As Heather Watson takes in the scenery out on her deck in Pasadena, the sound of the creek and wildlife provides the perfect white noise to sit and reflect. Coupling that with a joint, meditation and something to drink is what makes this routine something she turns to for some relief on any given day.
“Sunsets, sunrises, even just when the flock of geese come in, I go out and watch them because it’s just so soothing to see that. It’s just a healing feeling for you,” Heather said.
Growing up in Pasadena, Heather and her siblings were sheltered, as her father’s disciplined mentality from working as a police officer carried over into their upbringing. She said once she got to high school, though, things got a little crazy.
“My mom and dad separated, and that’s when I had a little bit too much fun,” Heather said, adding that the initial plan after high school was to get a government job just like most of her family. After high school, she attended Anne Arundel Community College at night and enrolled in online courses at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County soon after to get her bachelor’s degree in general studies, just to have a degree, she said.
This led to a wide variety of jobs, starting in human resources and dabbling in real estate, auto sales and accounting as well. “And then I got cancer,” she said. “And that was ten years ago.”
In 2015, Heather developed a salivary stone, which led doctors to find that her thyroid was also affected by the stone. After surgery to remove half of her thyroid, a biopsy revealed cancer in the removed parts. Later that year, she felt a lump and said she knew exactly what it was and called her doctor. Heather said she had been consistent with scheduling mammograms well before she was diagnosed due to previously having implants, and she was able to meet with doctors quickly. From there, she said, it was a whirlwind of appointments with a lot of information in a short time frame.
Her biopsy came back as triple-negative breast cancer, and upon hearing this news, she lost hope. She looked up the diagnosis, finding the average patient had five years to live, and what she was diagnosed with is one of the more aggressive designations of breast cancer.
In October 2016, Heather was declared cancer-free after a year of surgeries and radiation treatments. Eight months later, however, she said she developed a cough that wouldn’t go away. After some back and forth with her doctors, she got another scan that showed spots in her lungs and on her liver. Since the cancer had traveled outside of the initial area, her status was elevated to Stage 4. “I started reading whatever I could find that says ‘this cures cancer,’” she said. “I wanted to curl up and just not deal with any of it.”
Long before her cancer diagnosis, she started a Facebook group, Pasadena Jeepers, dedicated to community members who owned Jeeps, and they rallied behind her. This community she built — along with recently becoming a grandmother — helped break her out of her shell and start enjoying life again.
“I went off-roading, and we did a lot of charity work as well,” she said, adding that she put together a parade in Pasadena for a local child with brain cancer. “I’ve tried to make it as fun as possible. I jumped out of an airplane twice because I’m going to do everything I can. I’m not going to disappear because I have this.”
After posting on social media about her Stage 4 diagnosis, she got a message from a friend who invited her to try some homemade Rick Simpson Oil. Heather was initially hesitant due to her husband’s job, but she eventually gave it a try and found it worked. She took RSO for 90 days, and when she got her next scan, the tumors had shrunk significantly, much to her doctor’s surprise.
“It helped me eat, it helped me sleep, which gave my body a chance to rest and gave my body a chance to let the chemo do what it’s supposed to,” she said, adding that she hasn’t received any chemo or immunotherapy treatments in almost two years since introducing Cannabis into her routine. She got her medical card soon after that visit and began frequenting dispensaries.
Heather’s relationship with Cannabis actually goes back to high school, but she stopped after being caught and fearing the repercussions. Up until she tried RSO, she said alcohol was what she turned to because it was legal. Her day-to-day routine now, though, includes a tincture with her morning coffee, a joint, some concentrate after work and an RSO capsule before bed, preferring something sativa-leaning due to the energizing qualities and prominent terpenes, like humulene, which has been known to carry anti-cancer traits.
Even though she’s currently battling cancer for a third time, Heather doesn’t let it affect her determination to help others. She’s currently working at Ritual, which is her first full-time job in almost eight years, as this disease kept her from steady work. She said the help she got from budtenders, in addition to helping other cancer patients find encouragement and resources, inspired her to get a job in the industry and give back to those who need guidance like she once did.
“I want to help people feel better when they come in here or their caregivers come in, and they tell me that they tried something I’ve given them and they feel better. That’s my purpose,” she said, adding that her advice to other patients battling cancer or any other ailment is to never give up hope. “Everything changes. Somebody’s going to find something that works today for someone.”
