by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 26/97) - After a harrowing run of bad health, the longest-serving chiropractor in Yellowknife is back in business.

But chiropractics is more than a business for Dr. Bob Findlay -- it's his life's work.

"I'm just very happy to be able to get back," said Findlay, who first started practising here in 1970. "Chiropractics is something I've sorely missed for the past four years."

Findlay Chiropractic Clinic went back into operation earlier this month in its old location, the ground floor of City Hall.

Findlay's run of ill-health began at the end of 1992 when he was diagnosed with diabetes shortly after he suffered a stroke.

During his hospital stay, it was discovered he had gangrene in one leg and the limb had to be amputated.

On the morning he was to leave hospital after the operation, his foot was scalded. The incident led to heart problems which were corrected with a pacemaker.

"I've come through quite a bit to get to the stage I'm at right now," said Findlay.

At the worst of the ordeal, he was down to 54 kilograms. The 62-year-old doctor now tips the scales at about 72 kilos.

"I've got another 10 years anyway. It depends on whether you're doing it for a living or because you enjoy it.

"I've enjoyed every single moment of my professional life -- I've never hesitated to come in on Sundays or make house calls."

When he set up practice in Yellowknife, Findlay made monthly trips to Hay River and Pine Point. Neither community had a chiropractor of its own at that time.

While battling his own illness, Findlay continued to add to his seven years of formal chiropractic training.

"It's like any other profession," he said. "You can't just graduate and remain static. Education has to be a continual process."