Meet Cheri Sacks | Certified Cannabis Nurse Consultant

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cheri Sacks and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cheri, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I grew up in a small town outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was close to Valley Forge, PA. As a child, I would go sledding on some of the hills where George Washington and the army slept 200 years before I came into the world. I was about 12 when I knew I wanted to be a nurse. Even at that age, I recognized that understanding how our bodies worked was the key to health. I worked as a bedside nurse at major teaching hospitals in the area before moving to California.
My first position as a nurse in CA was at a startup company providing telephonic health education to people living with congestive heart failure (CHF) and diabetes. It was one of the first disease management companies in the country. Today, disease management is a standard of care provided by every health insurance company in the US. I had many roles within this organization and became a diabetes educator. This opportunity led me to other startup companies. This first company helped me pick my business name, Chronic Health Wisdom. It sounds more hopeful than disease management.
While in corporate positions, I leveraged my nursing and health coaching knowledge. In my last position, I worked with patients and providers at hospitals across the United States, which required me to be drug tested. I never used cannabis and never dreamed I would be a cannabis expert.
I began to learn more about cannabis when I met a man who would become my husband. He was a medical cannabis researcher and believed that cannabis could help treat many conditions. I was interested in his ideas but never thought I would pursue a career in this field. Then the unthinkable happened. My husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I saw firsthand how cannabis helped him manage the side effects of chemotherapy and worked better as a pain reliever than opioids while also providing a better quality of life. I also believe it gave us an extra year and a half together. This experience convinced me I needed to learn more about our endocannabinoid system. Hundreds of hours of coursework later, I’m proud to call myself a cannabis nurse. I leverage my nursing education knowledge to help people use cannabis as medicine. I focus on helping people with issues ranging from sleep disturbances and sadness to chronic conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s, or cancer.
As of the end of 2023, cannabis nursing is now an officially recognized sub-specialty recognized by the American Nurses Association.
My upbringing near where our country started helped me understand that sometimes we need to break out of the status quo and create new possibilities for the future we all deserve.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I’m proud to introduce you to Chronic Health Wisdom LLC. As a cannabis nurse, I educate people about our endocannabinoid system (ECS). What’s our ESC system? Good question! That’s one reason you may want to speak to a cannabis nurse! Our ECS helps maintain our health by telling our body functions, like neurotransmitters, when to turn on or off. The ECS helps us process our emotions, assists with sleep, and allows us to manage pain. It also aids in supporting our immune, inflammatory, and neurological systems. Because it affects many body systems, keeping our ECS healthy helps us feel better.

Everyone knows it’s hard to appreciate the world around us when we feel sick. This feeling is an everyday occurrence for those living with chronic illnesses. By sharing some of my nursing wisdom, I help my clients create custom health plans to improve their quality of life. It helps them to have more good days and find moments of bliss on bad days. I enjoy coaching people who are experiencing everything from occasional sleep disturbances and minor seasonal depression to more serious concerns, such as managing diseases like Alzheimer’s, Crohn’s, epilepsy, pain, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and cancer.

I work 1:1 with people to bring their lives back into balance. Sometimes, clients need support incorporating better nutrition, activity, or mindfulness into their lives. Other times, they need to understand their diagnosis to know what to change to feel as well as possible. I also spend time teaching people about medical cannabis. When we can’t balance our ECS using lifestyle changes, we can use medical cannabis as a supplement. The cannabis plant has many compounds, known as cannabinoids, that can be used to help us feel better. As a certified cannabis nurse, I explain how cannabinoids work in our bodies and how and what can be used to help us feel our best.
While you may not have heard of a cannabis nurse before, you will be hearing more about us in the future. Are you interested in learning more about Chronic Health Widsom LLC? Reach out to me!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I like to hide and have some alone time. I go for walks on quiet beaches or take a ride to find some trees. When I want to do something fun, I ask my much more in the know family, who usually send me to Griffith Park, Chinatown and Sunset Junction.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to give a shout-out to all of my nursing mentors. Throughout my career, I’ve met many amazing women who were unafraid to break out of the standard nursing role. These women created new industries and improved the lives of millions of people.

When I graduated college, I knew becoming a nurse would allow me to help others. I saw myself at the bedside of patients, supporting them through the most challenging days of their lives. I had heard of other careers for nurses, but those opportunities were rare. I never imagined that my nursing foundation would lead me to roles developing cutting-edge healthcare. Along the way, brave nurses showed me how they succeeded in breaking down barriers and helped me as I created my own positions. I owe each step of my career to amazing nurses who were not afraid to step out of their comfort zones, expand their reach into unexplored areas, and support me as I continue to create new opportunities for myself and other nurses following in my footsteps.

Website: https://chronichealthwisdom.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chronic_health_wisdom/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherisacks/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chronichealthwisdom

Other: Email: cheri@chronichealthwisdom.com