By Burton Goldberg

very issue of this magazine highlights new, alternative, and cutting-edge technologies and therapies. But it is rare that I actually have to test these modalities with my own life on the line. This is exactly where I found myself this past winter. It’s a journey I didn’t expect to take, but one that has more firmly cemented my commitment to the power of alternative medicine not only to diagnose and treat problems, but to heal in the most complete and compassionate way.

My journey began over the Christmas holidays when I found myself getting up several times during the night to use the bathroom. The next day, I continued to have a sense of urgency and my stomach was puffy. I’d planned a trip to
Europe in February, so I set up an appointment with Wolf-Dieter Kessler—a homeopath, doctor, and superb diagnostician—at his Kessler Clinic in northern Germany.

When I arrived, my creatinine level, which indicates kidney function, was highly elevated, indicating a very serious problem. Kessler was able to reduce the level somewhat, but discovered I also had an enlarged prostate, a condition commonly referred to as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which was partially blocking the outflow of urine from my bladder. Kessler sent me to see a urologist—standard procedure in such cases—and after a physical examination, an X-ray of my abdominal region, and a scope of my bladder, the urologist told me I had colon cancer and needed surgery immediately.

Kessler didn’t agree with this diagnosis, believing my issue was more of a mechanical problem caused by the enlarged prostate, but he thought it important to rule out cancer. So he sent me home, where I had an anxious daughter waiting and an insurance plan that would cover any treatment I needed. Once home, I consulted with a cancer doctor. The first thing he did was send me to the hospital for a CAT scan, which confirmed what Kessler believed: There was no cancer. As big a relief as this was, I was back in the hospital a few days later unable to walk and facing a more immediately life-threatening condition—my kidneys were failing, and I had high blood pressure and anemia severe enough to cause a heart attack.

Just as Kessler first suspected, my enlarged prostate was causing a disastrous domino effect in my body: Its swollen size prevented urine from passing through my urethra and caused it to back up into my bladder, which then put pressure on my ureter, the duct between the bladder and kidneys. That, in turn, stopped the flow from my kidneys. And all this led to the heart related-problems I was experiencing, since my kidneys weren’t flushing or cleansing my blood.

Both the urologist and nephrologist at the hospital recommended immediate surgery to shrink my prostate. But for a 77-year-old man, this is a very serious step—aside from the risk, the trauma, and the protracted recovery time, such surgery often leads to erectile dysfunction.

Finally, I contacted Friedrich Douwes in Bad Aibling, Germany, because his Klinik St. Georg had shown remarkable results in shrinking prostates. I wasn’t in any condition to travel, but my assistant, Barbara Pinder, volunteered to take me and stay while I was being treated. I was wheeled onto the plane in a sedan chair—I was still ... [continue to next page]