Waking up in any amount of pain is an unpleasant way to start the day. For Tim Bonner, it’s a pretty normal occurrence that’s taken him a while to accept as part of his everyday routine. “Sometimes the conditions win, but that’s okay. That’s going to happen from time to time, but I try to focus on the good days,” he said.
In addition to a lifelong struggle with maintaining a healthy weight due to gastrointestinal problems, Tim also found himself getting constantly sick, and when he was 28, he suffered a stroke. Since then, he said the symptoms of his GI condition intensified, while also making his ongoing struggles with neurofibromatosis type 1 and a mitochondrial mutation of the OPA1 gene worse.
The NF1 disease, he said, affects the muscles, bones and nerve endings, adding that one symptom of the disease is the development of tumors all over the body. He then reveals a wrap on his arm from undergoing a recent operation to have a tumor removed. “I’ve had quite a few removed, I want to say around 10 so far,” he said.
In total, Tim said he’s had about 20 different operations to combat his different conditions, including the insertion of a feeding tube into his body. While it took some time for him to get used to having it, he said he’s thankful for the relief it’s been able to bring to him. “Without it, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “It’s like when everything makes you sick, but then you get this one thing and it doesn’t make you sick anymore.”
With the added relief from his feeding tube, Tim said Cannabis has been a big contributor to improving his well-being. He started smoking when he was around 14 and noticed at a young age that it helped with his gut health and lowering his anxiety. He acquired his medical card around the start of the medical program in Maryland and began frequenting his local dispensaries.
“Before Cannabis, I was on a lot of pills. Sure, I felt OK, but I was a zombie,” he said. “Once I started using Cannabis, I saw how I didn’t need all these pills, and I eventually graduated to just using Cannabis.”
One thing he’s noticed, especially with using Cannabis to help with the NF1 disease, is the frequency of tumors on his body compared to other patients who are fighting the disease is significantly less. While there is no definitive research on the topic, he suggests THC helped to shrink the tumors he’s grown.
In terms of his preference for taking his medicine, Tim said he loves to dab while also electing to smoke some flower and take some RSO oil to change things up, adding that he reaches for something indica-leaning with a good mix of terpenes at the top of the profile. Tim said he’s been able to medicate through his feeding tube as well, adding tinctures or liquid elixir into his feeds. “If it’s an edible, I can eventually crush it down and put it in the tube,” he said.
Using Cannabis to treat his conditions eventually led Tim into finding a career in the industry. He first became a packager at Charm City and has since taken that experience to different shops around Baltimore, more recently as an inventory lead at CULTA. He said his conditions — including having a cochlear implant to improve his hearing — have put limitations on how he works but brushes them off as little things to work around while on the job.
Tim also said his two children are medical patients in the state. Even though his son is now only using it occasionally, he said he noticed a difference in his son’s behavior after beginning a tincture treatment and eventually graduating to eating half of a 10 mg edible. “[Those] helped him to calm down and focus more, it was amazing,” he said. “My daughter has pretty bad anxiety, so Cannabis has helped her to open up and learn how to be more social.”
Tim’s interests outside of the Cannabis industry include photography, specifically Cannabis photography, and an aspiration to learn American Sign Language and possibly try his hand at being an interpreter. He also said a longterm goal of his would be to get into some kind of charity or foundation work, but for now he wants to continue passing on what he’s learned about himself, his conditions and the industry to his fellow budtenders and patients.
“I don’t see as many patients with medical issues anymore since we’ve gone recreational, which is OK,” he said. “But those are the cases I really like to do because you just get into it and do research. Those are things that I enjoy doing. Advice can really change someone’s life, and you can do that in just a few words.”
