ing to get her life back. Aside from a boot on her left foot from a recent broken bone, Hilary would appear to have led a fairly simple and healthy life, however her journey with health has been far from easy. After her accident in 2006, a doctor in Austin managed to save her leg, but her journey to recovery had only just begun. “It took me nine months to be able to walk again,” Hilary told me. I could see that telling this part of her story was difficult for her, but she continued anyway, “I developed a nerve disease in my leg which is called RSD: Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, also referred to as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. That led to a lot of problems.”
Star 46 Farms by Anna Ervin HERBAGE MAGAZINE
“In a very small set of people,” she continued, “RSD can spread. Since I had other health issues at the time, I was just the perfect specimen for everything to go wrong, and everything did. I just spiraled downhill from there. It moved into the whole right side of my body.”
After over twenty surgeries, three spinal cord stimulator implants, and years of her life spent bedridden, Hilary began When Hilary Campbell suffered a freak accident in 2006 to feel like a test subject as her doctor fumbled through prowhich left her with a rare nerve disorder, she knew she cedures he had little to no experience with. “Eventually I got would face a daunting road to recovery. Confronted with sick of it,” she recalled. “I realized that they were just killing numerous surgeries and medical procedures, alongside a me, slowly, one surgery at a time.” cocktail of pharmaceuticals prescribed to treat symptoms rather than the root of the issue, Hilary spent nearly two “I knew enough about my body to know that they were not years bedridden. Fast forward to years later, when Campbell treating the illness. They were treating the side effects. Befinally discovers and begins exploring the benefits of medic- cause of my history in the medical industry, I knew enough inal cannabis, and the healing that takes place is powerful about the medications I was given to know that they were not the answer.” enough to drive her entire family into the industry. I drove out to Norman, Oklahoma this month to meet with Hilary, Head of Sales, and her husband Mike Campbell, Co-Owner of Star 46 Farms. Newlyweds of just 6 months, Mike and Hilary have built this indoor and outdoor operation from the ground up, with patient advocacy and education at the forefront of their mission. “We saw the benefits it provided for me and my family,” Hilary told me. “We just felt so strongly about helping other people and saw so many people that were going down the road that I was on.”
After investing years into research over her health issues, Hilary was beginning to understand that the medications she had been prescribed were just masking the side effects of other medications in a seemingly never-ending cycle. Quickly losing faith in her physicians, she knew that she needed to get off the slew of pharmaceuticals her doctors had placed her on.
“Obviously there is a place for medication,” she stated carefully, ensuring that she wasn’t sending the wrong message. “When we started this,” Hilary began as she welcomed me “We all need medication and pharmaceuticals, but I think into their facility, “this was an arena for horses. Last year that the doctors have used it as a crutch for so long that they my boys and I came down to visit for spring break. In the stop seeing the person that is standing in front of them.” middle of their break, Covid happened, and we ended up staying for four months. It just happened to be the exact “My ex-husband was a pharmacist,” she explained. “My dad is also a pharmacist. I had knowledgeable people around time that we need to do this.” me, and they helped me get off of the medication. I do not “I was in medical sales at the time,” Hilary explained. “Un- recommend anyone one to do what I did. It needs to happen fortunately, my department was shut down in January due under medical supervision because you can die from withto Covid and we needed someone to create a sales force and drawal, but I felt that I had nothing left to lose. So, I did it establish the sales team within our company, so I decided to one medication at a time.” step in and take on that role.” “I didn’t make the immediate transition into cannabis unUpon first meeting Hilary, I instantly knew we were going til later in recovery,” Hilary recalled. “Once I was off of the to get along. Though quiet and somewhat reserved, she is medication, I could face the problem head on because I likely one of the most headstrong individuals I’ve ever had could identify what the illness really was. That is when I bethe privilege of meeting. After a quick glance, you probably gan researching alternative therapy. I understood integrated wouldn’t guess that this woman spent nearly 10 years fight- medicine, but finding an integrative provider is very hard to do. I just decided I had learned enough that I felt that I
