I am a victim of medical malpractice. I am not a bad
person, I am not of low intelligence, and I am certainly not a criminal. To
the contrary, I am a community-minded individual, I have a dual-major B.S.
degree and an M.B.A. from Le Moyne College, and I might have a speeding ticket
or two at worst.
The burning and weakness that is constantly present in my
left arm/hand is a confusing contradiction to the general numbness that it
coincides with. The necessity of being hooked up to an electric-pulse
machine in order to feel minimal pain relief is as degrading as it is unnatural
and inconvenient. Try walking around a grocery store with electrodes
attached to your arm to see what I mean. Forget going to the grocery store,
try driving to the grocery store. From opening and shutting the car door
to those arm-over-arm movements used to turn, the ride is one wince after
another.
The diagnosis? The doctor says it is ulnar nerve
damage, but the increasingly frequent and painful "pops" in my wrist
(along with an increasing burning sensation in that region) indicate to me that
there must be something else going on. How did this happen? I woke
up from a jaw surgery with a very numb left arm/hand (the degree to which the
right arm/hand was affected was minimal in comparison).
Marijuana has been the only effective drug I have taken
for pain relief in relation to this medical condition, although my usage
decreased dramatically during the course of my college-to-work-life transition and
even presently in my state of trying to find a job that can tolerate my work
restrictions (Wegmans recently terminated me for having work restrictions that
left me unable to perform my essential job duties - in the cash office). My
decrease in usage is also a result of the laws in New York that prohibit its
use, but meanwhile my symptoms worsen, and I spend more and more nights
teary-eyed as my girlfriend massages my damaged arm/hand.
Please help me. Please legalize the medical use of
marijuana.
