Rep. Jackson's wife says the congressman is still 'very depressed' (updated)

Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.'s wife spoke to the media for the first time and gave an update on his condition.

Jackson, who took a leave of absence in June, is under treatment for depression and related ailments at the Mayo Clinic.

CNN:

The wife of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. detailed to a Chicago newspaper her husband's "collapse" and his last two months getting treated for gastrointestinal and mental health issues, saying he's still "very depressed" though showing some progress.

Sandi Jackson, an alderwoman in Chicago, talked with the Chicago Sun-Times shortly after returning from visiting her husband at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, with their two children.

"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 Jackson told the paper.

The Illinois Democrat and son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, has not been on Capitol Hill since late May.

[...]

"Jesse is now gaining weight and eating and feeling better in that sense, but he is still very depressed," Sandi Jackson said of his current condition, adding that he has his "ups and downs." "But I am encouraged by the number of tests they are running and the quality of the analysis."

She said there's no timetable on when he might return to work -- including whether he'll be back at work by Labor Day and perhaps at the Democratic National Convention in early September -- adding "it's up to the doctors ... but we should know soon."

Jackson's illness comes as the House Ethics Committee is examining allegations that in 2008 he or or one of his associates offered to raise funds for then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Jackson being appointed to the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after he was elected president.

The congressman has maintained his innocence and pledged to continue to cooperate with authorities.

Mrs. Jackson says that her husband has been under a "news blackout" since entering the Mayo Clinic and knows nothing about what has transpired since then, including the arrest of one of his major fundraisers, Raghuveer Nayak, who is charged with taking kickbacks in connection with his surgical centers. Nayak will figure prominently in the Ethics Committee investigation of Jackson. It was he who Jackson approached to put on fundraisers for convicted governor Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Jackson being named to the Illinois Senate seat vacated when Obama won the presidency.

Update from Rosslyn Smith:

Maybe JJ jr is checking out what might be his future home, the Bureau of Prison's Federal Medical Center for male prisoners. It's just a hop skip and jump away from the Mayo Clinic. Rostenkowski was there for a while, So were Jim Traficant and Lyndon LaRouche. They do evaluations on anyone recently sentenced who claims health problems (Rosty) as well as treating anyone already in prison who develops medical issues that need special attention. A friend used to work there. There's a much larger BOP medical center in Buttner North Carolina but Rochester gets the diagnostic work on the high profile guys and the more complicated cases because it can call on the specialists at Mayo.

Since LaRouche is alive and kicking years many after his parole I always wondered if they sent him to Rochester FMC just to make sure they knew the exact state of his health at the time he was paroled, given his conspiracy on the brain band of followers.