By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES

May 5, 2011

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/montana-father-medical-marijuana-cancer-stricken-toddler-son/story?id=13529490

Watch story video (6:33) –
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/dad-gives-ailing-son-medical-marijuana-13527143?tab=9482931§ion=1206835&playlist=1363742&page=1

Doctors said 2-year-old Cash Hyde would likely die after they found a stage
4 brain tumor surrounding his optic nerve just a year ago this week.

And he nearly did. After being subjected to seven different chemotherapy
drugs, the little boy from Missoula, Montana suffered septic shock, a stroke
and pulmonary hemorrhaging.

Cash was so sick he went 40 days without eating. His organs were threatening
to shut down. His father, Mike Hyde, intervened, slipping cannabis oil into
his son’s feeding tube.

In Montana, medical marijuana is legal. Hyde had used it himself to treat
his attention deficit disorder. When Cash was diagnosed in May 2010, Mike
got him a marijuana card and purchased the drug from his own supplier.

Cash, now 3, made a miraculous recovery at Primary Children’s Hospital in
Salt Lake City, but his father’s bold action — taken behind doctors’ backs
— has raised serious questions about a parent’s role in medical treatment.

Hyde said he believes it was the marijuana oil that helped Cash eat again
and that the drug — illegal in most states, including Utah, can cure
cancer.

"Not only was it helpful," Hyde, 27, told ABCNews.com. "It was a godsend."

Dr. Linda Granowetter, a professor of pediatrics at New York University and
chief of the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, told ABCNews.com
that Hyde’s intervention was "fascinating" but "somewhat bothersome."

Granowetter said she agrees that cannabis — the chemical form, THC can be
found in the prescription drug Marinol — is effective in treating adult
nausea that accompanies chemotherapy. But there have been no clinical trials
in children.

"Its virtue is we know exactly what you are getting and how much," she said.
"I think that the fact that he didn’t have the rapport and ability to be
honest with the doctor is very troubling. Care is impeded when there is not
complete trust."

Hyde, who quit his job as a car salesman when Cash was diagnosed with
cancer, said he was afraid Cash’s doctor might take the marijuana away.

"When you are told your kid has cancer, whoa," said Hyde, 27. "Then they
tell me they have to do aggressive chemo and he’s probably not going to make
it. It’s a lot to take on."

He had read claims by researchers online about cannabis’s properties: "It’s
one of the best nausea and pain medications on the market," he said.

Because there are no pediatric oncology facilities in rural Montana, where
Cash’s tumor was discovered in a CT scan at the local emergency room, he was
rushed to Salt Lake City, the nearest treatment center.

He was given the highest possible doses of chemotherapy for two months. He
lost his appetite and threw up eight to 10 times a day.

"When he started the chemo, he was so sick," said Hyde. "For the first six
weeks, he was blind. But his tumor was shrinking⦠It’s the nastiest thing to
see someone you love go through this."

Doctors had inserted a gastric feeding tube to administer cancer-fighting
drugs and to help with his nutrition, but when August came the family
experienced another medical "rollercoaster ride," according to Hyde.

"The G-tube burned out the inside of his stomach," said Hyde. "He didn’t
even have the will to eat."

By September, Cash had stopped eating for 40 days. "He was suffering
terribly, and the doctors said it was the best they could do for him," said
Hyde, who asked doctors to stop the chemotherapy drugs.

Instead, Hyde boiled up marijuana he had purchased in Montana with olive oil
and measured 3 mm. doses that he poured into his son’s G-tube twice a day.

Because it was illegal to use medical marijuana in Utah, Hyde never told his
doctors.

Cash Hyde Makes ‘Miracle’ Recovery’

"In two weeks he was weaned of all the nausea drugs, and he was eating again
and sitting up in and laughing," according to Hyde, who said doctors called
his son’s recovery "a miracle."

NYU’s Granowetter said cannabis "certainly can increase appetite and improve
mood…but the idea that it can cure cancer is ludicrous."

She said the drug is most effective in teens who have previously used
marijuana. "In young adults or children who have not had it before, it can
make them paranoid."

"It’s awfully hard to gauge if a child would have a bad reaction," according
to Granowetter, who said she would welcome clinical trials on children.

"We know from research that 30 to 60 percent of parents with children are
giving them alternative meds like vitamins, shark tooth and herbs from
Chinatown," she said. "That’s why we spend a lot of time asking parents what
else they are giving kids and trying to be non-judgmental and work with them
and guide them."

She said most pediatric oncologists are "open-minded" about alternative
treatments.

Mike Hyde said he did eventually tell the Utah doctors, who were surprised
by how Cash bounced back with no permanent organ damage. They say the boy
has a 50 to 80 percent chance that the cancer will come back, according to
Hyde, who has since started a foundation to help children with cancer.

"We were told I was one of the best dads," said Hyde, who lived with his
wife and their other 6-year-old son in a camper in a parking lot for the
nine months of treatment. "Every encounter in Salt Lake City, we were
positive and never quit fighting. I was told he was going to die, but I knew
he hadn’t stopped the fight."

For more information on Cash and how to help other children with cancer, go
to the Cash Hyde Cancer Foundation (http://www.cashhydefoundation.com/).