Interview with Jim Sands, 2022
2022.062.019
Creator
Todd, Joe (Interviewer)
Language
A transcript of this interview is available
Extent (quantity/size)
21 minutes 58 seconds
Subjects
Creek Nation / Developmental Disabilities / Epilepsy / Pawnee Nation / Seminole Nation
Descriptive Notes
Jim Sands was born December 31, 1965 in Oakland. California. He started Hillcrest school in Oklahoma City and graduated from Capitol Hill High School in 1984. Jim is Seminole-Creek and Pawnee. During the summer he played baseball or softball. After high school, he studied art in Santa Fe New Mexico and Albuquerque. He married in 1990 and was a stay at home dad. He returned to Oklahoma in 1999 and is growing tomatoes, jalapenos, carrots, and onions in his garden. Jim discusses having epilepsy and how it affects him. He describes it as a "brain reaction that throws you off so you don't know exactly what you are doing." He explains that his form of epilepsy is caused by tubes going to a certain area of his brain that is "not good." Jim talks about what happens during an attack and what kinds of treatments can be provided for epilepsy. He started having episodes in fifth grade with a grand mal seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy after a visit to the doctor. Jim discusses the different treatments he receives including medicine and a VNS Stimulator which cuts lung circulation for fifteen to twenty seconds to stimulate the brain. He has a magnet to start the VNS stimulator.