Post Date: 7/23/08 2:33 am
wow, I am totally amazed at this. I work in the health care feild and she can fight this. Hippa laws are very strict. Yes she did lie and a lie is a lie. But she was scared and people do look at you different. This was a medical fund and she had a medical need it should not matter what the need is. They should not even asked. To lose your job as a police officer for liying seems harsh when the police have great tendancies to lie to the public and in interigations.I mean come on they are known for lieing. This is the most ridiculas thing i have ever heard.It is just another prime example of how society looks at people and treats people with eating disorders.This is ridiculous UGH!!!!!!!!

Post Date: 7/23/08 5:47 am
I think this is a shame.  She should not have lied -she could have stated she needed an emergency medical procedure and left it at that -she paid the money back so it is not as if she was trying to keep it... she felt she had to lie about this so she would not feel shame.  The real shame is in Sizer - the Chief *****commeded she be terminated...

Post Date: 7/23/08 6:22 am
Wow,I have been trying to decide how to tell my boss I need the time off. I think I will say an abdominal procedure...not WLS and I will also specify no gifts.LOL.
She never should have lied and the lie has consequences. That is our society. I wonder if she kept the weight off?

Post Date: 7/23/08 6:58 am
That's such a load of crap. She shouldn't have to tell them what kind of surgery, it was. That's private information! Some people just blab it to anyone who'll listen! Not me. It's my health and it's not anybody's business but my own how I lost so much weight. I told those at work that I know and trust, but the other nosy bast*rds who don't know me but still have the nerve to ask me if I had wls. I tell them I eat way less and exercise more (which I do).

Post Date: 7/23/08 7:15 am
Personally, I don't think it's anyone's business that one is havingf WLS.  I'm an RN and I did tell the MD I worked for but I did tell my co-workers that I would prefer that when patient's asked(clinic nurse) how I'd lost weight, tell them she just decided that she'd had enough of being overweight, walking 2-3 miles a day, etc.  I didn't want people to know...they weren't paying for it.  Some people are not supportive whatsoever!!!  They don't have your best interests at heart.  They're like the food police.  There's a lady at my church who's postop (Dec 2005); her pre-op weight was 440 and she's currently 300.  Well, she started losing weight, but whenever we have lunch/dinner at church, she's piggin' out and everyone's talking and whispering about her.  Also, living in a small town, her vehicle is seen at restaurants...needless to say, people are still talking and watching her.  I didn't want people to waych my every move.  In addition, if I didn't do as well as someone else, I didn't want to be compared or considered a failure.  Ya'll know they'll say, "she went through all that and didn't lose hardly any weight or she's picking that weight back up."  Don't fool yourself, people treat us differently because we're obese.  Right now, I'm 230 (down from 376) and people comment how good I look; on the other hand, the lady at church, no one ever speaks an encouraging word to her.  As far as the integrity of police officers, well, we're all human and mess up.  No, I'm not condoning her taking the money under false pretnses; but firing in my opinion is a bit extreme.  I know officers who stop ladies for bogus reasons just to get phone numbers, have affairs, use excessive force, plant evidence, concoct stories, etc.  That's my opinion...and I'm sticking to it!!! T

Post Date: 7/23/08 9:26 am
I had a very interesting incounter with a child about WLS.  A girl age 15 which I have known since she was 3 years old and who was friends with my daughter up until this year, said to me "my mom said you had to have surgery to lose weight. " And this girl was very disrespectful to me, she said I was a fat *ss before my surgery but "no I had to have surgery to lose weight "and that is when she said that her mom said I had to have the WLS to lose.  I'm amazed that a mother would say something like that to her child and then I'm amazed that a child would speak to an adult in that way but I guess it should not surprise me these days.  Maybe Mom is jealous because I'm now better looking than she could ever hope to be...

Post Date: 7/25/08 7:53 am
As someone in law enforcement, I hate to see a fellow officer lose their job.  But what I hate more is ANYONE who brings dishonor or shame to our field.  As a society, we choose to focus on the negative, we always do.  And unfortunately, there are officers who do negative things.  The problem I have with this is that one lie; one bad choice; brings shame to all of us.  It is not just the reputation of the officer involved that is tarnished, it is the job itself.  Comments made in this thread alone prove that out.  Christina W. states that it is a well know fact that officers by nature are dishonest.  We lie in interrogations, we lie in investigations, and we lie on the stand.  T states, "I know officers who stop ladies for bogus reasons just to get phone numbers, have affairs, use excessive force, plant evidence, concoct stories, etc."  As someone who has served my community for over 15 years, how am I supposed to react to that?  Do I have co-workers that lie, sure.  Do I have co-workers that may overstep the lines of their authority, sure.  Can anyone tell me that they don't have some co-workers who have the exact same problem?  When you hire a police officer, you are hiring a human being.  And since there has been only one to walk this Earth without fault, there is always the potential for bad hires.    If you say to me that the majority of my co-workers are dishonest liars, and that excuses this officer’s dishonesty then at a minimum I would say that you are uniformed and your logic is flawed.  Are there bad cops, yes.  Are there also bad ****a delivery guys, doctors, and garbage men?  Yes.

As to her lying, I have a big problem with this.  There was no reason to lie.  Everyone who has seen a doctor in the last ten years knows about Hippa.  We know that we do not have to disclose specific information about health issues to employees, employers or anyone else.  She could have simply said "I need an emergency medical procedure."  No one made her give a reason.  No one asked her for specifics.  She volunteered this info.  She made the call to get the money.  They asked what it was for.  She told a lie.  The "evil police department" didn't make her tell them anything.  She made a conscious decision to lie.  And her reason was that she didn't want to be "ribbed" for this surgery.  So it was a choice that her honesty and reputation were less important than possible teasing.  This to me speaks to integrity.  Are you willing to suffer some teasing and ridicule to preserve your sense of self? If your not, that you do not belong behind a badge.

My last thought is simply this.  How does she expect to succeed at this surgery if she will not even be honest with her children as to what is happening?  How can you expect to succeed at WLS if it is based on a lie and you try to live a lie covering it up?  She didn't just keep this from co-workers; she kept it from friends, family and children.  Doesn't it strike anyone here that there are obviously some other issues going on?  And as a matter of disclosure, I work for a department at least the size of Portland's.  And yes my co-workers are aware of my pending surgery.  And yes, I have been the subject of jokes and backtalk.  And to that I say, "So darn what?"