. So there was not much for us sailors to do on board. Odd jobs around the shipyard though....that's another story. All the lower ranking enlisted crew members became the shipyard cleaning & organizing crew.

This day, however, turned out to be unlike any other day I had experienced in my life. This was the day I had my first Partial Complex Seizure! Unknown to me at that point, I had no idea what was happening. I was having a sensation that made me want to cry, puke, faint, it felt as though I was separating from myself, I couldn't speak or even think. The whole episode lasted about 2 minutes & faded away. "WTF is wrong with me", I thought. I told no one, finished my day & headed home....

           

-"the cannabis family has become my shining light in a life of prescribed darkness"

Hello all, my name is Jeff Bugay, owner and operator of Home Grown Vermont Professionals.
I designed this page so everyone can understand how my relationship with Cannabis has evolved over the last 25 years, why I became a cultivator & why my passion runs so deeply for this genus of flowering plants, of all "natural remedies" really, but we're here to talk about this one. My connection to cannabis runs way deeper than..."I like getting stoned"... Cannabis has saved my life, & liver, from total devastation. It returned to me a level of well being that i had not felt in 20+ years. A level of control I was not sure I would ever be able to reach.

As you read above, it really all started for me in the military, the road to medical cannabis I mean. Sure, sure, I smoked some pot in high school, a lot of pot actually, but I still realized at 17 years old, when I got my then girlfriend pregnant, that I had to take responsibility for myself & my actions, if I was going to be a dad...I had better get my shit together.

After my parents divorce, there was nothing left for college. I decided the best way to provide for my family, get money for college and get some "real world" training, was to join the military. So I found out some info and joined the Navy. Which turned out to be nothing of what it seemed, at least for me, I think I can thank my recruiter for that, but that's a story for another day...

At any rate, after basic, after sub-school, I was stationed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. After a few months on base, just before I turned 20, I started having allergic reactions to an unknown substance or chemical, coincidentally after working in a some of the shipyard buildings, hhmm? I had 3 separate instances where I had to be emegency treated for these allergic reactions. Shortly thereafter is when I began having partial seizures, however, as i said, I had no idea at that point what was going on. I thought I was having anxiety attacks. I was having these intense sensations, weird vibes and crazy energy throughout my body, almost like "separating from myself". It felt like I was going to implode!

Anxiety....what could this be from i thought. Even though I considered myself an easy going, laid back person, the possibility that these traumatic life events had screwed up my brain was there, or was it the chemicals I had been exposed to? Multiple allergic reactions....OMG!! How am I supposed to figure out whats going on with me? Do I have some "Agent Orange" shit going on or what?

.... I came home from base early one day, many days in fact, but on one particular day I opened my front door to a cloud of smoke and my wife and a couple friends freaking out....I was home 4 hrs early and they had no idea....oops, I forgot to call!
I instantly realized what it was, Marijuana, but it was too late. I had already taken a couple deep breathes to establish why my house was smokey.

You see, the military is zero tolerance when it comes to marijuana, among other things, so I immediately went into panic mode....which in turn would instigate these "anxiety attacks"...except... this time was different, my episode didn't seem as intense as the other times and it faded away a lot quicker. I felt unusually comfortable, relaxed and content afterward.
I did not make the connection at that time, it took a few more partial seizures, and some reflecting back trying to find triggers and suppressants. Then it occured to me what had happened, the inhalation of cannabis smoke had suppressed my partial seizure activity. "I must be on to something here", I thought. Oh well, I cant smoke pot in the military so.....just deal with it i guess.

For months after exiting the military I continued to have episodes of partial seizure activity, I would have 3-4 days in a row every month, with 15-20 partial seizures per day. Keep in mind I still had no idea that it was epilepsy, I thought it was an anxiety thing, but that still didn't quite make sense to me because I am relatively relaxed, optemistic and easy going, after all.... my blood type is B+, it's my "life juice", I can't help it. Regardless, I needed to pay my bills & support my family so I immediately followed my passion, which was cooking.

I had my first tonic-clonic, full body, convulsive seizure in December of 1998 and was officially diagnosed, 2 seizures later, with epilepsy , specifically- Complex Partial Seizures with Secondary Generalization, in February 1999.

My monthly episodes of so called "anxiety" were now instigating(causing) full seizure activity across my brain, yeehaw! I would have multiple partial seizures over multiple days that would get progressively worse with each passing episode. I would eventually have a partial seizure so intense that I would blackout & go into full body convulsions, a full seizure, and not regain consciousness for a few hours. I have awoke in the hospital numerous times with no idea what has happened or how I got there. That becomes a very scary, very fast.

The doctors spared no time & started pumping me with anti-convulsants and anti-anxiety medications.
After years of being guiney pigged on multiple prescriptions, I finally gained some control of my epileptic activity with Depakote, Tegretol, Klonopin, Zanax..... AAAAHHH!!!
The problem was the medication... 1,090,000mg of anti convulsant per year, that's 20,314 mg - 84 pills PER WEEK!!! Oh No!!

*84 pills per week ... to ... ZERO*

I worked 2yrs in the restaurant industry before becoming an Executive Chef, my passion for food was uncotrollable & undeniable, I had found my calling and was on my way to the top & opening my own restaurant someday. I worked for 16 more yrs as an Executive Chef, managing, designing, opening & closing restaurants all over New England, for other people. I was learning all I could from as many facets of the industry as possible. From Boston to Portland, I had a plan. I also had not had any seizures at work in 18yrs.
.... untill another life changing day drew my life, & plans, into the hard contrast of reality.

It was a record breaking day at Johnny Boys Pancake House, Killington VT. We were creeping up on breaking the "499 breakfast order" record. I was feeling a bit off that day & as I put the 500th order in the window, our last order of the day, our new record breaking morning was about to come to an ubrupt end. I was having a partial seizure as I put the last plates in the window & then....

I awoke in the hospital hours later with a giant gash across the full length of my back. I had fallen across a sharp table corner. The frist thing I said, without thinking, was.... did I hurt anyone? All I could think was having a knife in my hand or pushing someone into a frialator while having a seizure. It was in that moment that I realized how dangerous I was, it was in that moment I realized...my dream was over. How am I supposed to successfully own & operate a restaurant with epilepsy? And be the Head Chef?

Over the next 2 yrs I was forced to step down to Sous Chef & eventually had to regress back to a Line Cook. But none of this seemed to make a difference. No matter how easy I took it, no matter how little responibilities I took on, I was still having seizures. I eventually went down to working only 10 hrs per week & inevetably had to leave the restaurant industry all together. Just the smell of a restaurant kitchens will instigate seizures now. A sad time it was.

Now here comes Cannabis...

Once I realized I could control my partial seizures with Cannabis, I began using it everytime. I eventually told my neurologist what I was doing and he didnt agree, surprising huh? I can use marijuana to supress my partial seizures, , why do I have to keep taking klonopin or zanax or the other 4 medications you have me on? "Because there's no proof that it actually works", was his response.
"....but wait....aren't I the proof? I'm confused doc."
"Just trust me, this is the best thing for you, I'm the doctor here right?"

NOOOO!!!!

I wanted to pull my hair out, I was so confused and frustrated, how can someone else tell me what is therapeutic to MY body, how can anyone know what I am feeling and what makes it stop.... that's kinda ridiculous.

A doctor once told me, "Why would I cure your illness? If I cure you, you wont have any need to come back and see me. How am I supposed to take 4 vacations a year if your not spending all your money here?" He went on to explain that, unfortunately 95% of doctors practicing medicine think and feel this way, it's sickening, but it's true...disgusting really. We're all just another piece of the pay check...WTF!
A TRUE EYE OPENING EXPERIENCE!!!

... to this ...

20 years I was pumped with prescription drugs & still having seizures. I had to give up on my dreams & still having seizures. I had follwed the doctors direction for long enough. This was unacceptable to me, there has to be another way.

That's when I decided I could not pump my body full of dangerous chemicals anymore, chemicals known to cause cancer and disease. Not to mention what this was going to do to my poor liver over my life time. There had to be a natural way to control my epilepsy and with what I already knew about marijuana and my partial seizures, I started doing research...deep research into what marijuana, cannabis in general, has done to help people with epilepsy. What has it been able to do for other ailments?

That's when I began to understand the ongoing discoveries being made with medical cannabis. I realized, I may be able to completely remove prescription drugs from my "Anti-Epileptic Arsenal" and control my epilepsy in an all natural & much healthy way. Though everytime I would mention this to my doctors that, I would get resistance and no sense of support.
"We cannot support you with completely stopping your prescription medications", is what I would hear. I guess I can uderstand a little but when it comes down to brass tacks....

We all have control of what we put into our bodies. Why would we knowingly put toxic, cancer & disease causing chemicals into ourselves? How is toxifying & contaminating your temple supposed to help it to cleanse and heal itself? Mother nature has given us all we need to live long, healthy, disease free lives. She has given us all we need to suppress, heal and even cure the nastiest of these socalled "uncurable" or "terminal" diseases. Research is knowledge & knowledge is key.

I started growing my own Medical Marijuana in 2010 for one reason.... I want to know what I am putting in my body. Does the grower use fertilizers? What kind? Does the grower use pesticides? What kind? It doesn't make sense to substitute one set of chemicals for another, chemical fertilizers are just as damaging to your body as prescription drugs. Im getting bags of weed from my dealer and I have no idea how it was grown...anyhthing about it as a matter of fact. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of money i was spending on possibly chemical laiden, shitty quality cannabis.

That's when I set forth to gain all possible knowledge out there in order to grow my own meds, organic,healthy & clean from contaminates. I have spent the last 10 yrs & over 100 harvests sharpening my skills & becomeing the best culrivator possible, and for no other reason but to provide myself with the highest quality, highest potency, most deliciously sticky & pugnent cannabis on earth!! Yes...I said it.... ON EARTH!!!
It is absolute. I put every once of passion I feel for this plant into caring for it & teaching others what I know. I LOVE CANNABIS!! Unequivocally & without hestitation! The more people I can enlighten, the happier & healthier we can all live.

I have since taken my health into my own hands and with the availability of high level, quality CBD strains, the cannabis family has become my shining light in a life of prescribed darkness. I have been prescription drug free since January 2018. I use THC and CBD daily and I have the best control that I have ever had over my epilepsy. I now have very minimal activity with incredible control. It has been a true game changer.

I started this business to help others in there pursuit of homeopathic therapies. I started this business to help as many people as possible to grow there own medicine & say "So Long!" to synthetic prescription drugs. I started this business so that all people can know the benefits of Cannabis, so that all people can feel my passion & so that all people can know...

Cannabis Has Saved My Life !!

Let me help it ... save yours