TSC Talks!

In this Special Edition 420 Compilation, we share some favorite audio clips from several of our past guests on the 20th of April, 2020!

First up is Sherri Tutkus, RN, BSN~Founder and CEO of GreenNurse Group, Medical Director of Irie Bliss Wellness and host of GreenNurse on the Go Radio Show.

1. Sherri is a cannabis nurse, patient and advocate. Sherri earned her Bachelors in Science and Nursing from Boston College. She is highly skilled Registered Nurse with 30 years practical experience in various departments within the hospital and home setting. She is utilizing her expert nursing skills as a medical center specialist, clinical nurse liaison and educator to bridge the gap between patients and the cannabis community. Sherri has been educating and implementing holistic integrative healing modalities within her practice for over 20 years. She educates on the endocannabinoid system and the safe utilization of cannabis at dispensaries, hospitals, clinics, patients homes and she regularly does pop up events and expos.

Sherri is a member of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and the Cannabis Nurses Network and she brings passion and purpose to her work teaching bio-psycho-social-spiritual healing using cannabis as a tool. https://greennursegroup.com
Shari's episode on TSC Talks: https://tsctalks.com/sherri-tutkus/

2. Keith Stroup, Mr. Keith Stroup is a Washington, DC public-interest attorney who founded NORML in 1970. Stroup obtained his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois in 1965, and in 1968 he graduated from Georgetown Law School in Washington, DC. Following two years as staff counsel for the National Commission on Product Safety, Mr. Stroup founded NORML and ran the organization through 1979, during which 11 states decriminalized minor marijuana offenses.

Stroup has also practiced criminal law, lobbied on Capitol Hill for family farmers and artists, and for several years served as executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). https://norml.org
Keith's episode on TSC Talks: https://tsctalks.com/tsc-talks-guest-keith-stroup/

3. Nikki Lawley~Nikki Lawley, Cannabis Advocate and Educator

Traumatic brain injury stole my joy, but cannabis returned it.

Nikki, a NY state resident, has always been a proud and diligent worker. She’s served as an HVAC filtration salesperson, later starting her own company, then as a casino dealer, and most recently, as a pediatric nurse. She had suffered two traumatic brain injuries during her younger years, but it was the third TBI that suddenly changed everything. In a heartbeat, her life changed from one of optimism, vibrancy, enthusiasm, confidence, and extroversion, to one of constant pain, withdrawal, depression, and hopelessness.

While trying to help administer a routine vaccine to a young boy, Nikki was thrown against the wall, suffering a significant TBI and cervical instability in the process. Nikki’s TBI has caused cognitive deficiencies, confusion, memory loss, anxiety, and pain. She found herself unable to work, unable to interact with others, and in a very dark place. None of the numerous traditional medications she’s tried helped, and if fact, their ghastly side effects left her even worse off.

She had long since reached the end of her rope, when, on a whim, figuring she had nothing more to lose, she turned to cannabis. https://linktr.ee/Nikkilawley
Nikki's episode on TSC Talks: https://tsctalks.com/tsc-talks-guest-nikki-lawley/

4. Mike Robinson~Mike Robinson, the founder of the Global Cannabinoid Research
Center in Santa Barbara California, is a multiple Cancer survivor that’s used cannabis oils and CBD extensively as well for Severe epilepsy, Chronic Lyme Disease, PTSD, and in pain management. Over the last 6 years Mike has shared his journey and analytics on cannabinoid medicine research globally while assisting patients and helping to teach clinicians globally. Mike is the former Director of Consumer Affairs and Communications at The American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine. His post grad education, however is not in cannabis or cannabinoid medicine, rather it’s focus was International Relations and Diplomacy. Robinson has an extensive history of leading a large compassion program that provided countless disadvantaged cannabis patients with various alternative protocol treatments, is a published journalist and international cannabinoid research specialist, is a former registered Civil Rights lobbyist and non attorney that represented countless disabled children pro bono nationwide for over 2 decades. He’s a past board member of Big Brothers and Sisters, the founder of multiple non profits for disabled children, and is well known for adopting a severely disabled child, Genevieve, from the compassion program he once ran.

Read Genevieve’s Journey in High Times: https://hightimes.com/culture/genevieves-journey-how-cannabis-helped-save-life-create-family/
https://mikesmedicines.com, https://globalcannabinoidrc.com, https://genevievesdream.com, https://carouselchallenge.com

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Utilize medication and stay medicated :)

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tsc-talks--1666046/support.

In this Special Edition 420 Compilation, we share some favorite audio clips from several of our past guests on the 20th of April, 2020!

First up is Sherri Tutkus, RN, BSN~Founder and CEO of GreenNurse Group, Medical Director of Irie Bliss Wellness and host of GreenNurse on the Go Radio Show.

1. Sherri is a cannabis nurse, patient and advocate. Sherri earned her Bachelors in Science and Nursing from Boston College. She is highly skilled Registered Nurse with 30 years practical experience in various departments within the hospital and home setting. She is utilizing her expert nursing skills as a medical center specialist, clinical nurse liaison and educator to bridge the gap between patients and the cannabis community. Sherri has been educating and implementing holistic integrative healing modalities within her practice for over 20 years. She educates on the endocannabinoid system and the safe utilization of cannabis at dispensaries, hospitals, clinics, patients homes and she regularly does pop up events and expos.

Sherri is a member of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and the Cannabis Nurses Network and she brings passion and purpose to her work teaching bio-psycho-social-spiritual healing using cannabis as a tool. https://greennursegroup.com

Shari's episode on TSC Talks: https://tsctalks.com/sherri-tutkus/

2. Keith Stroup, Mr. Keith Stroup is a Washington, DC public-interest attorney who founded NORML in 1970. Stroup obtained his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois in 1965, and in 1968 he graduated from Georgetown Law School in Washington, DC. Following two years as staff counsel for the National Commission on Product Safety, Mr. Stroup founded NORML and ran the organization through 1979, during which 11 states decriminalized minor marijuana offenses.

Stroup has also practiced criminal law, lobbied on Capitol Hill for family farmers and artists, and for several years served as executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). https://norml.org

Keith's episode on TSC Talks: https://tsctalks.com/tsc-talks-guest-keith-stroup/

3. Nikki Lawley~Nikki Lawley, Cannabis Advocate and Educator

Traumatic brain injury stole my joy, but cannabis returned it.

Nikki, a NY state resident, has always been a proud and diligent worker. She’s served as an HVAC filtration salesperson, later starting her own company, then as a casino dealer, and most recently, as a pediatric nurse. She had suffered two traumatic brain injuries during her younger years, but it was the third TBI that suddenly changed everything. In a heartbeat, her life changed from one of optimism, vibrancy, enthusiasm, confidence, and extroversion, to one of constant pain, withdrawal, depression, and hopelessness.

While trying to help administer a routine vaccine to a young boy, Nikki was thrown against the wall, suffering a significant TBI and cervical instability in the process. Nikki’s TBI has caused cognitive deficiencies, confusion, memory loss, anxiety, and pain. She found herself unable to work, unable to interact with others, and in a very dark place. None of the numerous traditional medications she’s tried helped, and if fact, their ghastly side effects left her even worse off.

She had long since reached the end of her rope, when, on a whim, figuring she had nothing more to lose, she turned to cannabis. https://linktr.ee/Nikkilawley

Nikki's episode on TSC Talks: https://tsctalks.com/tsc-talks-guest-nikki-lawley/

4. Mike Robinson~Mike Robinson, the founder of the Global Cannabinoid Research

Center in Santa Barbara California, is a multiple Cancer survivor that’s used cannabis oils and CBD extensively as well for Severe epilepsy, Chronic Lyme Disease, PTSD, and in pain management. Over the last 6 years Mike has shared his journey and analytics on cannabinoid medicine research globally while assisting patients and helping to teach clinicians globally. Mike is the former...

The second episode of The Mike Drop is dedicated to Charlotte Figi who recently passed due to complications from Epilepsy. Mike Robinson, who is also afflicted by Epilepsy and host, Jill Woodworth, who has children with Tuberous Sclerosis related epilepsy, have an intense discussion of Mike's first memory of hearing about Charlotte Figi,

"My whole journey with cannabis started with looking at a picture of Charlotte. I mean literally when I first started using cannabis and CBD I didn't even know how to use it. I'd been using cannabis my whole life pretty much, smoking it, but not using medicinally and ingesting it. I didn't even know I was eating CBD because a roommate was giving it to me who couldn't pronounce it. A guy from Korea was calling it can't eat it all. And then finally one day, he spelled it out for me, Cannabidiol, and I went to Google the word and up popped, Charlotte Figi"

From here Mike goes into extensive detail regarding the importance of valuing our time and treasuring the moments because of the uncertainty inherent in an epilepsy diagnosis, whether actively seizing or not. "There are only so many days left. My days matter. So for us, in the world of epilepsy, we are rich with life. We don't need the money to have to value our time."

Mike gives an eloquent explanation of a "cytokine storm", what it is, how it is relevant to status epilepticus AND COVID 19 and how Charlotte Figi's passing enabled Mike to connect the dots. "So when I look at the impact that she had, it's not just on the cannabis industry. It's right now during the height of a global pandemic, the impact that allowed me just one little guy in an eight by eight Research Center office to dig deep into this different response to the immune system. And it's really not that different, like we talked about. Somebody tears ligament in their knee. The immune system is what causes this cytokine storm that causes swelling in that knee. It's that basic. So the person has a problem in their lungs, from COVID-19, it's the immune system sending the fluid there, the person has a bunch of seizures, and a lot of gets inflamed. It's the immune system again."

We discuss a product that's in development, "So literally what I put everything down for and it wasn't just a response to COVID-19, because when you respond to a cytokine storm, you're responding to every last health issue that causes this. There's a lot of them as we've gone over. The very same formulations I have been working on work for cancer patients undergoing chemo to release free radicals. For anybody who's exposed to anything ...to be safe. It also works for an athlete who just worked out real hard, and for anyone that's just too stressed. Let's say a mom taking care of their special needs kid all day long. backache stressed out, needs to rest, is going nuts. I developed something anyone could put on their body doing something they do every single day.."

From here we go into more into detail on products being developed that make claims about treating COVID19 and the dire importance of ending cannabis prohibition, and getting all hands on deck researching and developing an endless number of potential treatments for so many conditions. Mike discusses the challenges to the autism and special needs population escalated by COVID19 and how dire and frustrating what's happening with our loved ones who need relief and treatments now. One of his constant goals that is coming to fruition, is bringing to market cannabis strains that address the autism symptoms and other challenges that have afflicted so many individuals and families many of which CAN BE addressed utilizing the powers of cannabinoid medicine.

A parting quote: "I just want to remember Charlotte, and I want to do it in a positive, positive light. We had an angel, visit our earth and stay here for a brief period of time. And whilst you hear the number of lives changed, weren't in the millions, weren't in the tens of millions, I...

A frank discussion with John D. Brigham partner/boyfriend of the host of TSC Talks, Jill Woodworth on his experience moving in with our family dealing with extreme circumstances TSC related, trauma-related. How we made it work and how we're coping now. We will cover TAND, behavior mgmt issues, relationship challenges, and strategies, cannabinoid medicine and coping. All are welcome, participation encouraged. JD Brigham is from way up north in VT, has a background in healthcare IT, has a son from a previous relationship, a long time cannabis enthusiast and one of the most incredible humans I know.

John or JD as they know him in Newport, Vermont, where he was born, is a man of few- but carefully chosen words. A highly skilled programmer in the medical/healthcare industry, he also recently worked as a technology teacher at Stetson School in Barre, MA, a school for behaviorally challenged young boys/men. Harnessing the life lessons learned early from growing up in a large family with working parents who passed on a depth of inner wisdom, perseverance, and commitment that John has tapped and utilized well to help "crack the code" of my offspring's TSC associated neuropsychiatric disorders (TAND) and many other challenges that are inevitable in any relationship where there's more than just two people involved, but particularly one where several children have issues that fall outside of the margins of typical. Oh and John also loves skiing, football, and Animé😊. With much gratitude and love

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tsc-talks--1666046/support.

In Part 2 of this episode of TSC Talks, I spoke to Liz Minda, RN and Mike Robinson, former TSC Talks guest, drops in for the second half of our conversation. Liz has three children, one of whom has significant special needs and issues related to epileptic seizures. Liz strongly believes her daughter’s issues are pharma injuries and we discuss that and the treatment protocol. Liz had her children later in life; her son was born when she was 48 and her twin daughters were born when she was 50. She had normal uneventful pregnancies and her children were all born healthy. All was well until, at 18 months old, one of her daughters developed a fever after her MMR/DPT vaccine. That was when she had her first seizure.

Liz’s daughter had no further seizures until she was 4. When the seizures came back, they were severe grand mal status epilepticus seizures. Liz hesitated to medicate her daughter because as an RN, she was aware of the difficulty of finding an effective medicine as well as the myriad of side effects anti-seizure meds can cause. When the seizures continued, they eventually started meds which began a cycle of seizures increasing in both frequency and duration. In addition to meds, they put the child on the ketogenic diet. The grueling regimen did not help her seizure activity. Liz was desperate after even the rescue med Diastat began to fail to control the seizures.
Liz got her daughter into the Epidiolex study at Mass General and her daughter’s seizures diminished for a few months, but they returned. When the seizures started again, doctors increased her pharmaceuticals which restarted the med, seizure pattern. Liz grew frustrated with the medical establishment who seemed determined to throw prescription after prescription at them at great financial, physical and emotional cost. She found a neuro-epileptologist who helped her begin weaning her daughter from some of the prescription meds and helped her transition to Charlotte’s Web.

Liz connected with Mike Robinson online and Mike and others in the Compassionate Cannabis world assisted Liz in finding a balanced cannabinoid medicine that worked for her daughter. Mike and Liz discuss Epidiolex and the pharmaceutical interactions which do not seem to be compensated for when using that med. Liver issues can be serious when Epidiolex or any type of CBD is combined with certain medications. Mike shares, “Even though we were using the Charlotte's Web, Charlotte's Web wasn't enough to help us get off. We needed something stronger. We needed the Rick Simpson oil or full extract cannabis oil to get her off. Because we only had you know, once you get down to the miniscule doses of the pharmaceuticals, now you're really up against you know, fighting seizures, because you go with a really slow business and that's pretty much where we've stepped in, you know, it's right with the actual compassion provision.”

Both Mike and Liz believe vaccine injury is real. We ask you to keep an open mind while listening. Before you form an opinion, walk a mile with Liz and Mike, hear their stories and then decide. Liz comments, “and then people say, vaccines don't cause autism? Yes, they do, and here's why. When the brain heats up and you get a fever, you've got brain on fire” and she believes that “brain on fire” condition causes both seizures and autism.

TSC Talks is not pro or anti vaccine but believes each parent should make the decision they believe is best for their child.

Liz’s Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_on_Fire
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-minda-98b9b1126/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011148612874
https://www.mikesmedicines.com/medical-marijuana/liz-minda-and-her-fight-for-jadyn-cannabis-for-epilepsy/
https://herb.co/news/health/rhode-island-cbd-school-minda/
https://digboston.com/medical-cannabis-special-treating-yourself/
https://www.wpri.com/news/special-reports/family-fights-to-change-law-says-medical-cannabis-should-be-administered-in-school/

Mike’s Links:
https://mikesmedicines.com
https://globalcannabinoidrc.com/
https://carouselchallenge.com
https://genevievesdream.com
https://nanobles.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-robinson-~-cannabis-heals-256b3192/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MikesEpilepsy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cannabismymedicine/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeRob47354384, https://twitter.com/MikeRob23307223
https://hightimes.com/culture/genevieves-journey-how-cannabis-helped-save-life-create-family/
https://www.imedpub.com/proceedings/cbn-the-cancer-fighting-cannabinoid-5528.html

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tsc-talks--1666046/support.

In this episode of TSC Talks, I spoke to Liz Minda, RN and Mike Robinson, former TSC Talks guest, drops in for the second half of our conversation. Liz has three children, one of whom has significant special needs and issues related to epileptic seizures. Liz strongly believes her daughter’s issues are pharma injuries and we discuss that and the treatment protocol. Liz had her children later in life; her son was born when she was 48 and her twin daughters were born when she was 50. She had normal uneventful pregnancies and her children were all born healthy. All was well until, at 18 months old, one of her daughters developed a fever after her MMR/DPT vaccine. That was when she had her first seizure.

Liz’s daughter had no further seizures until she was 4. When the seizures came back, they were severe grand mal status epilepticus seizures. Liz hesitated to medicate her daughter because as an RN, she was aware of the difficulty of finding an effective medicine as well as the myriad of side effects anti-seizure meds can cause. When the seizures continued, they eventually started meds which began a cycle of seizures increasing in both frequency and duration. In addition to meds, they put the child on the ketogenic diet. The grueling regimen did not help her seizure activity. Liz was desperate after even the rescue med Diastat began to fail to control the seizures.

Liz got her daughter into the Epidiolex study at Mass General and her daughter’s seizures diminished for a few months, but they returned. When the seizures started again, doctors increased her pharmaceuticals which restarted the med, seizure pattern. Liz grew frustrated with the medical establishment who seemed determined to throw prescription after prescription at them at great financial, physical and emotional cost. She found a neuro-epileptologist who helped her begin weaning her daughter from some of the prescription meds and helped her transition to Charlotte’s Web.

Liz connected with Mike Robinson online and Mike and others in the Compassionate Cannabis world assisted Liz in finding a balanced cannabinoid medicine that worked for her daughter. Mike and Liz discuss Epidiolex and the pharmaceutical interactions which do not seem to be compensated for when using that med. Liver issues can be serious when Epidiolex or any type of CBD is combined with certain medications. Mike shares, “Even though we were using the Charlotte's Web, Charlotte's Web wasn't enough to help us get off. We needed something stronger. We needed the Rick Simpson oil or full extract cannabis oil to get her off. Because we only had you know, once you get down to the miniscule doses of the pharmaceuticals, now you're really up against you know, fighting seizures, because you go with a really slow business and that's pretty much where we've stepped in, you know, it's right with the actual compassion provision.”

Both Mike and Liz believe vaccine injury is real. We ask you to keep an open mind while listening. Before you form an opinion, walk a mile with Liz and Mike, hear their stories and then decide. Liz comments, “and then people say, vaccines don't cause autism? Yes, they do, and here's why. When the brain heats up and you get a fever, you've got brain on fire” and she believes that “brain on fire” condition causes both seizures and autism.

TSC Talks is presenting this narrative and these views do not necessarily represent the views of TSC Talks. We are encouraging you as listeners, to "walk a mile" in Liz's shoes and understand the vast variability in the human genome which calls for a far more personalized approach to medicine than is currently the status quo.

Liz’s Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_on_Fire
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-minda-98b9b1126/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011148612874
https://www.mikesmedicines.com/medical-marijuana/liz-minda-and-her-fight-for-jadyn-cannabis-for-epilepsy/
https://herb.co/news/health/rhode-island-cbd-school-minda/
https://digboston.com/medical-cannabis-special-treating-yourself/
https://www.wpri.com/news/special-reports/family-fights-to-change-law-says-medical-cannabis-should-be-administered-in-school/

Mike’s Links:
https://mikesmedicines.com
https://globalcannabinoidrc.com/
https://carouselchallenge.com
https://genevievesdream.com
https://nanobles.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-robinson-~-cannabis-heals-256b3192/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MikesEpilepsy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cannabismymedicine/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeRob47354384, https://twitter.com/MikeRob23307223
https://hightimes.com/culture/genevieves-journey-how-cannabis-helped-save-life-create-family/
https://www.imedpub.com/proceedings/cbn-the-cancer-fighting-cannabinoid-5528.html

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tsc-talks--1666046/support.

In this first episode of The Mike Drop, a podcast with Mike Robinson, Founder of Global Cannabinoid Research Center, Cancer Survivor and Cannabis Advocate, shares his words of wisdom regarding the current state of affairs with Coronavirus/COVID19. He discusses the importance of understanding that cannabinoids are not proven to treat or cure coronavirus, however he discusses the importance of knowing that the effect of cannabinoids on coronavirus should be studied as soon as possible! Parts of this episode were broadcast on TSC Talks in early March. In the weeks that followed, there have been articles published requesting scientists begin to study the effect of the cannabinoids on the coronavirus. We felt it was important to share this detailed information one more time.

Stay tuned for more information and news about The Mike Drop!

Mike Robinson's websites are as follows:

https://globalcannabinoidrc.com

https://genevievesdream.com

https://carouselchallenge.com

https://trulifemedicinals.com

https://nanobles.com

support from https://tsctalks.com

I had the honor of speaking to three accomplished women about the current state of birth both locally and nationally. We discuss the increasing interest in home births, the advantages and disadvantages of home versus hospital births and how those expecting, or expecting to be expecting, can best prepare especially with the extra consideration of Covid19.

Corrine Pellard is an Empath, Psychic Medium and Reiki Master. She is also a mom of two and tells us about her experience of both a hospital birth and an at-home birth. Corrine discusses the lack of control over the birthing experience that she experienced with her first child. She discusses being considered high risk because of her age and weight and how the entire birth experience was centered around preconceived notions based on the masses and not her individually. She was induced, unnecessarily in her view, was sick from the drug used to induce and delivered by cesarean section. She shares, “It was traumatic, and my healing my first two months of being a mother was physically painful and my anxiety post, I had postpartum anxiety to a very severe degree.” When Corrine became pregnant again, she knew she wanted a different birthing experience. She found Birth Matters and decided to try a natural, vaginal delivery at home.
Jodi Churchill Chapin has been a Registered Nurse for 32 years, most of which she has spent in Labor and Delivery. Jodi discusses bridging the traditional birth and hospital procedures with less traditional therapies such as Reiki. Jodi states, “And we incorporated, you know, you're there, you’re exchanging energy. It's how the patient uses her energy and is able to focus on the birth process. And I think what’s important is that being able to balance, you know, following policy and procedure, but also carrying out the patient (and) the family's wishes of how they envisioned birth. I mean birth is, you know, one of those things, it's like, even planning a wedding, you look forward to this one day you plan you plan you plan, you think it's going to go one way and then plans change on a dime. And how it's handled can make it or break it.”

Jessica Petrone is a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), RN and BSN who has been in practice for 13 years. Her practice saw a record number of home births last year and Jessica believes that number will continue to grow. She relates, “But I think specifically in the last couple of years, there seems to be a shift in people just taking charge of their health care even in the medical setting. There's more conscious awareness, practices and practitioners breaking away from the traditional systems and framework but yeah, we love home birth. We do a lot of water birth we work with a lot of different practitioners to enhance really healthy pregnancies. We absolutely consult with medical providers when it's necessary.” Corrine shared about her experience with Jessica and Birth Matters, “So, I will say one of the biggest differences that I noticed on my very first appointment with a Birth Matters in the home birth midwives is they asked my consent, which nobody asked my consent. I mean, sure I signed forms but before touching me, nobody offered before examining me, nobody asked permission to touch my body.”

The conversation continues to the state of birth currently with the threat of COVID19. Jodi discusses the difficulty of taking the necessary precautions in the time of a pandemic while trying to connect with an expectant mom during the labor and delivery process. “This Covid19 has put a huge damper on healthy women wanting to come in to have their normal birth. Especially right now, today. Anybody and everybody walking into the hospital or around the hospital has to wear a mask. You cannot take that mask off anytime you are on hospital property that includes in the labor room, that includes the patient that includes the patient's one person that's helping them with birth, there are no visitors allowed, no children, family, nobody else. The only person allowed in the room is the one that will be wearing that second baby bracelet that's given out when a baby's born. I mean, labor, you're breathing with women, you're teaching. I mean, it's all about the closeness. How do you socially distance yourself from somebody who needs your support, your encouragement, your empowerment?”

Jessica discusses the fact that more women are considering home births currently. “The influx of inquiries is so unexpected, I can't keep up. I'm getting probably 10 emails a day, which it is impossible for us to entertain the idea of taking all these women on. And that's true of a lot of midwives across the state, really. Not everybody is a good candidate. I mean most people probably inquiring last minute. We had yesterday, a woman inquire and she's due March 30. That's like, less than a week from now. If people are making choices out of fear and panic it is not what's happening, and whenever we get an inquiry that somebody is so afraid of the hospital and so afraid of other providers and afraid of needles, I mean, we all encounter that in patient care, but they may not be a great candidate. But that's not what's happening right now. These are women that are realizing that their birth plan, what they thought they were going to experience in the hospital, is drastically different and there is obviously a great concern about becoming sick and being exposed but a lot of the women are making the choice based on the fact that their support person might not be able to be present with them.” Jessica recommends that women do their research before opting for a home birth.
I am grateful to these remarkable women for sharing their wisdom.

Corrine Pellard is an Empath and a Psychic Medium. Even as a small child, Corrine has had a special insight into other people’s emotions. Beginning in her early teenage years, her intuition would alert her when something important was about to occur, either for herself or a loved one. At age 14, Corrine began using the wisdom of Tarot Cards to enhance her psychic connection. As years went on, Corrine became more aware of her ability as her readings became more accurate and her predictions began to materialize. At the age of 30, she began having premonition dreams. After seeking the guidance of her Shaman, she came to accept that she is an Empath & an Intuitive. Corrine is a natural healer, using her Empathy, Intuition, and Reiki to heal others emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Corrine is also able to mediate communication between people who are no longer living to those who still are. She offers private readings and hearings and in-home parties. She is a wedding officiant offering custom designed ceremonies. Her true passion is teaching others to honor their own abilities and helping others heal themselves.
Beyond the Gate
508-690-0444
[email protected]
https://www.gobeyondthegate.com/
https://www.buzzsprout.com/865777/2868628-sobriety-as-an-empath-corrine-s-story

Jodi Churchill Chapin has been a Registered Nurse for 32 years. She has an extensive background in women’s health as a labor and delivery nurse and has also worked in oncology. She resides in Framingham with her husband of 25 years. Together, they have 3 children ranging from middle school age to college, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a bunny named Kiwi. Jodi firmly believes that vulnerability is to be met with compassion, respect, and active listening to ensure that her patients have the very best outcomes. She credits her extensive nursing career and healer background with these virtues and skills. Jodi is also a Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Level II Practitioner. Through this healing art, Jodi may be able to help people who are struggling with a wide range of health conditions such as headaches, insomnia, back pain, cancer, heart disease, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and may even be used to help in the recovery from injuries and surgery. As an active member of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and a GNG team member, she helps advocate for people who choose to use cannabis as a complementary or alternative treatment, providing education, insight, guidance, and support in the process.
https://www.greennursegroup.com/our-team
https://www.emedevents.com/speaker-profile/jodi-churchill-chapin
https://green-nurse-sandbox.iriebliss.com/green_nurse_staff/jodi-chapin/

Jessica Petrone, CPM, RN, BSN
Jessica's experience in birth includes her work as a doula, her completion of a 3 year midwifery apprenticeship in a very busy home birth practice and being a mother of four, with the last being an unassisted home birth attended only by her husband and herself. Her own births led her to become a doula which led her to become an apprentice and, in turn, a midwife. But that’s the abbreviated version! Jessica has been attending home births since 2006. She is co-president of the Massachusetts Midwives Alliance, a member of ALACE (Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators), and a member of the Birth Year Network (a Southeastern Mass, Cape and Islands Birth Resource Network). She holds certifications in CPR and Neonatal Resuscitation. She completed her formal education remotely through the National College of Midwifery in Taos, New Mexico, where she earned a degree in the Science of Midwifery. Most recently, Jessica has completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, which included a 6-month preceptorship in a high volume/high risk maternity unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.
https://homebirthmatters.com/about/jessica-petrone/
https://www.modernmamamidwifery.com/the-midwives
http://bostonvoyager.com/interview/meet-jessica-petrone-sarafina-kennedy-birthmatters-llc-boson/
Supplemental Article:
https://nypost.com/2020/03/23/pregnant-women-share-what-its-like-to-be-expecting-during-coronavirus-pandemic/

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In this episode, my guest Sherri Tutkus, RN, BSN, Founder & CEO of Green Nurse Group, came on the podcast to share a powerful and inspiring mother son story that follows the timeline from receiving a diagnosis at birth of her son Nicholas with Branchio-Oculo-Facial Syndrome through current day. Sherri gives one of the most powerful illustrations over the course of the episode, of a mother's love, courage, compassion, resilience and tenacity that I've ever heard, and is a fantastic example of holding onto presumption of competence as a guiding light, against all odds.

Sherri Tutkus is the founder and CEO of GreenNurse Group, Nursing Director at Irie Bliss Wellness and host of GreenNurse on the Go Radio Show. Sherri is a cannabis nurse, patient and advocate. She earned her Bachelors in Science and Nursing from Boston College. She is highly skilled Registered Nurse with 30 years’ practical experience in various departments within the hospital and home setting. She is utilizing her expert nursing skills as a medical center specialist, clinical nurse liaison and educator to bridge the gap between patients and the cannabis community. Sherri has been educating and implementing holistic integrative healing modalities within her practice for over 20 years. She educates on the endocannabinoid system and the safe utilization of cannabis at dispensaries, hospitals, clinics, patients homes and she regularly does pop up events, seminars and expos. Sherri is an international speaker and she has contributed to the writing of the first cannabis nursing textbook with her cannabis nurse colleagues that will be available in nursing schools across the country. Sherri is a member of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and founding member of The Cannabis Nurses Network and was nominated as one of two nurses for “Health Professional of the Year” for the 2020 New England Cannabis Convention. Sherri brings passion and purpose to her work teaching bio-psycho-social-spiritual healing using cannabis as a tool.

In the first part of this podcast, Sherri discusses her own background and connection to cannabinoid medicine. The tools she learned in her own journey enabled Sherri to cope with frequent and ongoing surgeries, procedures, treatments for her son Nicholas and advocate vociferously on his behalf.

"When I'm presenting to people, I use myself as a case study. Because basically, prior to me getting ill, I had a history of migraine headaches, ADHD, and anxiety, that was managed with traditional medicine. I was functioning, I was healthy, single mother of three, child with a disability that we're going to talk about, but knowing that I had migraine headaches and at ADHD symptoms should have been a clear indicator that I had an Endocannabinoid deficiency. So everything that we do or don't do in our lives as far as health and wellness affects this neurotransmitter signaling system called the endocannabinoid system, and that the job of that system is to bring balance."

She goes on to explain, "By the end before I discovered cannabis. I was on over 16 pharmaceuticals. So, as I've learned over time, if you're taking more than 10 pharmaceuticals, there's 100% chance of having an adverse drug reaction. Polypharmacy. I fit into that polypharmacy category. I am not anti pharma. However, what is really essential for people to understand when they are being prescribed pharmaceuticals is to ask those critical questions and to look at what side effects there are to look at the blackbox warning Okay, how many people have died? You know, what are the side effects, what are the adverse effects, you need to have knowledge knowledge is power. The other thing that people People don't realize is that a lot of pharmaceuticals have a drug nutrient depletion"

She goes on to explain, " I have have a history of Polycystic Ovarian disease which is very interesting. And that yeah, that is considered to be a clinical Endocannabinoid deficiency diagnoses as well. So I had issues with fertility all along. ... And then my third pregnancy... it's interesting, you know I gained all kinds of weight and wasn't happy and I started changing my lifestyle when the babies came. And all of a sudden my reproductive system started to auto regulate. I was using specific supplements and nutrition. I changed my diet, I became vegan, I did a raw diet, and all of a sudden, I'm a fertile Myrtle. And before we know it, I'm pregnant with my third"

From here, Sherri goes on to discuss the birth of Nicholas and the immediate realization that he had multiple issues of which she was not aware of up until the moment of his birth. She explained to me in writing prior to the recording of this episode, the following, "All of my births were traumatic experiences however this pregnancy was the best and the easiest. I had an uneventful healthy pregnancy. I broke my water 6 weeks early and when my first boy was born he was not breathing and they had to resuscitate him and over the course of my first postpartum days I learned that my son had a rare genetic disorder called Branchio-Oculo Facial Syndrome."

BOFS is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Each child of an individual with BOFS has a 50% change of inheriting the variant. Nick’s dad carried the gene and at the time of diagnoses the gene had not been identified.

She discusses the realization of impact, "you have these craniofacial anomalies that required over 15 surgeries, but the things that they said about mental retardation was not true. The surgical stuff they were able to do . I engaged upon a journey with him that I would do anything for him. It was kind of like, I just got to do this. And so he became my full time job. "

I asked Sherri the question, "How did you do it? How did you handle this huge weight of reality repeatedly?" She explained, "I got back to really the basics of self care and being present and grounded. I had already have a lot of those spiritual tools. My son opened up the door to the unseen worlds for me, which is a whole other show. But literally, I kind of felt like and I know it sounds crazy, but I'm sure other mothers can agree or associate or identify.... that I just felt a really strong connection with him and being able to understand what his needs were even before he could communicate."

She goes on to add, "it gets back to what I can and cannot control you know, even if I can't control my emotions, even if I'm out of control, like hysterical or anxiety-ridden or sad, I still can have the ability to control what I'm doing and not doing in my life. And so what I knew to be true was in order for me to be the best version of myself, I needed to do everything that I could to take care of myself. And that included my mental health."

She goes on to say, "But he's a true miracle. I gave him every opportunity. And he basically showed me through his own actions and his kindness and compassion and his grit and his ability. The kid had so much resilience and he wanted to heal, you know, he's not mentally retarded, he got set up with the Deaf Services as we found out later, he doesn't have sensory neural hearing loss, he has a bone conduction hearing loss. And so he basically told me one day Mom, I want to smile with the rest of the kids. And I was like, oh, of course you do. How do I make that happen? And boy, that was a scary journey. We literally embarked upon the journey of having my boy get a smile."

"The amazing craniofacial team at Boston Children's Hospital did an experimental surgery that is called facial reanimation. And basically they didn't know. They said it would evolve over time, would the nerve take and would it connect and would it work? So here we are... I don't know here we are going. Through 16 hours of surgery 10 days in the hospital, not knowing if this is going to work or not. That was another faith based thing. Honestly, you know, it's all you have, and then literally one morning when I was waking him up for school, all of a sudden he sits up in bed. He smiles. So he's really he's come a long way. He's 14 years old now. When he was in sixth grade, he said, I want to go to public school. Oh my god, how is he going to be able to go to public school? So I was like, Okay, let's try to make it happen. And we embarked on the journey of integrating him into the public system."

Bringing us to current day, Sherri explains, "You know, he is thriving. He's finishing up the eighth grade this year. And his freshman year, next year in high school, he will be in the public school. He still has an IEP, he's going to be in all honors and advanced honors classes is number one subject Spanish. And one of the other thing is that, you know, oftentimes as parents, we may feel sorry for our kid and you may feel bad. He doesn't feel sorry for himself. He doesn't feel bad."

A final quote, "So what can I control? I try to control other people. And we can't control anyone. We can't. And that's the part that was the biggest lesson that I learned. And he taught me that, he taught me where my power lies and where it doesn't lie and how to choose and pick my battles and what's important and what's not important. And in the grand scheme of life, when you can pull back from that and see, what am I doing to be the best version of myself, so I can help my child thrive?"

Sherri's links:
Green Nurse Group: https://www.greennursegroup.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreenNurseSherri
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherri_tutkus/, https://www.instagram.com/greennursegroup/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Green_Nurses
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherri-tutkus-rn-bsn-912b7776/

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Here is the audio version of the Facebook Live episode that aired on March 26, 2020. The YouTube link for the video is as follows: https://youtu.be/cIp6BinWD6c

In this episode, Dr. Uma joined host Jill Woodworth on TSC Talks Facebook page to engage in a discussion on the impact of #Coronavirus/ #COVID19 We'll talk about the personal impact, local impact in MA on the cannabis community, and beyond MA, Info on symptoms, knowing when to stay home and when to contact a doctor, what we can do to decrease our risk and boost our immune system. Dr. Uma shared thoughts on the importance of learning from this global pandemic, and how we can come together despite social distancing, and hold onto hope that there is life after Covid19, and hope is important as we walk through this very challenging and confusing time. Thank you for watching and/or listening !!🙏

Dr. Uma Dhanabalan MD MPH FAAFP MRO CMS is is a highly respected physician trained in Family Medicine, Occupational & Environmental Medicine, specialized in heavy metals, a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, a Cannabinoid Medicine Specialist and Medical Review Officer.

She created the TotalHealthCareTHC model where she “Educates Embraces Empowers” patients and promotes cannabis as a treatment option at Uplifting Health and Wellness, in Natick, Massachusetts. She is an advocate, activist, and educator and speaks globally about cannabis as a plant medicine. Her mission is to change the Stigma regarding Cannabis and for the world to know about the Endocannabinoid system through education.

Dr. Uma can be found at http://totalhealthcarethc.com/ on Facebook UpliftingHealth AndWellness. Namaste.💙 Additional Links as follows:

Dr. Uma was a previous guest on TSC Talks. Her podcast link: https://tsctalks.com/tsc-talks-guest-dr-uma-dhanabalan/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Uma-Dhanabalan/100008556311630
https://www.facebook.com/upliftinghealthandwellness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.uma_thc/, https://www.instagram.com/uplifting_health_and_wellness/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-uma-dhanabalan-md-mph-faafp-mro-cms-02843040/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drumasays
https://necann.com/news/speaker/dr-uma-dhanabalan/

Check our FB page and website: https://tsctalks.com and stay tuned for more incredible content. 💙🙏

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