Mum Ina Mills pushes for her son Roki, 6, to be eligible for medicinal cannabis — by Julie Cross
A northern beaches mum says she has exhausted virtually all of the options to ease brain-damaged son Roki’s pain. Now she is awaiting approval for her six-year-old to use medicinal cannabis, which she hopes will be the life-changing treatment he needs.
A MUM whose brain-damaged son has been in agonising pain 24 hours a day for months is hoping medicinal cannabis will help ease his spasms.
Ina Mills, 44, said Roki, 6, has been suffering from muscle spasms since October, which can leave him rigid in pain.
“The only thing that helps is if he is held,” Mrs Mills said.
“I hold him all day and my husband holds him most of the night.”
Roki suffered brain damage during birth and was born with no muscle control, tone or co-ordination and suffers painful spasms and dangerous seizures.
Mrs Mills, of Newport, said he is under the care of a paediatric specialist at Northern Beaches Hospital.
He has been given morphine, which stopped working after three months. He then had to go through withdrawal.
He was then given a well-known drug for spasticity, but it is only giving him one or two hours of relief a day.
Roki’s GP referred him to Emerald Clinics in Sydney, which only opened recently and a doctor there found his condition suitable for cannabidiol (CBD)
His application has been sent to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and is awaiting approval.
“Watching Roki in pain has been the hardest thing of everything we have been through,” Mrs Mills said. “We are hoping medicinal cannabis may ease his pain.”
His devoted parents Ina and Dave, who also have two daughters, have done everything within their power to “fix him” and his health has improved over the years.
While Roki cannot feed himself, talk or walk — he was mainly pain free and getting stronger until this setback.
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Denise Davies from Emerald Clinics in Woolloomooloo, which offers cannabidiol, as well as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), said so far 100 per cent of applications had been approved.
A spokesman for NSW Health said applications for cannabidiol do not have to be approved by the department, only by the TGA.
Denise Davies from Emerald Clinics in Woolloomooloo, which offers cannabidiol, as well as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), said so far 100 per cent of applications had been approved.
A spokesman for NSW Health said applications for cannabidiol do not have to be approved by the department, only by the TGA.
For more information, contact the Help Line on 1800 217 257.
First appeared in “The Manly Daily”, 27/07/2019
