Braden Stevenson, a 17-year-old living in Longmont, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2016. A year later, after several rounds of chemo, doctors told him the disease was chemo-resistant and that it had actually grown as a result of the therapy, making any surgery overly hazardous. With nothing left to do, the doctors estimated Braden had a year to live.
Braden’s mother, Amy Ronzani, who works as a medical assistant, refused to accept this diagnosis and began to research alternative treatments. Almost immediately she heard stories of cannabinoids being used to successfully fight cancer. Despite warnings from her son’s doctors that the cannabinoids could have a negative reaction with the chemo, she figured she and Braden had nothing to lose and went searching for medicinal dispensaries.
Three months later, after Braden had been taking roughly 60 milligrams of THC pills and CBD oil each day, medical tests showed the cancerous pulmonary nodes in Braden’s lungs had stabilized and begun to calcify. Another four months later, the cancerous nodes had shrunk by a factor of eight.
This past September, Braden underwent another round of tests that showed the nodules were continuing to shrink even though two new, very small cancerous nodes had appeared.
Despite that minor setback, Ronzani remains confident the cannabinoids have kept her son alive and that the new nodes are simply a result of the aggressive strain of cancer affecting him. Despite the doctor’s prognosis, he turned 18 Monday.
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