Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/542735
Health and Wellness Magazine • 29 The video showed Benji riding a tricycle, a big feat for the little guy, who less than two years ago lived nearly zombie-like except when his body was wracked with seizures. It's yet another sign that Benji, who has a severe form of epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome, has made a startling turnaround since he began taking hemp oil in late 2013. The oil, commonly known as Charlotte's Web, is extracted from a high-cannabidiol (CBD), low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) marijuana strain grown by the Stanleys, a group of five brothers that operates one of Colorado's largest growers and dispensaries. CBD harbors marijuana's medicinal properties, while THC is what gives users the "high" associated with pot. Knowledge of the oil exploded two years ago after a CNN story and a Dr. Sanjay Gupta-produced documentary called "WEED" focused on cannabis's medicinal properties. Both featured Charlotte Figi — a Dravet syndrome sufferer after whom the oil is named — and her dramatic response to Charlotte's Web. She went from hundreds of seizures a day to two or three a month. For some, the oil is nothing short of a miracle. But the actual statistics are more sobering: About a quarter of those receiving Charlotte's Web achieve significant seizure control. And critics cite a lack of evidence and research regarding its effect on a not- yet-fully developed brain. Still, for families like the Murillos of Denver, the oil represents hope. Desperate Measures When Benji is wheeled into the cafeteria at Elkhart Elementary in Aurora, he's barely awake. Before Charlotte's Web, that would have been because of his seizure medications. Today, it's because he fell asleep in class during a rousing Disney sing-a-long. He's just returned from a family road trip to San Antonio — where he receives therapy — that has left him tired. But by the end of lunch, he's holding his head up, answering questions with a nod to the left or right, and giggling when his mom kisses him — nothing like the Benji of 2013. That year, Benji suffered five severe episodes and was hospitalized multiple times. Murillo, 35, was in despair, watching her son's quality of life decline and his number of medications increase. "Some of his seizures were lasting 40 minutes to an hour and a half," Murillo says. "And I thought, 'How is that possible? He's like a little zombie because of these medications, and yet he's still going through all this?'" Sitting in her son Benji's school, Nancy Murillo huddles over her iPhone with two staff members, showing off a recent video of the 8-year-old. When school nurse Gail Therrien, who has been working with Benji for months, looks up, her eyes are wide and filled with tears. "I began this year with a child who had difficulty holding up his head," she later shares. Nancy and Benji Murillo sit in his bedroom in their Aurora home beneath an inspirational slogan that Mom had printed on his wall. The words serve as a reminder of all that Benji has overcome and all that he has yet to face because, his mother says, he truly is his "Superman."