00:00Hey, so I just want to pop in really quick and talk about a book I just read. It's by a doctor
00:07called Anthony J. Sattellaro. He's from Philadelphia. The book was published in the
00:16early 80s. So anyway, he was from Philadelphia. He was in his late 40s. He was diagnosed with
00:22stage 4 prostate cancer. They had biopsied his prostate, one of his testicles, and part of his
00:32right rib, one of his right ribs, and they found it had metastasized stage 4 prostate cancer. So
00:42they removed his testicles because the testosterone would aggravate the condition. He was put on
00:48estrogen therapy and pain meds, and he was given a very poor prognosis. So they said he would not
00:57last another five years and probably be dead sooner than that in the next maybe three years.
01:06So at the same time that this was happening, as if it wasn't enough, his father was dying of cancer.
01:12And so very soon after Anthony was diagnosed, his father passed. And needless to say then,
01:24he was going through a lot of mental anguish, a lot of trauma in his life.
01:30He was falling apart. He thought he was a goner. And on the way back from his parents,
01:35on the way back from burying his father, he picked up two hitchhikers on his way back to
01:40his home in Philadelphia. These hitchhikers talked about how they just finished a class on the
01:48macrobiotic diet, which is a diet that consists of just brown rice, sea vegetables, other vegetables,
01:58and possibly a little fruit and some rare fish. This is a largely plant-based diet.
02:10Except for the fish, which is a rare inclusion, if that at all. And so they said that
02:19Tony could get rid of his cancer by following this way of life and this diet. And so after they parted,
02:30they sent him some literature and Tony checked it out. And he decided to look into it. He attended
02:39cooking classes and instruction from the local macrobiotic community and decided to give it a try.
02:49He met up with some of the people, some of the followers of this way of life and diet. They
02:54started to eat together. He didn't like it at first, but he persisted. He felt he didn't have
03:01any other option because everything else was not working. He was experiencing a lot of pain
03:06still. So the more he ate the diet, he was getting a lot better pain relief. And he had a brighter
03:21outlook. He had doubts still because he came from a world that embraced, of course, the medical
03:29tradition and how it's conventionally practiced. So this was a new way of life for him.
03:38But since he was feeling a lot better by eating this new way, he wanted to hold on to it. He thought
03:46there was something to it. He thought maybe if this worked and he could get better with this food,
03:52that he could be an example for others. And soon after that, he had some lab tests done.
04:00Uh, they were markedly improved from his last values and, um, a repeat bone scan, um, showed that
04:11he was negative. He had cleared up the cancer. And so he was pretty elated. He started spreading the
04:18word, the word got around, um, and he decided to go off his estrogen therapy. Um, all was going well.
04:27And, um, then he got thyroiditis. And so he was put on drugs for that. Um, and this was a part, this was
04:37for some other reason besides the cancer. But, um, after all of that, he did a repeat bone scan, which
04:46showed some activity in his ribs. Um, so he started to worry, you know, is the cancer coming back? Um, but he
04:53remained strong. He stuck to his faith, his rekindled faith. And he stuck with the advice from
05:01the macro community, uh, especially, uh, the leader of the movement, whose name is Michio Kushi.
05:11And he remained resilient despite the uncertainty. And it turns out that what caused the flare up or
05:24the positive results of the new bone scan was actually his body getting rid of the drugs that
05:30he was taking, the thyroiditis, the thyroiditis. And the treatment was exacerbating the cancer in him
05:40that was left, even though it was small to show this positive bone scan. And so once he had,
05:45once he whittled down and weaned off the drugs, of course, staying with the diet, still another bone
05:52scan showed negative results, no sign of cancer. So that from just being strong, sticking with his
06:02conviction, following the diet, remaining on the diet still, and keeping his faith, keeping his
06:09spirituality and his positive attitude, he was just fine. And all the worry was for not, as long as he
06:20stuck to the good way of life and the good way of eating and the great thinking that he had.
06:26And the advice from his good friends. And so that's pretty much how the book ends. He really stresses
06:40in the book how he rekindled his faith. He was a Christian and he had gave it up for some time, but
06:48after starting the new diet, he went back to his faith and really became a stronger man from it. And that
06:58in combination with the new lifestyle and diet, how he was feeling better physically, really changed him
07:04into a new man, to be less self-centered, have more humility, embrace life more and appreciate life
07:12more. And realize that everyone is blessed all the time, even though we sometimes seemingly don't
07:22deserve it or are not worthy of it. That's another thing that he stresses that he felt he didn't deserve
07:29a second chance. But he got one. That's the generosity of God to bless us, even the unworthy, but bless us
07:43especially if we stay on a good path and or get on a better path or get on the right path after being on
07:55the wrong one. So great book. Again, it's recalled by life by Dr. Anthony J. Sattelaro, MD. I recommend it to
08:06everyone. Thanks. Bye.
Comments