Be the
person
you want to
see in the
world ...

Hi All, My name is Michael,
I am sixty years old as of this writing on 9-16-2011. I have spent almost all of my life working outdoors in the heavy industrial, blue collar world. As a merchant marine I shipped out on the big ships such as the Hughes Glomar Explorer working as a rigger and crane operator. I also worked on North Sea class tug boats as an ordinary seaman aboard the Beahl Trader and Beahl Traveler in the North Bering sea in Alaska towing and taking care of drilling rigs. I was a roughneck drilling oil wells off the California coast aboard the Glomar Atlantic. I spent many years as a heavy equipment operator, operating the very large construction earth moving equipment. In addition I have owned and operated several businesses.
On about July of 2010 I started experiencing a dramatic reduction of energy along with edema in my legs. After scans and the like, it was discovered that I had kidney cancer ( renal cell carcinoma). A tumor had completely blocked my right kidney along with the inferior vena cava. The inferior vena cava is responsible for returning all the blood to the heart from the lower extremities. The scan showed the cancer was also on it’s way to the left kidney. Not good.
My urologist explained to me the only treatment at this point was to have the tumor removed from the kidney and inferior viena cava. He explained to me that this case was as serious as they come. He referred me to a very talented surgeon at USC that specializes in this kind of case. I was very lucky to have good insurance and to be able to have this talented surgeon on my team. The surgery took eight hours. I was out of the hospital in only six days -largely because of the loving support of family and my wife, Laura.
My surgeon had to remove my right kidney and the entire inferior vena cava along with many lymph nodes. The average surgeon would have closed me up and told me to attend to my affairs. The surgery was this complicated. They thought they had removed all the tumors. Four months later, however, a follow up CAT scan showed that the cancer had metastasized. I had nodules in my abdomen and lungs….Ouch….!
The treatment for this was, of course, a form of chemotherapy. My best choices were one of two different drugs. One drug I could only take if my health was very good. I qualified for this. The prognosis was that I had a ten percent chance that the drug would completely cure the disease. The scary thing was they would have to administer enough of the drug to bring me right to the brink of death, then back off and repeat it until my body almost shut down. ( Doesn’t that sound like fun?) The second choice I could use was a much milder drug. The side effects were numerous, too many to list. With this second choice, average life expectancy was 11 months. What they told me is; if I chose to use the milder drug it would compromise my health so much that I would never be able to use the first choice in drugs. Geese, that sounds really great doesn’t it. I said no to all of their drugs and decided to find an alternative.

I had heard about the healing of Macrobiotics and my wife Laura had taken cooking classes years ago. So we decided this would be our direction. I wanted to find a Macrobiotic counselor to guide me through this journey so I did an internet search in San Diego and found the San Diego Macrobiotic Community and most important Donee-san, a very experienced, compassionate and gentle counselor/healer. I called her and scheduled a consult with her. She came to our home in San Diego and continues to do so. After following her advice for four months, I was scheduled for a follow up CAT scan. As it turned out, all the remaining tumors were reduced in size and some of them could not even be seen anymore. The oncologist was quite surprised. I think she expected the results to be the opposite and that I would surely then agree to start their horrible drug treatments.
I would like to say a few things about Donee-san. I have found her to be a marvelous teacher and counselor. She is very knowledgeable, gentle but also strong as well. She tells me what foods will be good for my healing and is so encouraging that my healing path seems easy. One thing I really appreciate about Donee-san is that she has always been very accessible. I can call her any time. There have been times when I was buying some special organic food and not to sure if it was the right one. I have been able to call her with my questions about the food or any other I might have about my healing process. She prefers her clients to stay in touch with her. As a matter of fact, if she has not heard from me for awhile she will contact me to see how I am doing. I can’t say enough about having her on my team during my healing journey. This woman really cares.
I would like to talk about how getting cancer has given me a different perspective. I read some place in a Michio Kushi book that Michio would say to a new client, “congratulations, you have cancer.” When I first read that statement I did not understand it.
Having cancer has helped me prioritize behavior so much better. For instance I used to be a activist and paid attention to the news every day intently. It kept me continuously upset and angry. I believe this was one of things that helped propagate the cancer along with years of woking around industial solvents and, of course, not eating particulary well.
Since having cancer and healing it, I have learned to live life in less serious way. Easing up. I actually found out that the world did not change a bit if I was not angry all the time. WOW what a relief. I could lighten up and things would be okay. Also my health has continued to improve more and more with each passing week. I have soooo much energy, as much or more than I used to. I feel light and fluid when I move.
My knees used to hurt. I could not squat down on my haunches. Without a lot of tightness and difficulty standing up. It was just not a body position I could use anymore. That has all changed. I can get down on my haunches and back up again as easily as I did when I was in my twenties. That is very cool.
It’s the wonderful beautiful food I now eat. The food is so powerful and healing. I could never go back to the old diet I used to have. Not ever. Oh yea, I occasionally will eat anything now that I have regained my health. But it is only OCCASIONALLY. There were times when staying on the more strict healing Macrobiotic diet was real hard. But I was motivated. I wanted to live! So I did and it sure as heck paid off. Now I enjoy a wider version of the Macrobiotic diet. That is a term Donee-san uses, wide or narrow. In the beginning, you will be very narrow in the diet if you choose to follow this path. I am sure glad I did. It’s the wonderful healing food. It’s the food.
The medical industry should study this. It is so sad that they don’t. I guess the industry prefers that we people spend billions of dollars every year on the drug/ poisons. Sorry, I am a bit cynical about this, especially having healed through the food and direction of Donee-san.
I am now 1 year past surgery. I am healthy and living as active a lifestyle as I lived before all this cancer stuff started. I don’t even think about it much anymore. I just eat my good foods and live my life. Today, I will take my horse into the mountains for a ride, tend to my business, and then have dinner and a movie with my wife and inlaws. Tomorrow I will see Donee-san. Life is good and it is good to be alive.

If you would like to call me with any questions, go ahead. Michael 949-246-8394

Weight Loss with Macrobiotics is Amazing.

Weight loss has been the foremost desire of my life for many years, I weighed over two hundred and twenty-five pounds when I began to eat exclusively macrobiotic foods last| year.
After nine months, and a weight loss of over forty pounds I am impressed by this way of eating because of how I feel.
Deep inside my body, I know that this is a healing diet. I was lucky enough not to have a deeper health issue (except the obvious one of obesity) to overcome. Even so, I was desperate and unhappy about my weight, my struggle with food, my seeming inability to take charge in some way. Donée has inspired and taught me, supported and helped me all the way.
I have truly learned to love the Macrobiotic diet. I am so glad to prepare it, to learn about it, and to make the effort to use the best ingredients, and to share the ideas with others.
It is truly a lifestyle change. I love the way the food tastes, and now the foods are nourishing me from the inside out. I'm excited to see what happens next.
I realize that I'm not the only one who feels a profound life change with this diet. I for one, have found a peace that his eluded me for all the years before — here in the rice bowl that I now embrace.
Diane Shea, San Diego CA, 2006
Excerpted from “Embracing the Rice Bowl'' by Diane Shea, Printed in Macrobiotics Today in the March/April issue 2006.

I was a fast food junky. I rarely, if ever, cooked for myself. Even if I did, I now know that what I cooked had very little nutritional value. I had grown up with the popular Mid-Western belief that milk builds strong bones and that meat and potatoes and green beans from a can could provide all my nutritional needs.
By the time I was in my forties I was sluggish, overweight and tired most of the time. In my early fifties I was diagnosed with cancer. It was removed surgically. Later that same year I was diagnosed again with another form of cancer. That, too, was removed successfully.
It was during this period of crisis that a friend introduced me to Donée who began to teach me, among other things, the value of macrobiotics. I had heard of macrobiotics before but was under the mis-impression that it was all about eating seaweed and grains. It sounded to me like an awful way to live. Donée taught me otherwise. She had to start from the ground up with me since I barely knew how to boil water. Fortunately, Donée is a very patient and loving teacher. What a great discovery this has been! Donée has taught me how to make dishes that are absolutely delicious. There is such a variety in macrobiotics that I have not tired of learning new recipes and a variety of preparation methods. For the first time in my life I absolutely love cooking for myself. I have also learned much about how the foods I cook affect my body and provide real nutrition. I have lost pounds and consistently stayed at a healthy and comfortable weight. For me this has been not just a physical experience but a spiritual one as well.
I am extraordinarily grateful for the macrobiotic way and Donée's methods of teaching it through her cooking classes. Although I have read several books on the subject, there is nothing like the hands-on learning that Donée provides. This experience has added much joy and a sense of well-being to my life in ways I could never have expected.

Diane Day, San Diego CA, 2006

Life After Breast Cancer

On April 30, 1999 I underwent a lumpectomy on my right breast to remove invasive ductile cancer. I went through chemotherapy and 35 radiation treatments. After that I was left with a disease known as SCLERODERMA. I had crest syndrome which was centered in my hands and feet. There are only about 300,000 people afflicted with this disease. Bottom line, no medical cure or magic pill.

I did as much research as I could and decided that I needed to try something on my own to curb its affects on my body. A friend on mine told me about Macrobiotics, Donée Krause to be exact, I went to my first cooking class. in March of 2006. Boy, the food was good. I found myself losing weight without even trying. To date 30 lbs. My cholesterol also dropped 115 points. In the past losing weight or lowering my cholesterol was almost an unsurmountable task, but not when you follow Macrobiotics. You feel full and satisfied longer. I have given up a lot, but have gained so much more in good health and well being. And I try not to miss a single day of miso soup
.
Donée has also showed me how to make my own poultices to help relieve the pain and swelling in my fingers and toes. They have been a Godsend. Macrobiotics has made a tremendous difference in how I feel, think and approach each day!
Sandy Lofaro
San Diego
August, 2006