northern

I have two things to share with you this month.

One's good news, the other is bad news.

But don't worry, the bad news isn't terrible.






As you may recall, just over five years ago, I had weight loss surgery.

I got a gastric band, frequently called a lap band.

It's basically a plastic band strapped around the top part of my stomach.

It both slows down my eating and makes me feel full a lot faster.

It's adjustable too.

I have a port implanted just under my skin where the doctor can tighten the band by injecting some saline solution, or loosen the band by removing some of the saline.

I had the surgery in December 2003, and lost 120 pounds.

But for about a year, or more actually, I was suffering from progressively worse and worse acid reflux.

To the point where I was unable to sleep without frequently waking up coughing on stomach acid.

I finally made the trip to Toronto to see the surgeon and ask him about it.

He'd seen it before, and the solution was to temporarily drain the band, and then later start from stratch with 'fills' to tighten it again.

It worked like a charm. No more acid reflux.

But it also meant that I could eat.

And eat.

And eat.

And I did.

I saw the surgeon again, after about a month, and got the first fill.

I finally got my family doctor to refer me to the surgeon here in town, in the hopes that he could do the fills and save me the 7 or 8 hour drive to Toronto.

I went into detail a couple entries ago about what a nightmare that was.

If you missed the entry, I'll summarize by saying that the surgeon passed the task on to a couple of nurses.

Who spent 10 or 15 minutes repeatedly jabbing the needle into me, even wiggling it around, trying to find the right spot.

When all was said and done, they still weren't sure if I got a fill or not.

Of course, I've been hesistant to go for another fill, which I really need.

I finally decided, the heck with it, I'll make the trip and see the surgeon who knows what he's doing.





I called his office, and was surprised to hear a message that simply said that the office was permanently closed.

Huh?

I found that odd, so I figured I'd check out the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and find him.

This is what they had listed for him:


"On December 11, 2008, the Discipline Committee found that Dr. Joffe committed
acts of professional misconduct in that he sexually abused patients under
clause 51(1)(b.1) of the Health Professional Procedural Code (the "Code") and
engaged in an act or omission relevant to the practice of medicine that having
regard to all of the circumstances, would be regarded by members as
disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional.

The Discipline Committee ordered and directed that:

1. The Registrar revoke Dr. Joffe's certificate of registration effective
immediately.
2. Dr. Joffe appear before the panel to be reprimanded.
3. Dr. Joffe reimburse the College for funding provided to patients under
the program required under section 85.7 of the Code, by posting an
irrovocable letter of credit or other security acceptable to the College,
by January 30, 2009, in the amount of $40,000.
4. Dr. Joffe pay costs to the College in the amount of $3,650 by January 30,
2009.
5. The results of this proceeding be included in the register."



Yes, my surgeon had his license revoked.

I Googled him and found the stories below:

The Toronto Star - MD sexually abused 4 patients - http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/552580

The National Post - Sex with patients costs doctor licence - http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1065325

The Toronto Sun - Doctor had threesome with patients - http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/12/12/7722701-sun.html


Yikes!

Anyways, this has been the long way of explaining that I now have to find someone else to do my fills.

I'm trying to get in contact with the surgeon who used to work with my former surgeon. He even did a couple of my fills a few years ago.

And someone I know, knows someone who had gastric bypass and their surgeon also apparently does the band.

So I'm really hoping I find someone, and soon.

I've put on weight.

I'm afraid to stand on the scale.

But I know that when I went to my grandmother's funeral in December, my dress short barely managed to fit.

I really need to lose more weight.





Anyways, that was my bad news.

Not too bad, just really inconvenient.

I'll figure something out.




Now the good news....

And sadly, this requires a preface as well.

Many years ago, I broke the law.

Just the once.

But I was convicted and spent time in prison.

After my parole and probation were over, and I waited the required number of years, I applied for a pardon.

And received it.

While waiting for that to happen, I never tried to enter the United States, since I didn't want them seeing my record and denying me entry.

After I got the pardon, I went to the US a few times without any problems.

Then in October 2007, I got to the booth at the border and they started asking me all sorts of questions, including what I had been arrested for.

They sent me inside for more questions.

When all was said and done, they let me into the US, but told me that the next time I crossed I had to bring a copy of my record with me to show them.

Here's the problem... my record is sealed, so no one, not even me, can access it.

And I used a paralegal firm to process my pardon application so I never had a copy of it.

And the paralegal firm shreds your file once the pardon is granted.

So I was screwed.

I thought a lot about it, and thought well, my old probation file will have a copy of my record.

So I wrote to my former probation officer and asked if I could get a copy.

No.

So maybe she could write a letter stating what I had been convicted of?

Yeah, she can do that, but it will be a long wait because my file has been archived in a warehouse somewhere.

So I waited.

And waited.

After 8 months of waiting, I wrote another letter.

She got back to me, and said that my file had just arrived, because apparently it was misfiled.



Anyways, she wrote me a one or two sentence letter and the very next day I went to the border to show them.

I went in and spoke to an officer and he spoke to some of his fellow officers and then a couple supervisors.

The letter was acceptable.

You know when you cross the border, how stressful it can be, because sometimes they're really nice, and sometimes they're bastards?

He was really nice.

He even stamped and signed the letter and gave it back to me, just in case I have any problems in the future.

He made copious notes in my computer file, and said I shouldn't have problems, but of course, he can't guarantee that.

It's not like I travel to the United States a lot.

But it's nice to know that I have the option.





So, that's my good news.

A huge relief for me.