In an effort to educate the Latinx community, the Cannabis Cultural Association presents the trailer for the short film titled: CannAbuelo: The Jorge Gavilanes Story. In his native language of Spanish (with English subtitles), Jorge Gavilanes shares his experience as a New York State medical marijuana patient in the short film which is slated for a May release. Jorge, who was first diagnosed with cancer nearly 20 years ago, describes the life-changing impact cannabis oil has made on his health and overall wellbeing. Jorge’s story shows the need to educate our community about cannabis as medicine and to find new ways to talk about cannabis with our families. Production credit to ShootMadonna.
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In 2001, doctors diagnosed Jorge Gavilanes with prostate cancer. Jorge immediately underwent surgery to remove his prostate and began chemotherapy treatments. Several months later Jorge’s cancer went into remission. After 14 years of check-ups and clear body scans, Jorge’s cancer came back, except that this time, it spread to his chest. Specialists in both Ecuador and the United States recommended new rounds of chemotherapy but were not hopeful as to how effective chemo wouldbe. They gave Jorge six months to a year to live. Jorge—remembering chemotherapy’s draining effects from his first fight with cancer—declined treatment. He preferred to enjoy his remaining time with his wife and family.
A year later in February 2016, Jorge had outlived his doctor’s predictions but had also lost a significant amount of weight and most of his daily energy. Jorge’s grandson Nelson brought up the idea of cannabis tinctures as a non-invasive way to improve Jorge’s quality of life. Jorge was willing to try the idea and began to take three drops of THC and CBD tincture after every meal. Immediately, Jorge felt his appetite return and he began to sleep through the night, something he had not been able to do consistently since before his initial surgery in 2001. The tinctures allowed Jorge to treat his symptoms without spending his time in the hospital, and they quickly became an important part of his daily regimen. At 80 years old, Jorge continues to fight his Stage 4 cancer by micro-dosing cannabis tinctures every day. For the first time, Jorge shares his story as a medical marijuana patient. |
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