Moving For Maggie

Shawn and Rachael Selmeski might not see their home states for years.

Medical marijuana brought the couple from Tennessee to Colorado for one purpose – to find help for their 17-month-old daughter, Maggie.

The toddler is debilitated by hundreds of seizures every day. She’s rolled over only a handful of times in her short life. Her speech is limited to coos, while her peers are saying words. Shawn and Rachael have yet to hear their daughter say, “Mama” or “Dada.”

Dozens of doctors cannot pinpoint a diagnosis; only that Maggie has infantile seizures, which started when she was just six weeks old.

“You anticipate the first day of kindergarten, what their wedding day will look like. We had to let go of what normal development is,” says Rachael.

Because the couple is choosing to give their child a Schedule 1 controlled substance drug, as recognized by the Federal Government, they cannot legally leave the state of Colorado.

“The unfortunate thing is that we just can’t get in the car and go home. There’s no going back to family,” Rachael says, with tears in her eyes. “The minute we go over state lines it’s drug trafficking. If Maggie has it in her system, then it’s child abuse.”

November 7th marks the day the family has been anticipating for months: they can give Maggie her first dose of cannabis oil. Her red card and lab results are clear.

What’s not clear, is how effective – if at all – the oil will be.

But for today, the Selmiskis are living on hope that a plant will help give their daughter a normal life.

Follow the Selmeski’s blog here.