Just returned from Loma Linda Medical center. The alarm bell that went off for my prostate cancer was when my PSA was 67, normal being in the 1-4 range. (PSA is a simple blood test that takes less than 30 seconds and is specific for identifying possible prostate cancer. I have shared my story with my African-American male clients. Most didn’t know anything about PSA’s or how important, simple and revealing a regular PSA blood test is.)

67 was a severe shock to hear. Thinking it was a false positive, I did another PSA test, it was 64. If valid, this was 99.99% guarantee of cancer. At a PSA of 15, you have a 75% chance of cancer. A later biopsy of the prostate confirmed that I do have prostate cancer.

Today my PSA was .038, that’s right, less than 1. It has gone from 67 to less than 1. All thanks to God and prayer. The doctors were surprised. I am ahead of my recovery and my prognosis is excellent.

Needless to say, I also give great thanks to everyone for keeping me in their prayers. To Mom who assured me everything would be ok. To Dad who prayed with me. To Phin who changed my way of eating. To Tim who gave me a meditation mp3 player that I listened to about self-healing and purpose driven living. To Alis who offered her support. Thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

AWAKENING

Words cannot begin to express what you have given me over the last week. You sacrificed your time, and your abundant and overwhelming spiritual and positive knowledge for the good of your older brother. Wow, at times I wanted to tear up. So sincere, so genuine. I will never forget the time, the thoughts, the conversations, both express and implied, that we shared together this past week. Never judgmental and never apocalyptic. Phin, my gratitude, appreciation, cannot be put in words.

I have always respected and viewed you as different from all others. You are compassionate, a man of humanity, a man of hope and vision, I have been proud of your every achievement. You had to be part of my wedding, both of them. Those moments will be eternally special to Melba and I. You are truly special.

Your words your movements have always projected a sincere and authentic desire to be of help, never harm, to others. You have the kindred spirit of an earthly angel, a rare and exceptional unconditional trust in the good of all of us, the good in me.

I have learned a new way of living this week. I wouldn’t say I was skeptical, because I know when you make a commitment to something, it follows your research and preparation. But, I was open-minded but cautious. I asked myself what could be accomplished or changed in one week? What a surprise. Your recipes for juicing, produced both internal energy and an external life force sizzling with optimism, hope and a real feeling of good health. Your salads were amazing and filling. But, when you started talking about sprouting and eating raw, sprouted tortillas and sprouted bread, I could only picture actual sprouts growing out of flat tortillas and whole bread, it was shocking imagery. When you started soaking cashews and almonds and then turned them into tasty soft serve and healthy ice cream, I just watched, listened and learned.  The Tahini dressing will be a staple in our house.

You forced me to look at food and its purpose with a new perspective. I had my ideas, but they have been forever altered by yours. Your attention to the little things, the details,  say a lot about your real commitment to excellence. But it is not excellence for the sake of excellence, never boastful, never judgmental, it is for the sake of helping others. How do you do it? How have you always done it? You never said “I told you so”, you never asked for anything in return.

You left me with a treasure chest of new approaches to food and life. You have left me feeling more healthy and with a great  fortitude to face the challenges in my future. Now I can say that all of us will miss you. Melba, Brandon and Lyndsey will miss you very much. You have taught all of us much in such a short period of time. They have also adopted changes in their food choices, consumption and its purposes. I have no doubt that Brandon was listening too and will evolve to better eating.

We love you very much. I love you very much. Thank you, thank you, thank you….. May god and the positive life forces of this universe continue to bless and heal you.

Love your brother,

Man