At just two years old, Cashy Hyde of Spokane Washington was in the midst of a debilitating battle with brain cancer. An aggressive tumor had wrapped itself around Cashy’s optic nerves, threatening him with death. Doctors at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City performed brain surgery on Cashy, but were only able to remove about 10% of the tumor. The balance of his treatment would consist of stem cell therapy bracketed by a total of six separate waves of chemotherapy treatments. Cashy received a daily cocktail of 5 different drugs just to help him cope with the pain.
Little Cashy’s body withered against the onslaught. By September 2010, he had gone 40 days without solid food. He was prone, shivering, and unable to lift his own head. The doctors could provide no other answers.
His father Mike couldn’t stand for it anymore. He began to give Cashy an edible oil made from Cannabis through his intravenous feeding tube. Meanwhile, he asked the doctors to begin easing off the anti-nausea medications.
The result was dramatic. Cashy became hungry. He began to eat solid food again. His energy levels increased and his mood improved.
Mike told his story to KXLY4 Executive Producer Melissa Luck: “You’re watching a kid who hasn’t had the will to eat in 4months, 5 months, actually take a bite of something…It shows that he wants to live.”
Cashy’s last round of high-dose chemo involved no anti-nausea drugs. Mike said the doctors were amazed. He never told them what had changed.
“I wanted to tell them, hey, he’s on cannabis oil. But I didn’t want them to take it away from him,” the father said.
KXLY4 wanted to know about side effects, about the dangers of giving kids as young as Cashy medical marijuana. But despite the fact it’s not illegal in Washington or in Cashy’s home state of Montana, no doctor wanted to discuss it on camera.
KXLY4 is reporting this story just as the Federal government has started a campaign to shutter Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in the state of Washington.
Little Cashy’s body withered against the onslaught. By September 2010, he had gone 40 days without solid food. He was prone, shivering, and unable to lift his own head. The doctors could provide no other answers.
His father Mike couldn’t stand for it anymore. He began to give Cashy an edible oil made from Cannabis through his intravenous feeding tube. Meanwhile, he asked the doctors to begin easing off the anti-nausea medications.
The result was dramatic. Cashy became hungry. He began to eat solid food again. His energy levels increased and his mood improved.
Mike told his story to KXLY4 Executive Producer Melissa Luck: “You’re watching a kid who hasn’t had the will to eat in 4months, 5 months, actually take a bite of something…It shows that he wants to live.”
Cashy’s last round of high-dose chemo involved no anti-nausea drugs. Mike said the doctors were amazed. He never told them what had changed.
“I wanted to tell them, hey, he’s on cannabis oil. But I didn’t want them to take it away from him,” the father said.
KXLY4 wanted to know about side effects, about the dangers of giving kids as young as Cashy medical marijuana. But despite the fact it’s not illegal in Washington or in Cashy’s home state of Montana, no doctor wanted to discuss it on camera.
KXLY4 is reporting this story just as the Federal government has started a campaign to shutter Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in the state of Washington.
