Dear Respected Legislators,
Our son, Otis, has hundreds of seizures a day and we believe you could help.
My wife, Kathy, and I were both born and raised in Kansas. After college, we moved to New York City for a few years, but wanted to return home to Kansas to be closer to those we love, and raise a family.
In June of 2011, Kathy gave birth to our only child, Otis. At 9 weeks old, Otis was diagnosed with a catastrophic form of epilepsy. He has hundreds of seizures every day. Due to this overwhelming seizure activity, he is developmentally disabled, can’t sit up, and has very limited communication skills. Otis has tried loads of therapies and treatments (special diets, brain pacemaker, and countless drugs -- some with almost fatal side effects). Unfortunately, none of these drugs or treatments have worked to control Otis’ seizures.
A year ago Otis’ team of neurologists from Cleveland Clinic Children’s and Children’s Mercy in Kansas City suggested a hemispherectomy (removing half of Otis’ brain). They gave this a 50/50 chance to help control Otis’ seizures. We decided to try all other options before the hemispherectomy. That was a year ago…at present we’ve tried the other available options and they have all failed.
We have one more option before surgery. In the past year there have been lots of success stories involving children with intractable epilepsy using medical marijuana. The specific strain that has been successful for this illness is in an oil/paste form to be taken with meals, and does not get users high.
We have a choice. We can either have our son try another medicine, or cut out half of his brain. That is an easy choice to make. However, because of current laws, we will have to uproot our lives in order to give our son a chance at seizure freedom.
We are currently preparing to give up all we have here in Kansas to move to Colorado in order to give Otis chance at a better quality of life. If the treatment fails we will come home to Kansas. If it works…Otis won’t be allowed back in Kansas. If we bring Otis back to Kansas with the medicine that helps his seizures, by law we could be arrested for drug trafficking.
I believe that you would be doing a great service to the citizens of your state and the country at large if you not only supported but also rallied around the legalization of medical marijuana. Marijuana has countless medicinal purposes. It is healing people across the border in Colorado and I know it can help people here in Kansas.
Thank you for your service.
Sincerely,
Ryan Reed
