This story will be appearing June 12, in The London Free Press, London, Ontario.


By Julie Carl - Free Press Sarnia Bureau
SARNIA - A Sarnia man awaiting crucial brain surgery at a Toronto hospital
says his wait has been too long and he wants to know why.
Don Jerome wants the surgery so badly that he's travelling to Toronto today
to plant himself at the hospital were the operation is be done.
Jerome is awaiting experimental surgery to implant a stimulator in his
brain to control the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Although the surgery
has never been scheduled, he says he was told first he would have it in
March, then July and now September.
Jerome and his wife Marylou say hospital staff told them the surgery was
postponed because of government cutbacks and urged them to write to their
MPP. Last week, the Jeromes collected 1,500 names on a petition protesting
cutbacks to the hospital's funding which they presented to Sarnia MPP David
Boushy on Sunday.
 But a spokesperson for Toronto Hospital, Western Division, said Tuesday
that government cutbacks have not effected scheduling the surgery. Hospital
public affairs officer Mary Stobbe could not say why the hospital cannot
schedule the surgery.
Marylou Jerome said she and her husband will be travelling to the hospital
today in hopes of getting some answers and date for the surgery.
"All we want is a surgical date. That would mean so much to Don. It would
give us something to look forward to," she said. "They told us ORs
(operating rooms) were being closed in July because of government
cutbacks...I don't know why they're saying something else now."
When Don Jerome, 40, was diagnosed with the degenerative disease 16 years
ago, he was one of the youngest people in Ontario ever to be diagnosed with
it. Until last year, the 30 to 40 medications he takes daily controlled his
symptoms, but as the disease has progressed the medication no longer helps
him significantly, he says.
Parkinson's causes the brain to stop making the substance which aids
sending messages to the body. Frequently, sufferers experience tremors, but
Jerome suffers alternately uncontrolled, spasmodic movements and stiffness.
His ability to concentrate is severely hampered.
Despite the increasing disability he's experiencing, Jerome's employer,
Bayer Rubber, has supported him by modifying his duties and picking up the
tab for drug costs which sometimes top a $15,000 annual cap. "Sometimes I
can only work two or three hours a day, and they say that's alright," says
Don Jerome. But he knows if the disease progresses more he will be unable
to work.
"We don't want him to have to quit work. That's what we're trying to
avoid...If he has to go on disability (benefits), it will cost the taxpayer
a lot more paying him to sit home for the next 25 years," said Marylou
Jerome.
The Jeromes are hopeful that Boushy will be able to help them. As well as
accepting the petitions to pass on to provincial health minister Jim
Wilson, Boushy has sent along a letter from Jerome's doctor saying his
surgery should be considered a high priority. Al Sakach, Boushy's executive
assistant, said Boushy has in the past been successful in helping a
constituent move forward a date for heart surgery because it was considered
a priority.

Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent the opinions of the
London Free Press Printing Company.