Sessions Fine but ‘Gray’ as He Leaves Hospital

William S. Sessions, now scheduled to take formal charge of the FBI later this week, said Saturday he felt fine but “a little gray” as he left a hospital where he had been treated for a bleeding ulcer.

Sessions originally had been scheduled to take the oath as FBI director at a ceremony last Thursday, but the proceedings had to be postponed when he was admitted to George Washington University Medical Center after becoming ill on an airline flight.

“I feel fine--a little gray--but I feel good generally,” Sessions told reporters as he left the hospital, accompanied by his wife, Alice, who carried a bouquet of yellow roses.

Sessions said his swearing-in ceremony has been rescheduled for Thursday at the FBI Building.

Special Diet

He praised his doctors and said he intended to follow their advice, which included a special diet and some medication.

But Sessions, who had been a federal judge in Texas, said he will not have to give up Mexican food.

“You know, Mexican food had nothing to do with it,” Sessions said of his ulcer attack. “Mexican food is good anytime of the day or night, and (the doctor) tells me I can have it anytime I want--and I will.”

Sessions was stricken Wednesday night aboard an airliner on the way from Dallas to Washington and was taken by FBI officials from National Airport to the hospital. Doctors discovered a previously undiagnosed small ulcer in the upper portion of the small intestine.

Sessions said he had taken aspirin on an empty stomach, became sick and fainted on the flight from Dallas. Doctors said the ulcer flared up when he took the aspirin.

After he takes the oath of office, Sessions is not expected to start immediately in his new job because doctors want him to rest before handling a normal workload.

He planned to leave for Texas today to finish cleaning out his office and return to Washington on Thursday for the ceremony, FBI spokesman Scott Nelson said.

The swearing-in will cap a nearly seven-month search and confirmation process to replace William H. Webster, who left the FBI in May to head the CIA, succeeding the late William J. Casey.