DEPT. 420 MONTHY COMIC STRIP

she was in the pediatric ICU again or in the hospital again." RIP: Remembering Charlotte Figi (Cont'd)

After visiting a specialist in Chicago, Charlotte was put on a high fat/low carb keto diet, commonly used for when patients don’t respond to treatment, that forces the body to produce extra ketones: the natural chemicals that suppress seizures. And for a while, the diet helped but the side effects (bone loss, weakened immune system, behavioral problems) were too much to bear. Two years later, the seizures returned. And by then, she was averaging 300 grand mal seizures (loss of consciousness and violent muscle contractions) A WEEK. Charlotte’s heart had stopped numerous times, and when it happened in the hospital (The Figis signed an DNR previous), they said their goodbyes.

At age 5, The Figis were told there was nothing else medically doctors could do for little Charlotte. With no other options in sight, Paige (who’d previously voted against Medicinal Marijuana in the past) decided to get her daughter a recommendation but as Charlotte was the youngest patient in Colorado ever to apply, finding two doctors to sign off was a challenge. "Everyone said no, no, no, no, no, and I kept calling and calling," Paige said.

After finding two doctors who signed off, 2012 saw Paige searching for a CBD oil that would give Charlotte relief, and after discovering that the oil from a strain initially known as “Hippie’s Disappointment” (due to its low levels of THC), Charlotte’s seizure count went from 300 a week to 2-3 a month, garnering the attention of world press and was the subject of Sanjay Gupta’s 2013 documentary, WEED. Charlotte’s story put a face on the importance of medicinal cannabis and was a fairly huge reason why most states relented their stance on medical marijuana.

Figi was taken to the hospital on April 3rd, where she tested negative for the COVID-19 virus then treated as a “likely COVID-19 case” when readmitted to the hospital, where she suffered one final seizure on April 7th that caused respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. Charlotte passed peacefully in mother Paige’s arms the following day.

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