Haley Smith is a teenager from Virginia who was diagnosed in 2007 with Dravet syndrome after enduring 6 1/2 years of uncontrolled seizures. Her first seizure occurred at 5 months of age due to an ear infection.
There is no known cure for Dravet. Every year the seizure count increased into the hundreds of seizures limiting her life and that of her family. At the age of 13, she had tried nearly every drug available. She was prescribed more than 17 different pharmaceuticals and she had a medical device implanted (Vagus Nerve Stimulator, VNS, which works like a pacemaker to the brain), and still, there was no relief from the relentless seizures. In 2014 her seizure count for the year was over 1000 visible grand mal seizures.
At this point in her life she slept about 16 hours a day and while she slept she continued to have seizures. When she woke up she would stop. There were other “off-label” drugs that she could try, but with epilepsy, after three failed drugs the chance of the next one working is less than 0.1%.
The Fight to Legalize CBD and THC-A Oil
In 2015 a group of concerned parents lobbied the Virginia General Assembly for the use of CBD and THC-A oil for intractable epilepsies and were successful in securing an affirmative defense.
Her neurologist announced there was nothing left and that if he would not be prosecuted at the state and federal level he would prescribe cannabis as a viable treatment for her. Her mom took that statement to heart and in 2015 she worked alongside other parents to change the law in Virginia that would allow an affirmative defense for possession of CBD and THC-A oil.
Lawmakers voted to pass the bill.
Haley’s Progress After CBD Oil Treatment
Immediately after legalization, Haley started on a kind of CBD Oil called Charlottes’ Web in March 2015 and the results were immediate. Her seizures decreased by 40-50% and she was able to stay awake all day. When we returned to her neurologist after being on the oil for a few months and we had not touched the pharmaceutical, he said it is obviously doing something.
Haley has been on CBD oil since 2015 and has had remarkable cognitive gains and seizure reduction. It has not been a “magic bullet” that takes all her seizures away, but it has improved her quality of life and that of their family.
The lowered seizures count has been great, but the biggest bonus is her cognitive gains. She is now able to learn and has gone from barely existing to truly living.
This video shows her progresses through CBF oil treatment.
