I was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1956. I studied universal history at the University of Havana and arrived in the United States on August 19, 1994.

In 2010, at the age of fifty-three, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, with a Gleason score of 7. According to the doctors, the tumor was very advanced for someone my age. I was told my case was untreatable and that my already advanced disease would rapidly metastasize to the lungs, bones, and elsewhere. It felt like a death sentence.

I looked for other opinions and began radiation and chemotherapy treatment, which I eventually elected to suspend due to unbearable side effects, some of which I have continued to struggle against for the past eleven years. In fact, my struggle against those side effects is one of the main things that motivated me to write and publish my story. I wrote Testimony of Life to help those interested in maintaining good health and preventing degenerative diseases. I want to bring real hope to others by sharing my story and also explain the damage that radiation caused my body. Cancer motivated me a great deal to understand the science and power of nutrition, and I continue to apply that understanding every day of my life.

Combined with exercise and some meditation, the whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet helped me lose 103 pounds and recover my health.

Investigating alternatives to the treatments that were killing me, I learned that plants could play a big role in restoring my natural defenses. The world of plants is full of high-quality vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and other nutrients we need to be well. Combined with exercise and some meditation, the whole food, plant-based (WFPB) lifestyle helped me lose 103 pounds and recover my health.

I have carried out higher-level studies at the University of Tenerife, Spain, where I received my master’s degree in clinical nutrition in medicine. I am also a graduate of the Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. My fundamental objective is to spread the message that a cancer diagnosis is not the end!