When my stepfather got prostate cancer, his cousin who had some experience with macrobiotics, suggested that he see Michio Kushi. Michio found a little bump on his head and said: “When that bump goes away, you won’t have cancer anymore.” He recommended that he start eating in a macrobiotic way.
My stepfather loved eating a meat and potato diet with some vegetables and worked in a very busy environment under a lot of pressure. He understood all this had to change in order for him to get better and he was very willing to make many changes. My stepfather and my mom went to the Kushi Institute and took classes. My mom learned to cook macrobiotic food and did everything in the right way. She gave away all her electric appliances and did everything by hand. My stepfather lost at least 80 pounds or more, and people thought that he was dying because he got really slim, which is actually how he used to look many years before.
Initially he spoke with his doctor, who was a friend of his and said he wanted to try macrobiotics and see if it could help him with his condition. About 6 months later, he went to get another PSA test at his doctor’s request. The doctor called him a couple of days later and said: “We have received the results from your test, but there is a problem. Could you come back so that we can test you again?” He came back and took another test. The doctor called him again a week later and said: “Could you come back one more time? We think that something is wrong with the test.” So, they scheduled another test. At the appointment, the doctor said: “Well, your PSA levels are better than normal in these tests, so I think that maybe you never had cancer in the first place. The cancer couldn’t just go away in just 6 months without any treatment or an operation. So, I think that maybe you never had cancer in the first place.”
Sometime after then that my stepfather saw Michio and told him: “See, the bump is gone.”
And Michio said: “And the cancer is gone, too, right?”
“Yes, no cancer and I feel great!”
My stepfather took an early retirement and continued to practice macrobiotics. He was physically active with daily walks with my mom, swimming at the beach four times a week, playing golf and was very excited about life for the next 30 or so years, until he was about 88 years old. Then he told my mom that he was tired of doing this. He thought he wouldn’t live past 90. He said: “I want to start eating pizza with my grandchildren. I want to start having ice cream again and I just want to eat the things I grew up eating and gave up, because I don’t think I will live for too much longer.”
My mom, who was an excellent macrobiotic cook, said OK I understand, and then within a year, the prostate cancer came back and also kidney issues. He died about a year later. But he lived until nearly 90, and he had a very good, happy and long life.
—A.S., Florida