Daily Dose: Dogs & Cancer

By Sharon Letts

 

Treating venereal tumor with cannabis & chamomile suppositories

Two years ago I rescued mother and daughter, Luna and Lala, from a puppy mill. They were in very bad shape, but were helped by using topical cannabis and chamomile remedies both by ingesting and topically. 

After having a year and a half of a good life with me, Luna passed away early in 2022. It was estimated she was around nine years old, having lived seven years or so in the puppy mill, used and abused for her beauty.

Lala lived her first four years in the mill, and left with a sexually transmitted disease (STD), a venereal tumor in her vagina, common in the puppy mills here. 

Note: The puppy mill was not run by Mexicans, but Americans. Most of the dog, cat, and even horse rescues here in Baja California, where I live, are run by non-Mexicans for the greater good. And the young people of Mexico, in general, are getting their pets spayed and neutered in the clinics provided, where traditionally it just wasn’t done here. 

Plants Or Pharma?

The veterinarian in Mexico that I worked with said this type of cancer doesn’t kill them, it’s just uncomfortable and can cause complications as it grows. Low-dose chemotherapy is commonly used.

I told her about the work I do and my apothecary work at home, and she was in agreement that I could try the cannabis/plant suppositories first, and save the chemo for later, if need be. 

She also understood that if I chose the chemo I would still give Lala the cannabis oil through the treatments, as it quells the negative side effects of the treatment namely, pain, sickness, and wasteaway – while it assists in cancer cell death. The plant actually has to work double-duty in this respect.

That was two years ago and the plants have managed to keep the tumor at bay all this time with no chemo done to date. But, whether you use cannabis, chemotherapy, or radiation to put cancer into remission, studies show that cancer can come back, and oftentimes worse than the initial bout, causing secondary cancers in different places in the body other than where the original cancer or tumor was.

I had been without cannabis oil for some weeks, after having two batch failures using bad alcohol, when the tumor came back larger than before. This caused Lala’s back legs to go into partial paralysis, which was terrifying, to say the least.

Please find the recipe for cannabis oil here Daily Dose: Reducing/Replacing Opioids

Feeling beyond guilty as a dog mom, out of cannabis oil, I made suppositories out of a simple chamomile/coconut infusion I typically put in capsules for anxiety (Bisabolol is the active terpene in chamomile that causes the calming effect).

Anecdotally Driven

The reason I remotely thought the chamomile would work was based on a prior experience with a cancer patient in Stage 4, who used chamomile suppositories, and started to come back within 24 hours from being bedridden. Unfortunately, the family didn’t believe it, the treatment was stopped, and she passed shortly thereafter.

This anecdotal story of chamomile helping a cancer patient is not supported by any human studies. The study found chamomile having a 93 percent success rate in killing cancer cells was done in a laboratory in a petri dish. I had used the chamomile coconut formulation on minor skin cancers with success.

So, with this small bit of knowledge, I proceeded to treat Lala every three to four hours with a one gram suppository of chamomile and coconut, starting mid-day and into the night (using a suppository inserter into her vagina). By morning she was up and walking around, with the swelling on her backside substantially reduced.

The fact that chamomile and many other beneficial herbs able to treat serious ailments have been reduced to a cup of tea or a food flavoring is a travesty of epic proportions, in my mind.

See Daily Dose: Superfoods, Super Plants, for the benefits of chamomile and how closely it mimics full spectrum (whole plant) Hemp, high in cannabidiol (CBD).

Plants & Cancer

Another study on chamomile and cancer cell death states, “chamomile has many health promoting effects, including anti-allergic and anti-cancer activities.”

On the other end of the spectrum, Breast Cancer.org, advises the use of chamomile tea as a mouth rinse to treat sores from chemotherapy. It’s also suggested for use as a sleep aid. 

But, again, this reduces chamomile to a tea, not a strong concentrate able to treat much more than mouth sores from treatment. Chamomile in a concentrate is also a strong analgesic, able to quell substantial pain, via the compound, chamazulene. 

Another study shows the compound carvacrol is a naturally occurring antioxidant found in oregano, thyme, marjoram and many other herbs. All were shown to have upwards of a 96 percent rate in killing cancer cells in a laboratory study. As stated, “Carvacrol alone shows the potential to target cancerous cells and significantly deter the growth of cancer cells; this is a targeted method. It offers anti-inflammatory effects by decreasing oxidative stress, which primarily targets ER and mitochondria.”

The theory that cancerous lesions come back is based on the knowledge that they live in our stem cells, due to toxins in our environment, found in our bloodlines from generations of exposure. We have been poisoned by our own hand, while simultaneously being led away from the garden for decades.

Nevermind Adam and Eve and modesty issues, the garden is where the fruits, vegetables, and herbs are that we need to keep us in homeostasis, or a place where illness cannot dwell. That’s what plants do for us.

I’m a guilty meat eater, but lean heavily on plants due to this knowledge. A Vegetarian or Vegan diet not only eases the destruction of the planet and the suffering of animals. Eating a plant-based diet addresses all our biological systems and helps deal with the toxins we’ve been subjected to. 

To drive this theory home, another study shows that adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet for just two weeks lifts endorphins and creates dopamine in the brain, treating depression. According to a study out of Harvard, this also has to do with gut health, affecting our physical and emotional stability.

Cancer Comes Back

It’s been several days and my Lala is doing well, with the tumor successfully shrunken once more using just the chamomile coconut formulation. We may be dealing with this tumor for the rest of her life, but today, the plants are working.

As said, even with modern-day pharmaceuticals and treatments, cancer can come back. I’d rather she and I go through the hassle of the suppositories nightly than have her go through the pain of chemo, which kills so many cells within the body – not just the bad cells. 

Chemotherapy weakens the immune system like nothing else. How ironic is that, when treating a disease that desperately needs the immune system strong to combat the illness at hand. Chemo also weakens all of our biological systems. According to Cancer.net, many cancer treatments damage the heart, leading to Cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure. It’s not uncommon for a patient to suffer a major heart attack up to five years later from the very treatment that saved them from cancer.

Prevention by adding antioxidant plants to your diet to kill the bad cells, while strengthening the immune system, is key. Plants do this while addressing all of our biological systems through the endocannabinoid system (eCS), the system that accepts and directs plant compounds throughout our bodies.

Bottom line, we can readily search and see that there are many plants that have antioxidant properties, but without a controlled study with humans we can’t say plants will put cancer into remission. All we have in the cannabis and plant caregiving community are the successful, yet anecdotal stories of healing, passed down by word of mouth, practiced by those willing to try.

Chamomile Coconut Infusion

1 c. whole, dried chamomile flower

1 liter coconut oil (solid)

Add the whole flower to the rice cooker or crockpot, set to warm, and simmer for one to two hours.

The warm setting will be inconsistent and slightly warmer on the crockpot. 

Stir often, checking to make sure the mixture isn’t too hot.

Burning the mixture will damage the fragile beneficial compounds.

Keep the lid open on the rice cooker. You are not using it as you would a pressure cooker, you are using it to simmer the formulation.

Strain and pour into suppository molds using pipettes.

Chill in the freezer until solid.

Keep in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use. They will melt otherwise. If transporting, use a cooler and a freezer bag or ice.

Use a suppository manual applicator to insert into vagina (or anus, depending on protocol/ailment. If using cannabis, there is no head high when delivering into anus.)

 

Note: See Sharon’s website under Apothecary for recipes, how-to photos, and photos/lists of equipment needed. Sharon uses the Magical Butter Machine or the Nebula Boost (UK) to make her infusions.