To improve her taste sensation, Gaye would like to use marijuana and is trying to find a doctor willing to prescribe it.

Transcript

And I feel very badly for women who are really upset about it because I do know women who have survived years after breast cancer and it can happen for all of us. The only thing I can say about having my TRAM flap*(Transverse Rectus Abdominis Muscle Flap) is that I don’t know whether it made my stomach smaller or whether it’s just, I didn’t eat a lot while I was on chemo I can’t eat a lot at one time. I eat lots during the day, like I pick during the day because I cannot eat a big meal at once. I can have a little bowl of cereal or I can have a piece of cake or something but I don’t eat a lot and plus I don’t have any taste buds. My, I was hoping and I’ve asked three doctors but they will not prescribe marijuana and so I have some on the side but I don’t smoke it enough because I forget. I’ll lie in bed and think “Oh I should have a joint.” But because all it does is I’ll smoke it and then it makes me tired and I’ll go to bed and have a good sleep. And I find that the first day my mouth is really smoky, the second day I can actually taste something for the first time. I had one I couldn’t believe it because I was eating a spinach and feta pizza and I could actually taste the feta and I was so excited that I could actually taste something. But I need to do that more and I think that marijuana should be legalized and I think that Trudeau is on the right track because I do not think that it’s a bad thing.

* TRAM flap: A section of the lower belly containing blood vessels, skin, fat and muscle is cut and used for breast reconstruction.

Interviewer: And then it improves your taste sensation.

Yes, yes it does, one of the fellas I work with is a scientist and he had gotten this information and gave it to me and I do have information on that if you want it, it says that it does.

So I’m going to see, apparently you can get something that you can put the marijuana in and then you can inhale it and you don’t get that smoke and so I’m going to see if I can find one of these little machines and try that. I think that marijuana should be, and I think that if it is beneficial, that it should be allowed and I know that some doctors will give you a prescription.

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More content

• Alternative and complementary therapies – Gaye
  To improve her taste sensation, Gaye would like to use marijuana and is trying to find a doctor willing to prescribe it.
• Chemotherapy – Gaye
  Gaye's biggest fear was to look like her bald father but her daughter saw a resemblance with Ghandi.
• Surgery – Gaye
  Even though the surgeon advised Gaye to have a double mastectomy, Gaye felt a single was enough.
• Finding and sharing information – Gaye
  Gaye felt that people were focused on feeling sorry for themselves in the support group she visited.
• Follow-up care and the risk of recurrence – Gaye
  Gaye was also at higher risk of a recurrence. She asked her doctor to stop mentioning this at every visit.
• Troubling long-term effects of treatment – Gaye
  Gaye discovered that smoking marijuana temporarily restored her sense of taste and she described her excitement at experiencing flavours again for the first time.
• Treatment for lymphedema – Gaye
  Initially Gaye's swelling was not recognized as lymphedema.