Opinion

Jim Billie: Setting the record straight on my medical situation

Friday, March 2, 2012

"Back on Dec. 30, I was riding a horse (ca-wa-yee) on the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation. Suddenly, the horse raised up and fell totally on top of me. It possibly gave me a concussion. I went out, but a couple seconds later I came to and went to the hospital. There I had X-rays of my body, but not my head. There were no broken bones found and I immediately began to heal up. I felt better and better as the days passed in January, the soreness seemed to almost go away and my bruises were healed. Then on Feb. 1, strange things began to happen with my body. I first noticed it when my left arm began to feel heavy. I dismissed it. I thought it was caused by G-forces from riding in the helicopter.

Then, as I was walking, suddenly my left arm dropped and my left leg buckled beneath me. I quickly recovered, but my wife noticed. She begged me to go to the hospital, but I said, “No.” I had a cold at the time and I figured it must have been the cold that gave me vertigo.

Then on Friday, Feb. 3, my wife went onto the computer. She started reading me the symptoms of a stroke. That got my curiosity up. She wanted to take me to the Cleveland Clinic, and I finally agreed. Ethel Huggins, the President’s assistant, arranged for the trip. She had Dr. Rodriguez to meet us there and Seminole Police Department (SPD) to escort us to the Clinic."

Get the Story:
Seminole Chairman James Billie explains medical situation (The Seminole Tribune 3/2)