I still remember the day my husband and I first went to Peter's office in Stamford Connecticut in 1990. I was married 2 years, my daughter Megan was six months old, I was a youthful 28 yo, and my husband was 90 lbs.

When my husband first saw blood in his stool we rushed off to a Gastroenterologist. After diagnosing him with IBS and perscribing him a large dose of Flagyl Jeff then lost 36 pounds in just 16 days. Having loose painful bloody bowel movements 15-20 times a day the gastroenterologist told him to have a low residue diet, but never talked any further about diet. Jeff was exhausted, out of work, and had no idea what to eat. Everyday was a struggle to get him to eat something, because everything that went into his mouth came out within 10 minutes.

I was at my wits end to make him something that would not bother him. Someone older and seemingly wiser suggested we see a holistic nutritionist. So off we went to a women's house who counseled us about diet and took our money. Things were no better.

At the same time as this was happening, my Uncle, only in his 60's, was struggling with a diagnosis of HIV. My uncle had lost his lifelong partner to HIV only a few years before, so he was well versed in the course of the disease. My uncle had been living a wonderful life, as an Italian immigrants son he had worked hard and building by building bought up a block of Long Island City, in NY. He was well aquainted with working hard to achieve a goal. Willing to try anything to get well, he had come across Peter D'Adamo's work. Peter was known in the HIV circles because he was trying to boost the immune system to get the body to fight the infection. My uncle had a large network of friends and he probably got Peter's name from them.

My mother (his sister) was very close to my uncle, they spoke everyday. When my uncle heard Jeff was sick he sent along one of Peter's early patient books. Self published and spiral bound, Peter used a highlighter to emphasis the beneficial foods. I was certainly intrigued, someone actually thought food had a role in our health. Just from the description of blood types Jeff came to the conclusion he was an O and 20 minutes after a high protein meal his coffee pot stomach was quiet. After three days of a much more peaceful bowel we made an appointment with Peter.

I will never forget sitting in Peter's office a picture of Martha directly in front of him, and two chairs in front of his desk. His manner was casual but optimistic. That first meeting was a breathe of fresh air. He told Jeff that in a year he would feel much better but before his turnaround he would lose over 70 lbs.
So here we sat in Peter's office, Peter says to Jeff, "Take lentils if you eat them they will make you feel worse". Jeff nearly fell off his chair. How could Peter know this? Jeff had experienced this first hand just a few days before. Being at a loss as what to cook for him, I had some lentils in the cabinet. Thinking these must be "ok" to give him I made him a dish. He ate the whole bowl. What a mistake, his stomach hurt, and he spent the whole day in the bathroom. I looked at the ingredients on the can, what was in there that caused that. I was puzzled. So it made Peter's statement much more astounding.

Peter prescribed Jeff a bunch of supplements and we got our own spiral bound book for BT O highlighted in green and yellow. We had a direction. I wasted no time learning how to cook for him from the little book. Jeff had 10 years of better health before he had another severe episode of Ulcerative colitis. He and I have Peter and his confidence in his work to thank.

I find my surprise at Dr D'Adamo's work no less astounding today. Everytime I read any of his books I am amazed at the details he knows about my body. I feel so privilged to be part of Dr. D's world. My uncle died over 10 years ago but I will always be indepted to him for sharing that little spiral book.