‘I had resigned myself to a life sentence of pain and agony, and never in my wildes dreams did I imagine I would be pain-free again’

In 2011, British Columbia citizen, Corrie Yelland, was diagnosed with anal cancer and faced with undergoing radiation, said to cause second and third degree burns vaginally, rectally, and across her buttocks; damaging her spine for life, and probably fusing shut both her vagina and rectum.

Already suffering with intense chronic pain from Post Sternotomy Neuralgia Syndrome five years after a heart attack and open heart surgery, Yelland was daunted at the thought of the radiation and the consequences thereof, when a friend sent her a copy of the Rick Simpson Story, Run from the Cure.

“After watching the video and hearing Rick and other patients give testimonials about curing themselves of myriad diseases, including end-stage cancers, I was feeling hopeful for the first time,” Corrie shared.

In addition, Yelland said the sheer number of studies from the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s site, Pub Med, on cannabis and its ability to heal were overwhelming evidence of its efficacy.

“But, when I told my oncologist that I’d like to think about it before doing any radiation, he murmured something about a ‘death wish,’ telling me I had two, four, maybe six months to live, and left the exam room in a huff,” she explained.

Simpson, a fellow Canadian from a small town in Nova Scotia, had found an old cannabis oil recipe online, after suffering from his own serious ailments. Once healed, he began sharing the recipe via word of mouth nearly 20 years ago now, with the recipe and Rick traversing the globe ever since.

Stove Top Remedy

Undaunted by her oncologist’s response, Yelland began the task of sourcing cannabis to make her own oil. Only able to afford small amounts of plant material at a time, Yelland said she made small batches, ingesting small amounts, slowly getting used to the high THC.

“Ten days into the treatment the pain that had plagued me for four years in my sternum, and the nerve pain, completely stopped,” she informed. “You have to understand, I had resigned myself to a life sentence of pain and agony, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be pain-free ever again.”

Yelland said she began sleeping through the night, doing away with the sleeping pills she’d needed for years that had only worked up to a couple of hours at a time.

Her entire demeanor changed, with previously cannabis-skeptical friends now commenting on visible changes within her physical stance and mood.

“I evolved from a pain wracked, hunched over, shuffling along individual, to a vibrant, high energy person,” she shared. “Even my complexion improved. I think it’s understandable when I say I get very emotional when I think of how far I’ve come. Cannabis didn’t just change my life, it saved my life.”

Initial reports just weeks after she began taking the oil showed the tumors shrinking, with Yelland penning in a journal, “I know in my heart it’s only a matter of time before I will be completely cured.”

THC, not just for getting high

Discovered as a beneficial compound in Israel by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam in the 1960s, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, is the compound found to kill cancer cells.

The total dose for the cannabis oil that Simpson shared to treat cancer is 60 grams, ingested orally in 90 days, with a starting dose the size of a half a grain of rice. This dose is gradually increased, bringing the patient up to one gram a day for the remaining protocol.

It takes one pound of whole plant material (stems, leaf, and flower) to make approximately sixty grams of oil, give or take, depending on the compound count of the cultivar.

This oral step-up dosing regimen allows the patient to get used to the activated THC, measuring upwards of 80 to 90 percent, cooked down in an alcohol reduction (see Weed World, issue #144 Kitchen Apothecary/cannabis oil recipe).

Researchers are discovering that adding additional CBD or cannabinol to the formulation may be beneficial for some cancers. Protocols using various amounts of different terpene and cannabinoid combinations are also being developed for certain cancers and ailments. But for now, Rick’s whole plant recipe is most commonly used, globally.

Yelland has found that using a combination of cultivars for one batch of oil insures a rich formulation of compounds, in what’s referred to as an entourage effect, with many compounds working together for maximum healing.

(Author’s Note: The oil made for my own breast cancer was made from such a mix, referred to as a “salad,” by the maker, Pearl Moon of The Bud Sisters, Southern Humboldt, Northern California.)

A Miraculous Plant

“I initially put the oil on two skin cancers on my neck, and within 48 hours there was a change,” she explained. “I was elated and hopeful the oil would attack the cancer in my body in the same way. If all it did was keep the cancer at bay, I would have been happy.”

Yelland ended up filling gelatin capsules with a mixture of the oil with olive oil, then inserted them rectally, as you would a suppository.

“I figured I might as well put it directly where the cancer is,” she explained. “After just two months into the 90-day treatment, I went under the knife again for an unrelated procedure. The surgeon told me he couldn’t see any cancer. For the first time I dared to hope that maybe, just maybe the cannabis oil was working.”

Using suppositories gives no head high, as the delivery bypasses the digestive system and liver, getting right into the blood stream for faster relief from pain and greater healing. Suppositories also promote more effective healing, as they allow a larger dose faster – bypassing the oral step-up protocol.

Because she was unable to tritrate up to the suggested one gram a day of the oil orally, she was convinced the cancer may still be there. Subsequently, she waited nearly a year, until fall of 2012, before having her original surgeon perform three biopsies, just to be sure.

Yelland said her heart was pounding so loudly she could hear whishing in her ears. And then he said, “It’s gone, I can’t find anything at all, not even scar tissue. I would never have known you ever had cancer.”

“I was shaking, looking at him in disbelief, tears streaming down my face,” she remembered. “I hugged him mumbling, ‘thank you, thank you,’ and he looked at me and said, ‘No, thank YOU! You’re the one who did this. You did it Corrie! You pulled it off, you pulled it off!’ And I said, ‘No, doctor, cannabis oil and I pulled it off.”

Author’s note: Corrie Yelland and I went through the cannabis oil treatment at the same time, with both of us going realizing remission in the fall of 2012. We found each other on social media shortly after, with both of us helping people globally with this knowledge ever since.

Pointing them in the right direction

When she was researching alternative methods to treat cancer, she met a woman in Texas diagnosed at the same time with the same type of cancer, and the two felt fortunate to have found each other.

“This woman and I were identical in every aspect – age, diagnostic procedure, same stage of anal cancer – with radiation the recommended treatment” she shared. “I’m very sad to tell you, she chose radiation and died early on from infection and radiation burns. She left behind a husband and 12 year-old daughter. This is another reason why I advocate for cannabis.”

For the masses, knowledge of cannabis has mainly come from America’s failed Drug War via misinformation, with medicinal knowledge of the plant quelled for decades. In Canada, Yelland was under the same impression of the plant – that it was used for recreation only to get high, with little medicinal value.

Like many who have been helped with cannabis, she was compelled to tell everyone she could, initially sharing her story on Facebook. Teaching moments came in unexpected places, and whether she was in line at the grocery store or sitting at a café, the subject had a way of coming up everywhere she went, with Yelland posting her teaching moments to a fast growing audience on social media.

When sponsorships allow, she’s told her story at cannabis conferences around the world, with videos of her testimonial on YouTube garnering tens of thousands of views.

Teaming up with fellow Canadian and radio personality, Ian Jessop, Yelland co-hosts, Cannabis Health Radio, interviewing others around the world using cannabis oil with successful outcomes.

Yelland spends her days answering emails and talking to people via Skype around the world, “pointing them in the right direction,” as she is known to say – for no compensation whatsoever.

“I speak to dozens of people a day, tens of thousands over the course of a year. My day begins at six in the morning and ends at eleven at night, every single day,” she said. “Initially, I spent much of my time trying to talk people into using cannabis oil, diet, and dosing. I would research their particular cancer or ailment and send them studies on their conditions and how it reacted with the oil. But now, my focus is on helping those who are on board for the treatment. There are enough that want to be helped, I’m done trying to convince anyone.”

Her focus is on helping people obtain and/or make quality oil themselves. In the past, Rick Simpson himself encouraged the use of Indica cultivars only. But, cultivars are not stable or reliable and Yelland has found that a multi-cultivar oil gives a larger profile of beneficial compounds. Often referred to as a salad, it was the formulation used for this writer’s breast cancer.

She also warns of snake oil scams, while steering them away from CBD only as a cancer treatment.

“The CBD only oils make me really crazy!” she exclaimed. “I can’t begin to tell you how many patients have died as a result of all the press and misinformation surrounding CBD. I always say, there is a reason the cannabis plant has hundreds of cannabinoids, terpenes and other beneficial compounds – all working synergistically as one.”

Highlights since going into remission and coming into the cannabis space have been speaking at Cannafest in Prague, where people she’s helped and work with came to see her as far away as Vietnam; Bristol, England; Poland, and Los Angeles.

“Meeting people who I’ve helped save their lives has been an incredibly emotional experience,” she said. “One little girl I helped, Cheyenne, was 18 months old when she was sent home to die with Neuroblastoma, tumors throughout her body. The doctor told her parents to take her home and ‘make memories.’ We met two years ago when she was six, she’s turning eight in March of 2020. Stories like Cheyenne’s keep me going.”

Yelland remains humble in her advocacy, drawing all attention to the plant. But the fact is, in celebrating more than seven years of remission, she has walked thousands of individuals from diagnosis to completely resolving their cancer or serious ailments, educating further by sharing outcomes on social media.

“I said all along throughout my own cannabis oil treatment, if this worked I would spend the rest of my life telling people about it,” she declared. “As a result, that’s what I’ve done virtually every single day since finding out I had won my battle with cancer. Cancer isn’t going away anytime soon, and my dream is that cannabis oil will not continue to be a last resort, as it is now – but, a first choice for a safe and humane treatment.

To connect with Corrie Yelland visit her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/corriega.yelland.5

For more information on Cannabis Health Radio visit, www.cannbishealthradio.com

Cannabis Health Radio YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn57GncDqxB7Sm8bY78EqBw

For support with cannabis oil visit Facebook Group, Phoenix Tears Cannabis Oil Advice with Corrie, Janet and Jenn https://www.facebook.com/groups/474089696057739/

Published by Sharon Letts in Weed World Magazine Issue 145