A Better Bloom by Anna Ervin HERBAGE MAGAZINE
advocating for themselves. Before she opened the flower shop, and later the clinic, she worked in childcare for nineteen years.
“I love kids,” she told me, “I have always loved kids, but I Edmond local Cindy Keeton remembers eagerly watching had to do something different because of my kidney. Kids the 788 movement unfold. She owned a flower shop for carry a lot of germs and diseases, and my immune system three years before launching a virtual and mobile doctor was compromised. I like to make sure that the kids are takrecommendation clinic, A Better Bloom Health and Well- en care of. My passion is to hopefully get an event going where we can do pediatric recommendations. I mean, we ness. do them now, but not in an event setting yet.” “In my flower shop I would listen to podcasts about 788 and the movement,” Cindy recalled, “I told my employee “In the works right now is an event that will hopefully at the time, ‘I think that this is coming.’ Now here we are.” come to fruition in August,” Cindy continued, “there will It took years to really get to know Cindy. It was much clear- be pediatric and regular recommendations. We are worker once I began working alongside her at patient drives. I’m ing out the details. I have named the event, Love You to big on taking pride in my work, and I believe that founda- the Moon Pie and Back. Parents say, “love you to the moon tion is built upon the integrity and values of my employer. and back to their child.” The place we are going to be at is called Moon Pie, so I think that is a really fitting name for Cindy is one of those employers. this event.” I fell in love with watching the way she would walk patients through the process of getting their recommendations with “I do not want to charge our vendors an arm and a leg. I patience and compassion. I asked Cindy what inspired her want to make sure that everyone is taken care of. I am not to open up her clinic, she claims she was tired of receiving doing it for the money, but I am doing it to give back.” first hand knowledge that some doctors were taking large sums of money from their patients without helping them I thought about how many patients Cindy assists on a weekly basis, and remembered my own experience helping through the entire application process. people of all kinds apply for their medical marijuana card. “I volunteered for one of the first companies that started You are in a position to really listen to all kinds of stories medical marijuana patient clinics in Oklahoma,” she said. about people. So many have discovered the relief cannabis “The doctor was sending the patients out without finish- provides. In some cases they would talk of all of their fears ing any of their paperwork. They were paying ridiculous and expectations about trying cannabis. amounts of money to get this done, and they did not have a clue what their next step was. The patients would call the I asked Cindy what advice she had for anyone thinking doctors and the doctors either wouldn’t return their calls, about getting a medical recommendation for cannabis. “I do know that there are a lot of mental health issues or they had no clue. It made me mad.” here in Oklahoma,” she began. “Oklahomans are really Cindy keeps a staff of “up-loaders” on hand at each clinic hard-working people. I have seen so many people with to help patients complete their application. If you’ve had arthritis and their fingers are wrinkled up. This medicine to navigate the OMMA’s lengthy and somewhat confusing really does help you with that. It helps you live better. I beapplication process, you’ll probably understand why going lieve that you should get your card. You should live better. the extra mile to help patients through this is so important. I have family members that are older, and they medicate with cannabis and they feel so much better when they do. “I think that other companies are dropping the ball right in It helps them so much.” the middle,” Cindy said. “If their application gets rejected for some reason, then they are not willing to go the extra “My kidney problems stem from a hereditary disease, so mile and fix it. They do not have a live person on the other I did not even start using cannabis until after I had my end of the line. They do not have anybody for the patient transplant. Even then it was kind of an iffy thing with the transplant. One of my doctors told me if he would nevto talk to about it.” er have to give me another opioid again then he was just “I do think that those things are important,” she continued, fine with cannabis. I started using cannabis in 2018 to help “especially for the geriatric patients that we see. Computers with sleeping. I don’t really consume cannabis during the are too complicated for them. A lot of them still have flip day if it is not needed.” phones. They have no clue what Skype, or Zoom, or anything else is. That is where I think our specialty is, as far as “I really do think that eventually cannabis is going to be getting patients seen from the beginning to the end. We used, if not to replace opioids, but at least give opioids a run for their money. I hope it actually replaces opioids. I help them through that whole process.” really do.” Over time it has become obvious to me that Cindy has a A Better Bloom Health and Wellness betterbloomclinic. big heart for those who cannot or who have a hard time com
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