The Truth About Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Disappearance
After months of vague statements and unconfirmed rumors, Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr.'s wife, has opened up and revealed what exactly is going on with her husband.
RELATED: Emanuel Takes Shots at Wisconsin as He's Sworn In as Chicago Mayor
In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times' Michael Snead, Sandi Jackson explains how Jackson Jr. apparently collapsed at their Washington, D.C. home on June 10. He was first taken to a hospital after a conversation with his father, Jesse Jackson Sr. "Jesse told his father he was so exhausted, he couldn’t take another step," Sandi said. They took Jackson Jr. to George Washington University Hospital where they diagnosed he was suffering from depression.
RELATED: We Finally Know Where Jesse Jackson Jr. Really Is
Sandi confirmed NBC's Andrea Mitchell report that Jackson was receiving treatment in facility in Arizona. At her request, Jackson's brother Yusef took him to the Sierra Tucson Treatment Center in Arizona. She denied the part of the report that said her husband was suffering from alcoholism and addiction.
RELATED: Jesse Jackson Jr. Located: Rehab
Doctors at the Arizona facility determined Jackson's depression might be connected to a weight-loss surgery he had a few years ago, and that's when he was referred to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
RELATED: Memories of Vietnam, Jesse Jackson Jr., and Pickup Basketball
Sandi Jackson siad her husband is doing better now, but he's still having "his good days and bad days." She said they're increasing his depression medication to therapeutic levels, and that doctors are still trying to confirm the link between his depression and his weight-loss surgery.
RELATED: Urban Squirrel-Eating Is Big in the Windy City
His family visits regularly, and they're taking the recovery process one day at a time. "I fully expect him to return to work, but not a day before the doctor says it’s OK. That’s the word we are waiting for," she said.
Jackson's office didn't offer any sort of explanation for his disappearance until two weeks after he was admitted to the hospital. Sandi Jackson said he's been under a "news blackout" since he entered treatment, dismissing the theory her husband was hiding from a bribery investigation into his friend, Raghuveer Nayak. Nayak wasn't arrested until June 20, ten days after Jackson disappeared.
