CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids Mayor Kay Halloran first came under fire in the months after the flood for nodding off at more than one council meeting.

TV9's Josh Hinkle sat down with the mayor in an exclusive interview on this topic. (watch video at left)

The mayor will reveal the details of her medical condition to the public at the city council meeting on Wednesday evening.

She told TV9 on Wednesday it all started nearly eight years ago after she suffered a TIA, commonly known as a mini-stroke.

Since then, she's been on blood thinners, with monthly checkups. But with the flood, she says she forgot about the checkups and that's when the problems started.

The public caught Halloran nodding off during more than one council meeting. It prompted her to seek a doctor's advice.

She says her blood thinners were off and she wasn't getting enough sleep at night.

"I come back up and everything is fine, and I don't even realize that I was unconscious for a moment," said Halloran.

The condition, called sleep apnea, affects 12-million Americans, according the National Institute of Health.

"It makes you more fatigued, and it reduces your interest and ability to concentrate," said Halloran.

Halloran is now seeking treatment and says the symptoms should disappear in about a week.

She only hopes Cedar Rapids' faith in her abilities as mayor won't go away, as well.

"I don't know whether they'll remember the sleeping issue. I know that they'll remember the flood," said Halloran.

After hearing about the mayor's diagnosis, flood victims told TV9 they still think she should have stepped down in the aftermath of the city's greatest disaster in history.

"I think she needs to take care of her health and get somebody in there that will help all of us," said Melissa Erlacher, flood victim.

"If I was sleeping on the job, I'd be fired. Anybody would be fired sleeping on the job," said James McKiernan, flood victim.

Those same people told TV9 that harsh criticism from other media outlets initially fueled their feelings. Halloran wouldn't comment on those reports.

"I have my private attitudes and opinions, but I don't intend to express them publicly," Halloran told TV9.

She now plans to move forward, away from this condition and the scrutiny that came with it.

Halloran says she has no plans to resign, and hasn't even thought about re-election. Her next focus will be on securing federal money for flood assistance, something that might be tough, as talk looms of Congress dismissing as early as the end of the week.