Windsor's Ward 5 councillor admitted to BlackburnNews.com he does not like to miss city council meetings, but Ed Sleiman has a good excuse.
He underwent emergency brain surgery the night after suffering bleeding on his brain.
Sleiman is on the blood thinner Coumadin for aortic fibrillation. He was working at his desk one Sunday afternoon a few weeks back when he hit his head.
"I dropped a piece of paper, and I go under the desk. I pick it the paper -- and I hit my head," he said. "If you are not on a blood thinner, nothing would happen."
Unfortunately, Sleiman suffered a serious injury. He knows his wife called paramedics to take him to the hospital. He knows he underwent surgery, but he can not recall it.
"We had an executive committee meeting. I made all my notes. I put all my papers in the bag ready for Monday," he explained. "The next thing I remember I woke up, I think it was Tuesday night."
Sleiman was in the hospital for five or six days and had a follow-up appointment in the coming weeks. In the meantime, his doctor has taken him off the blood thinner.
While speaking with BlackburnNews.com, Sleiman confessed he does not like to miss council meetings, and apologized to his constituents if he hasn't returned their calls.
He is not sure when he will be allowed to return to work, but said Mayor Drew Dilkens had called him almost daily, even from Hawaii where he was vacationing.
"Honestly, I'm not a complainer at all. I'm kind of recovering, slowly, but thank God I'm getting a lot better," he said.
