Personal statement of David Rietz, owner/WEBmaster of www.dorway.com (WEBmaster of www.notmilk.com, www.powerfulbook.com and more) To whom it may concern: During June of 1996 I gave up on the US Medical system. Eleven years of progressive pain and expanding health problems had elapsed without a cause or a cure. After 21 doctors and countless tests and lots of expensive and invasive drugs I was getting worse, almost by the day. My list of symptoms: What seemed to be terminal (crippling) arthritis and getting worse numb-tingling hands and feet combination carpel-tunnel/tennis-elbows that made my arms almost useless Fibromyalgia-like hot spots (all over) chronic-fatigue like exhaustion sleeplessness memory loss depression (and getting worse) had a few short blackouts (just long enough to fall down stairs) vision problems (and getting worse) bouts of what I called burning heels that made walking impossible shooting-stabbing pains in my legs (I was later told this could have been misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis). tinnitus I must admit that, without a clue, even the most brilliant doctor could not possibly guess the single cause of this wide variety of seemingly unrelated problems. On 15 June, 1996, at two in the morning (after 45 days of exhaustive Internet searches) I chanced upon what was then a newly posted short article that claimed to be the FDA's list of 92 symptoms of aspartame poisoning. I almost didn't read it because I had never heard of aspartame and I thought FDA stood for "Federal DRUG Agency". But I was very desperate... and so I began to read this one page note. Part way into the dialog it mentioned "Equal" and "Nutrasweet". The article listed those 92 symptoms and many matched mine. There was a suggestion that IF a person had one or more of those problems for which their doctors could not find either the cause OR cure AND they used products containing aspartame... to simply read labels and quit ingesting aspartame for two months to see what would happen. I did, and by the fifth week with no more Equal in my diet my health had improved so much that I had changed from a cripple (with an old- man's cane assisted shuffling distance of 50 feet... and shrinking) to walking a new Super K-Mart end to end and all around three times with no problems. I am now, and have been, 95% pain free ever since. In addition, at one time it was mandatory that I wear bifocals while driving, especially at night. Over the past several years my eyesight has improved such that I now need only computer/reading glasses. The problems that remain are mostly likely permanent. Massive memory loss (probably attributable to both aspartame AND MSG), maddening tinnitus, still overweight, and of course I am now twelve years into terminal prostate cancer. Yes... aspartame has a number of toxins, carcinogens and a tumor agent in its composition and breakdown components so it remains a prime candidate as a cause of this cancer. I gained 60 pounds over the 15 years I used Equal in my coffee... and formaldehyde-laced fat is still causing me continuing health problems. Shortly after my discovery, while lamenting my situation and musing "if only someone had let this information be known years ago I might not be dying long before my time" an inner voice suggested that I be that "someone" for somebody else. By September of 1996 I had amassed so many files that my web site host requested I comply with my space limitations. I chose to create a new site http://www.dorway.com and the name DORway stands for "David Oliver Rietz'" -way-of paying back the Internet for that list of symptoms I credit with saving my life. During 1997 I met Mr. Robert Cohen who was preparing to publish his new book "Milk, the deadly poison". Mr. Cohen informed me of the many hormones in all milk and dairy, one of which was identical between cow's and humans. That hormone, Insulin-like Growth Factor One (IGF-1) is a powerful growth hormone. He suggested that perhaps if I abandoned milk and dairy my cancer might grow slower. I abandoned all milk and dairy and my cancer did grow around three times more slowly (which is a significant reason why I am still fairly healthy despite being so many years with this cancer). With this important extension to my life in place I informed Mr. Cohen that I would create and maintain his important web sites for expenses only. http://www.notmilk.com was created during 1997. Since September of 1996 I estimate I have donated over 15,000 hours (over 200 hours a month), and about as many of my finite retirement dollars, helping to spread the whole truth about aspartame, MSG (kissing cousin mind-blower to aspartame) and cow's milk and dairy... a substance far worse than tobacco. I have done this because it is the right thing to do. Dave Rietz ------------------------- February 03 Update ------------------------ When I was diagnosed with a prostate cancer that had already spread my prognosis for survival was set at eight to ten years. This year I am, at a minimum, over 12 years into this deadly disease. I credit better diet, ESPECIALLY the removal of cow's milk an dairy, with this added longevity. Sans milk my cancer has grown slower... but that did not mean it was no longer growing. On the 25th of January, 2003 (a Saturday, of course) I began to urinate blood and blood clots. Over the next three days I passed around 60 clots ranging in sizes from a kidney bean to as large as two inches long and a half inch wide. On the following Tuesday I had emergency surgery to determine the cause. During this operation the urologist removed a 2.5cm (almost an inch) of "poorly differentiated" prostate cancer cells from the neck of the bladder (the prostate gland connects at this location). During the period of Sept. 1998 and October 2000 I took no cancer drugs... and had finally become dairy free. Over that 25 month period of time my PSA (prostate specific antigen) score for this cancer could have risen to around 37 (at the original growth rate) but without IGF-1 from milk and dairy... it rose only to 9.8... over three times more slowly. However... it was obvious the drugs had not exterminated the cancer as it had done for the founder of PAACT (after only two years!). Once back on the cancer drugs my PSA fell to 0.51 and six months later to 0.31... going in the right direction. On July, 2002, 11 months after the last reading my PSA was a whopping 1.6. This implied I was finally becoming "hormone refactory" meaning the drugs no longer worked and my "end game" was in sight. The PSA on 2 September was 2.8 and on 23 November it was 3.74. I calculated that my cancers "doubling time" was a very short four months. At that rate it would reach a PSA of around 100 in less than a year and a half. A PSA of 100 is a nominal point at which the cancer reaches the bone, destroys the marrow, and kills the victim. Not good news. Mr. Cohen put the news of my emergency surgery on the NOTMILK Newsletter (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/messages) and I wish to thank the dozens of subscribers who sent me get well Email's and cards. I must say that while in the hospital recovering from a very invasive procedure... those cards from France, England, West Africa and points in between were a great "pick me up". Thank you. During the surgery the urlogist removed 2.5cm (almost an inch) of prostate cancer growth that had grown through the wall of the prostate gland into the urinary tract (at the neck of the bladder). Perhaps the most intersting aspect of this is that my prostate was "fried" with 6700 RADS of External Beam Radiation only ten years ago. Seems that this proceture is no better than sugery. Sadly, only 45 days later, new growth was already evident (bumps) in that same area. Despite all of the molestation around the area of my prostate from several operations (anything that bothers the prostate can elevate the PSA count) my PSA after this operation fell to 2.4 (vice a projected 8 or so for this period of time). The CT and bone scans showed no migration to the bones. This news was presented to Isabel, my lovely wife and I on our 43rd wedding anniversary... 21 February 2003. A fine anniversary present indeed! Needless to say... cancer is a killer and it is still winning, althought somewhat more slowly, against all I have been able to throw at it. It is far easier to change the diet to PREVENT cancers... then to overcome them. Far cheaper and invasive, too. http://www.dorway.com/betterdiet.html As of 5-01-03 my cancer has progressed such that chemotherapy is now part of my life. http://www.dorway.com/mysituation.txt is a running log of the entire situation. Dave Rietz