I was the first to come down with Covid on Friday night, August 27^th.  I had bad chills and developed a fever overnight.  My wife Jill started having symptoms the next morning.  We weren’t sure what was going on, but Covid was the last thing on our minds.  That said, the following Tuesday morning, August 31^st, Jill called our primary care physician Dr. Maijub’s office.  Dr. Maijub works under Marietta Memorial.  The receptionist said that they would not see us because we had fevers, which was a Covid symptom.  When my wife protested, the receptionist told her that was hospital policy, and said that we needed to go to Physician’s Care.  Later that day, we attempted to be seen at Med Express, in Vienna.  However, when we called to check in, they said that there was a 3-4 hour wait, and that they would be closed by then, so they weren’t seeing any more patients.  So, we went back home.

The next day we went to the ER at Marietta Memorial and were seen by Dr. Galan.  She ordered chest x-rays for both of us, and both came back fine, with no signs of pneumonia.  She prescribed ivermectin and doxycycline.  We got both prescriptions filled at Fruth in Belpre, however, they only had enough ivermectin for half of the dose that we needed.  So, we only got 2 day’s worth instead of 5, like we needed.  They said that they needed to order some more and to come back the next day.  We called the next day and they didn’t have it.  We called again, 2 days later, and they still didn’t have it in.  By this time, we had run out.  When we called again on Saturday, 3 days later, there was a fill-in pharmacist who said that they were trying to get some from other pharmacies, but that none of the pharmacies would give them any.  Apparently, the Ohio Board of Pharmacy forbids pharmacies from dispensing ivermectin if the diagnosis is, or is even close to, Covid.

So, needless to say, we got sick again and both had to go back to the ER, that night.  We were again seen by Dr. Galan.  This time, our chest x-rays showed slight pneumonia in both of our lungs.  We both were barely able to breathe by this point, but did not get any oxygen.  Dr. Galan prescribed monoclonal antibody treatments for both of us, and we both began to feel better almost immediately.  We were told to continue the antibiotics, as well as prednisone, and were sent home.  The next day, Jill’s oxygen levels were severely unstable.  We have a pulse ox sensor that fits on the end of your finger and measures your oxygen levels.  If she sat still, the oxygen levels would stay in the 90’s, which is good, however, if she stood up to do anything, her levels would drop into the 70’s.  When I contacted Dr. Galan, she said that Jill would need to go back to the ER and would need to be admitted.  She was not working that day, but notified another doctor that Jill would be coming in.  I took her into the ER and they wheeled her back while I waited out in the car.  Little did I know that was the last time I would ever talk to her or see her.

She was admitted on Sunday night, September 5^th.  I am unsure of the timeline, but sometime either the next day, or the day after, they began treating her with Remdesivir and a new rheumatoid arthritis drug called Olumiant.  She was stable throughout the first part of that week, however, toward the end of the week, she began having more and more trouble breathing, plus was in severe pain with her back due to having to lay still or lay on her stomach for an extended period of time.  I had to call the nurse’s desk multiple times because I had asked to talk to the doctor treating her, but nobody had ever called me.  Finally, I spoke with Dr. Wadskier, who is an infectious disease doctor at the hospital.  We talked for about 30 – 45 minutes during which I told her that I wanted different treatment for Jill because what they were treating her with now was not working.  I suggested resuming the ivermectin, but Dr. Wadskier flatly refused to change anything from what they were currently giving her.  She said that they followed the CDC/NIH protocol, and that ivermectin was too controversial because of social media and other factors.  I told her that I did not care what the CDC, NIH, or anyone else said, I wanted the treatment changed.  Again, she refused.  The last thing this poor excuse of a doctor told me was, “Well, she may never get better.  Her best chance was the vaccine, and it’s too late for that, now”.

At this point, Jill was still able to communicate with me via text and I told her about my conversation with Dr. Wadskier.  I suggested moving her to another hospital, based on the poor care she was receiving, but she refused, saying that she didn’t want to have to start all over at another hospital.  In the meantime, she asked for a second opinion, however, it was from the same department at the same hospital by Dr. Bagae, who of course, concurred with Dr. Wadskier.  After that, I told Jill that I was going to call a lawyer, at which point she told me not to because she feared that they wouldn’t take as good care of her under threat of legal action.  I should mention, at this point, that Jill adamantly did not want to be intubated, or put on a ventilator.  When I talked to Dr. Wadskier, she mentioned that Jill’s record showed that she did want that.  I told her that she absolutely did not.

A couple of days later, the nurse called in the afternoon from the cell phone that Jill had with her.  I could hear Jill crying in the background and the nurse told me that her breathing had gotten worse and that they were going to have to sedate and intubate her.  I said that she did not want that, at which point, she held the phone up to Jill to talk…which she barely could.  I told her, “I thought you didn’t want to be intubated?”, to which she replied, “But, I can’t breathe”.  She then told me twice to “take care of myself”, and that is the last time I ever talked to her.  The next day, the nurse called to say that she was doing ok, oxygen levels were better, and that they would wake her up in the next few days to do some breathing exercises.  However, that night, about 2am, I received a call saying that she had “coded” and that they revived her through CPR.  Then they said that the doctor would call me back with an update.  About an hour later, a doctor did call me back and said that the reason Jill had coded was that she had had a heart attack.  Not just a heart attack, but a “stemi”, which is the worst kind of heart attack you can have.  I should note that other than tachycardia, Jill had ZERO heart problems prior to this….no high blood pressure, her cholesterol was routinely between 140 and 160 whenever she’d get it checked.  She had no reason to have a heart attack.

The doctor then asked me if I wanted them to do a heart cath.  He said that it was risky and that she might not make it through, but that it was up to me.  I told him to go ahead and do it, that Jill had worked in the cath lab years ago, and that she would want them to at least try.  About 2 hours later, the doctor called back and said that they did the heart cath, but could find no blockages.  He then said that he hated to tell me, but that I probably should come to the hospital and see her because he didn’t think she would last much longer.  So, I called our pastor and we both went to the hospital at about 5:00 in the morning.  She was unconscious and still on the ventilator when we got there.  The doctors told me that they were giving her all the medication that they could and that she was only continuing to take on fluid.  They also said that her kidneys were starting to shut down, and that her brain function had been affected and it would take a miracle for her to come back, and that even if she did, she might have permanent brain damage.  They suggested discontinuing the medication and removing her from the ventilator, to let her pass peacefully.  After profusely praying for a couple more hours and talking with our pastor, Jill’s son, and a lady from our church, I decided to take their advice and let her go.  I didn’t want to, but they were pretty much done with her, at that point.

I didn’t want her on Remdesivir, and I told them that, but they refused to take her off of it.  She had fluid buildup, increased problems breathing, a heart attack, and finally, kidney failure….all hallmark signs of Remdesivir poisoning.