How Autophagy Put Me in Remission from Mesenteric Cancer

Who would have known a plant I used to get high would end up so embedded in a fight for life, over and over again? Cannabinoids from cannabis speak to our internal system, the master regulator— the Endocannabinoid System (ECS).

It wasn’t my first cancer battle, but my second, starting in 2015, in which I chose to learn about this great brain we have within us that regulates inflammation, pain, immune tone, sleep, appetite, mood, and cellular balance.

From Compassion Provider to Researcher in a Triple Cancer Battle

For a long time, I used nature as my teacher, and I shared that with others. In 2015, when I received three concurrent cancer diagnoses, cannabis was my lifeline. I had non-Hodgkin’s, prostate, and a rare one, NHL or nodular histiocytic lymphoma, that would consume the next four years of my life.

During my multiple recurrences, I relied on a boatload of THC oils. I added CBGa in late 2016, and things began to get smoother. The years of 2015 through 2018 were a pothole-filled road of survival, but by February of 2019, I was in full remission from everything.

A month before I went into remission, I decided to get clean from a 24-year prescription opioid addiction. That made 2019 a pretty rough year, but by 2020, I had my life back and emerged energetically again.

But by late 2022, I started feeling off; my abdomen bloated, and the pain within it became too great to bear.

Where I Turned When Non-Hodgkin’s Returned With a Second Cancer

I went to the ER, where they did blood tests and scans. The next day, I was in oncology with non-Hodgkin’s, once again, this time with a second cancer in my mesentery, the backdrop to our internal organs. In less than a month, I underwent exploratory surgery. I lost a lot of blood as they looked for more cancer, but could only find dead tumor tissue. I was diagnosed and sent home with low hemoglobin; blood counts 20% below the ‘low’ mark.

During a post-surgical follow-up with a Physician Assistant in gastroenterology,  I started talking about cannabinoids and apoptosis, programmed cell death. Apoptosis is often the focus of cancer and cannabis conversations. But she shared a way to clean up cells without killing them: autophagy. With my blood counts already low, I was intrigued by the idea of cellular cleanup rather than targeting the disease for apoptosis.

Autophagy Over Apoptosis

Most cancer patients think apoptosis is a guided missile that only hits the bad cells. But even without cancer treatment, the disease can easily stress our marrow, trash our immune system, and harm healthy tissue. With my blood counts already 20% below the low mark, I couldn’t look at cell death as if it were automatically the best path.

The PA explained that sometimes survival isn’t about killing cells; it’s about helping the body clear damage, recycle what it can, and have new healthy cells overpower sick ones.

In cancer, apoptosis isn’t a guided missile that only hits the bad cells. The disease process can stress the marrow, immune system, and healthy tissues. With my blood counts going so low, I needed sensible options.

After two decades fighting cancer, that PA gave me the tools I needed. A different word shifted my focus instantly; it was a glimmer of hope and positivity.

Cellular Cleanup, CBD, CBG, and the Shift Away From Cell Death

I scoured for research and found that this new word was only new to me. Cells use this function to break down damaged parts, recycle materials, and clear waste, which means cancerous cells could rid themselves of the disease. When autophagy functions properly, the body is better able to manage cellular stress.

This realization hit me hard. After everything I had been through, after all the oils, all the plant medicine, all the studying, and all the personal battles, I still had been looking at survival from the outside in. The PA made me look from the inside out.

Autophagy isn’t a magic cure. It requires discipline and control, as it works best during fasting, which isn’t easy for most cancer patients. What I dove into was how and when damaged cells should be cleared, corrected, or controlled.

As I worked through the cannabinoid maze, I realized that ingested CBD and CBG seemed to push my body further into the autophagy process. I could tell as I was improving, and my blood counts slowly started to increase.

It wasn’t coincidental; I used the information given to me by that PA to go down a research rabbit hole, where I discovered a study titled “Cannabidiol regulates apoptosis and autophagy in inflammation and cancer: A review” [1]. CBD and CBG were like smoke signals of the past— a sign of life to my body. I initiated 12-14-hour intermittent fasting to push the cellular cleanup even harder— and it worked.

Oncology offered me treatment plans, but I turned them down, thinking of that PA who steered me in a different direction. It was a gut move to use those two cannabinoids based on information from the PA, which I felt was just as credible as the oncologist, who never mentioned the word we all should know.

Things started changing in my body; I felt the mesenteric mass shrinking. PET scans verified it was happening, with no treatment at all from the Cancer Treatment Center. Slowly over the next two years, that mass turned into a very small signal on the scans, and often fell below the level of uptake necessary to call it ‘cancer’.

UCLA Declared Me “Cured”

In January 2025, I returned for a routine checkup to oncology, but due to changes in insurance, I couldn’t see the same doctor. Instead, I got an order for a PET exam, which came back positive. I received a letter in the mail explaining that I had non-Hodgkin’s, and the oncologist could no longer see me. Panic set in.

I reached out to the UCLA School of Medicine for input. My primary doctor called UCLA Health directly, asking them to take my case. Our attempts were successful, and in February 2025, a UCLA oncologist saw me.

He blurted out, “You don’t have non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; it’s been a misdiagnosis since December 2022. You’ve had negative bone marrow biopsies since 2019. After 5 years, we consider you cured.”

He went on, “Your mesentery has one small spot, which was a surgical error. It’s healing, but still inflamed.”

My smile was enormous; I was free of cancer!

I asked them to document the file that I’d used cannabis oils, but UCLA declined, as they neither provided it nor documented it. However, my primary care doctor and the oncologist did document that I’ve used cannabis oils in all cancer battles since 2015.