In October of 2009 I turned 62 years old... this may seem old (or young) to some of you, but to me it's just a number.  I feel great!...  younger than I've felt in years.  But back in October I wasn't feeling so great.  I had been struggling with what I believed was an injury to my hip, an inflamed sciatic nerve that had kept me from 2 of my passions for over 2 years, playing basketball and tennis.   I also had noticed that it was taking an increasingly longer amount of time to start urinating.   I attributed this to getting older… as frustrating as it was. 

Also frustrating was my inability to maintain an erection.  "Just getting older", I thought to myself.  What a bummer since I just had begun a wonderful new relationship.  The pain in my lower abdomen after sex was something new, but since I hadn't previously been having much sex I thought I was just overdoing it. 

It came as a surprise when I went for my yearly physical and my brother, who is my doctor told me my PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels were a "little on the high side” so he wanted me to see his friend, a urologist.  "OK, no big deal", I thought.

The first visit, the doctor put me on antibiotics to see if I had an infection that was causing the inflammation.  He explained that PSA is a test for prostate inflammation and that I probably had prostatitis (an inflamed prostate) and that my 8.1 reading was pretty high but “nothing to be concerned about”.  Of course, I immediately went home and Googled everything I could about PSA, prostatitis and prostate cancer.   

A week later I was back in his office and took another PSA test and we discussed the possible outcomes.  I was pretty sure it was just prostatitis since I was in pretty good shape, ate pretty well…  no red meat… just chicken and fish and I wasn’t overweight.  I don’t smoke or drink, except socially.  I was having “dry mouth” syndrome which left a terrible taste in my mouth, but I thought I had looked it up on the Internet and decided I had Candida so I had been taking supplements to try to deal with it.

When I got the call from the doctor saying my PSA now lowered to 5.3, I was relieved.  He wanted to see me to discuss next steps.  Back in his office he told me that a PSA of 5.3 was still too high and that I needed to have a biopsy of my prostate. I was a little shaken but still confident there was nothing really wrong with me.  So I scheduled my biopsy and a few weeks later I was on the table with a camera and pincers up my rear end.  They took twelve snippets from my prostate. 

The news that I had early stage prostate cancer was a shock.  Even though I tried to prepare myself for the worst, hearing that you actually have cancer  is another thing altogether.  My new girlfriend was also shocked.  At first, it was hard for her to accept the reality that I had cancer.  But once the reality began to sink in I explained what I had learned from my research: that prostate cancer is typically slow growing and therefore not life threatening… at least not at this point… most men die with prostate cancer, not of prostate cancer.  We discussed the options and they were not exactly exciting…  chemo, radiation or surgery to remove my prostate.  From my research I also knew that all the options had the same potential side effects: incontinence and loss of erectile function.  I was anticipating this was going to have a real negative impact on my new relationship, but much to my surprise she responded in a way that showed me she was in the relationship for the long term. “Your prostate is my prostate”, she said.  So I scheduled the consult with my doctor for both of us to discuss the results in detail and to decide on the next step.

After discussing all the alternatives he told us that in his opinion the operation was a very good option. The latest robotic techniques were very effective and had a much better chance of an outcome without the devastating side effects.  There was also something he mentioned that I had read about called “watchful waiting”, which in my mind was a real possibility since I was still in the early stage.  I would just have to be “watchful” and monitor my PSA at least every three months.  If the PSA spiked up, then I needed to make a hard decision.  Oh yeah, he mentioned that there was a guy who also had a similar case to mine who decided he was going to try to deal with his cancer by changing his diet.  The doctor told me the guy never came back to monitor his PSA which in his mind was not a wise thing to do. 

I went home and spoke to my brother and my sister-in-law.  They told me they had a friend who just had the robotic surgery and it was very successful… no side effects.  “Take it out… this is CANCER! Nothing to fool around with”, they both said.  I was torn… I didn’t want to make the wrong choice with such an important decision but felt I needed some time to explore my options.

The next day I was talking to a friend of mine, telling him my story and he tells me about this new raw food diet.  “It changes your bodies pH to alkaline”, he says, “…and it will pretty much cure my cancer.”  Of course, I’m totally skeptical but agree to check out the site he suggests on the Internet (www.phmiracleliving.com).  Co-incidentally, a documentary about the Gerson Institute’s approach to Cancer called “A Beautiful Truth” (www.thebeautifultruthmovie.com) is playing across the street from my office.  My girlfriend and I decide to check it out.  The movie was a testament to raw food’s healing powers and after the movie, Charlotte Gerson, the daughter of (the somewhat infamous) Dr. Max Gerson, who is now in her vibrant 80’s gives a lecture and introduces the audience to 2 people who had survived 3^rd stage breast and liver cancer.  We are convinced that “going raw” is worth a try.  “What’s the worst that can happen to me?” I ask.  I’ll just eat better and get healthy even if  it doesn’t cure my cancer. 

So the next day we decide to go raw.  And the funny thing, once the decision is made, a sense of relief comes over me.  I no longer feel like I am running scared from the cancer monster.  I feel like I am doing something good for myself!  It feels positive and so I go for it!

Flash forward 3 months and now I’ve been eating nothing but vegetables, nut and seeds (no fruit at this time), breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The first month I was ravenous.  After the first month, my cravings disappeared and my appetite actually diminished… and I noticed I’m really satisfied with much smaller quantities of food.  I lost 15 lbs, my skin was now as soft like a baby (my kids used to complain about my sandpaper beard and now are ooh-ing at how soft my skin is) and I felt great.  The time it took for me to start peeing was pretty normal, and I had no pain after sex… and my sexual stamina was better than it had ever been!

Wow!!!… what a change!  BUT, I still have to have my next test to see if the diet has really had an effect on my PSA.  For 1 week I abstain from sex since sex can inflame the prostate and increase the PSA levels.  I’m nervous.  Will my PSA be the same, worse or will there be some miraculous reversal of my scores?  The day comes when my doctor calls me with the lab results.  “Good news”, he says, “your PSA is down to 3.0”… almost normal.  I am ecstatic!  It worked!  It really worked!  I ask him about the reversal of my symptoms and PSA score.  I had told him about my raw diet.  He says diet can help but it probably was just a coincidence… he’s not really sure… but in any case we should test it again in 3 more months. 

As of this writing, I’ve expanded my eating horizons to include fruit as well as an occasional cooked meal (mostly vegan).  But I must admit there are occasional times that I let myself binge.  That lasts for about a weekend and then it’s back to raw… cuz it feels so good.  Oh, and that inflamed sciatic nerve that had kept me from 2 of my passions, playing basketball and tennis for over 2 years… it’s almost all healed and I’m back on the court.  Seems the inflammation throughout my body is going down. 

So now I’m telling the world about raw food and the benefits it can have on your health in person and on this website www.rawhealth.info.  I’ve tried to compile the best articles and videos covering the issues that are facing the people I know.  I will continue to add more conditions as time goes on so that this site will be a source for all things having to do with raw food and health issues.  Let me know if there is a condition you would like posted on the site or a website or video you think should be posted here.

Thanks for taking the time to hear my story.  Please join in and share your story as well!

Steve Soffer