Folks continue to say that Jesse Jackson Jr. is faking his illness.
Well now his wife is on a mission to set folks straight!
jesse Jackson Jr. is “completely debilitated by depression,” his wife said in an interview this weekend that shed light on the congressman’s secretive leave of absence.
Sandi Jackson told the Chicago Sun-Times that her husband is currently seeking treatment at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., after he collapsed from exhaustion June 10 at his Washington home.
“What I can tell you is my husband has his good days and bad days, and they are increasing his depression medication to therapeutic levels,” Sandi told the paper.
Rep. Jackson’s family has been relatively mum on the Illinois Democrat’s illness since he left the House on a medical leave of absence in June.
The congressman’s office announced in early July that he was “receiving intensive medical treatment at a residential treatment facility for a mood disorder.”
“Jesse told his father [Rev. Jesse Jackson] he was so exhausted, he couldn’t take another step,” she said.
Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Jackson’s brother, Yusef DuBois, first rushed the congressman to George Washington University Hospital in Washington.
“He called and told me not to worry, but it was obvious he was suffering from a form of depression,” Sandi Jackson told the Sun-Times. “So Yusef took him at my suggestion to the Sierra Tucson Treatment Center in Arizona, where they specialize in mental health.”
Jackson was later transferred to the Mayo Clinic, where doctors are currently trying to determine whether his depression is linked to the gastric bypass weight-loss surgery he underwent in 2004.
“They are now trying to find out if his depression, which has not yet been diagnosed as a bipolar disorder, is connected to the weight-loss surgery. We don’t know,” Sandi Jackson said. “Jesse is now gaining weight and eating and feeling better in that sense, but he is still very depressed.”
Sandi Jackson blasted rumors that her husband was faking, receiving treatment for alcohol or drug addiction or had attempted suicide.
She also denied reports that the congressman’s leave of absence was triggered by the federal indictment of his close friend, Raghuveer Nayak, who was arrested for medical fraud.
“We decided to impose a news blackout during his treatment to enable him to heal,” she said.
The “blackout” reportedly went into effect the day Rep. Jackson collapsed — 10 days before Nayak was arrested.
“He doesn’t know anything about the indictment,” she said.
The congressman’s leave of absence also comes as the House Ethics Committee investigates allegations that he offered to raise money for then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for President Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat.
Rep. Jackson has not been charged and has denied any wrongdoing.
Sandi Jackson said that her husband will return to Capitol Hill, though she’s not sure when.
“I fully expect him to return to work, but not a day before the doctor says it’s OK,” she said. “That’s the word we are waiting for.”
via BlackMediaScoop
