Living With Cancer:  Gary Walton

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Walton, a resident of Rodeo, California, was 64 years old at the time of his diagnosis. Since then he has rebounded from that dismal prognosis and is retaining the richness of his life with alternative treatments that offer far less negative side effects than any of the treatments recommended by his U.S. doctors.

"It was devastating to get that diagnosis," said Walton, "It was presented by the doctor like a death sentence. We asked him what kind of negatives would introduce at that time, and his response was, 'there's a lot of things that can happen, but you just have to understand that this is the only way that you can go.'

All the doctor wanted to do was to surgically take out my prostate. It was pretty much a given that after surgery I was going to be incontinent and impotent."

"Prostate cancer is devastating to a male because it attacks the male testosterone and the male physiology and consequently that's all devastating mentally as well as the physical problems," said Walton, "Men in their late 70's and 80's may have only slight sexual urges. But when you're in your 50's and 60's and still virile, it's absolutely devastating."

The Walton's researched alternative treatments, insisting on referrals to physicians specializing in Brachytherapy seed implantation and radiation. "Because of my Gleason number, I was told I was not a candidate for seed implantation" so I started radiation treatments. At no time did any of the doctors we saw give us any indication that there were other alternative treatments," said Walton.

I was prescribed Lupron for about four months and the side effects were just horrendous. "Lupron has tremendously negative side effects for men. The side effects are that you lose bone mass, you lose muscle mass, you lose hair. You get heavy in the hips, your breasts enlarge. Your whole physiology changes from masculine to feminine. It is medical castration.

I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror. I couldn't even recognize myself. I was also fainting so I couldn't even trust myself to drive. I lost all kinds of energy. It was just totally devastating. "I joked with my wife, I said, honey "don't throw any dresses away, because you married a man but you're going to end up with a sister."

After my 40 radiation treatments my PSA had gone down and it stayed stabilized for about a year, year and a half, but then it started doubling. We were very concerned that the cancer was returning with a vengeance.

I woke up one morning after a sleepless night and I told my wife, "you know this is a big wide world. In Europe, in Asia, in South America and in Canada, there must be some research going on that maybe we don't know about here in the U.S., so one of the first places we went to was WHO, World Health Organization. They suggested HIFU and Dendritic treatments. 

That's when the Waltons chose to travel outside the U.S. for the treatments they required. "I could have gone to Canada, but because it was February, we chose Mexico." Their research started by contacting HIFU in Charlotte, North Carolina.

HIFU has a contract with San Javier Hospital, Puerto Vallarta, for Dr. Raul Morales for Dendritic and Dr. Carlos Garcia for the HIFU procedure. Robert Johnson of HIFU, arranged everything for us including air and hotel accommodations and no-cost shuttle service daily from the hotel to San Javier Hospital.

Between my first and second trip to Mexico for Dendritic treatments I had not taken any additional medications or treatments suggested by my doctors in California. I knew that since my PSA had been level for almost a year that it had to be due to the Dendritic treatment.

Walton said there are clinical trials of Dendritic treatments going on in the U.S. "I sought the opinion of Dr. Lawrence Fong, University of California San Francisco Medical Center. Fong is a specialist in the Dendritic area and told Walton clinical trials are showing positive proof that Dendritic treatments would be a good treatment procedure for all kinds of cancer.

"I question why the FDA is so slow in the approval process when these alternative treatments have been proven and in use for years in other countries." said Walton. 

Walton said it's been his experience that doctors in the U.S. don't give you all the information that you need to make an analysis for yourself.  "They are handcuffed and gagged by the healthcare system and by the hospitals because they are so afraid of any kind of litigation," said Walton, "They don't have your best interests at heart.  They have the hospital's best interests at heart." 

"I think if a doctor knows information and doesn't give it to a patient and the patient dies, that's the most cruel thing a doctor can do," said Walton.

Walton has made three trips to The IIB Clinic in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for treatment. Based on the predictable results, the Waltons anticipate making annual trips to the clinic to maintain his PSA level. Each trip takes about week. The Dendritic treatment procedure consists of four sessions that Walton describes in detail in a separate recorded interview.

"The cost of the HIFU treatment was $25,000.00. The first treatment of both HIFU and Dendritic in February 2007, cost $50,000.00. The last two Dendritic treatments have each been approximately $13,000," said Walton.

"At all times we were treated with the upmost respect and professionalism. For a very difficult experience, in a strange country, everyone made us feel comfortable. We had an English speaking interpreter with us at all times during the treatments and available 24/7 for our calls and questions" said Walton.

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Listen as Walton describes additional detail about his medical experience in the U.S.

Hear Walton describe the medical treatments and procedures he has had in Mexico and details about current Dendritic clinical trials in the States.