Statement of Danette Gillingham for my mother, Judith Lee Kneeland

Aug. 13th, 2021 – My mother, had been sick with what we were sure was the Delta Variant of Covid. That morning, she had apparently passed out on her bedroom floor, trying to get to the restroom. When I checked on her later that morning, her Oxygen was jumping between 83-90. She was very weak and seemed dehydrated. Against my better judgment, and at the request of family, we called an ambulance.

During the past couple years my mother and I had many conversations about the Horror stories we were hearing regarding Hospitals and Ventilators and people dying. She absolutely did not want to go on a Ventilator. Her paperwork was coded as a DNI, do not intubate! My mother was unvaccinated as well. We believed the hospital would give her Oxygen and IV fluids for her dehydration and that in a few days, she would come home. 

She was taken by Ambulance and admitted into Clovis Community Medical Center the afternoon of August, 13th. 2021. We did not sign any admittance forms. My mother signed something upon being admitted. We did not give any consent for medications! When the paramedics arrived at our house, they gave her Oxygen and within seconds of receiving Oxygen via Nasal Cannula, her levels came up to 98, she stared talking and was already feeling better. After being admitted, she was able to eat and drink and became very responsive and started communicating over the phone with the family. We asked to be able to see her and they said No, Hospital Policy prevents visitors during Covid. We were never shown any proof of this policy! My mother, Judith Lee Kneeland was also legally disabled! She needed an advocate and helper.

We waited to hear from a doctor what her diagnosis and status was. After a couple days, we had not heard anything from a Doctor and my mother did not seem to know what was going on. She said that no doctors were talking to her. She texted us that she was very tired. We were confused because after she checked in and initially received Oxygen, she seemed so much better. But, unbeknownst to us, my mother had been put on Remdesivir as well as several other drugs, including steroids which gave her diabetes. 

Sometime after the first 48 hours my father was able to talk to a Doctor and was told that my mother had Double Covid pneumonia. They said she might be home in 5 days, or it could take 6 weeks!

Still, they refused to let us visit her. We were calling her nurses every day and getting brief updates that all was fine, but when we would talk to my mom over the phone, she would say it was Hell!

Aug. 16th, was my mom’s 74th. Birthday. I delivered juice, toothpaste, cards, some personal belongings from home. The nurses promised she would get them. I called later to check and nobody acted like they knew what I was talking about. Everything we sent to her room was piled on a chair in the corner. My mom was unable to get out of bed, so she could not reach any of her personal belongings.

In a Facetime Birthday call to my sister, my mother indicated that the Doctor did not think she was going to make it! This seemed weird to us, for her to be assuming that, considering she was totally stable and receiving oxygen and food and water, so we thought!

I was able to get ahold of a Doctor and asked exactly what medicines she was on and what they were for. I requested that she be taken off of Remdesivir, because it is known to cause renal failure and is an experimental, new drug. They refused and kept her on it, saying that it was their Protocol and that they would be monitoring her kidneys and liver. I requested that she be given Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin and they said, No, that it was against their Protocols and that those drugs don’t work and wouldn’t help.

After about 4 or 5 days, we were told that a Doctor wanted to Zoom Call with our whole family and my mom as well. Thinking this was the Doctor currently treating her and that we would get some answers, we gathered around the computer. It turned out to be the Palliative Care Doctor, who proceeded to Coach us as to what it meant that my mom was not on FULL Code and instead had a DNI. She kept repeating herself and telling us that their was NO cure for Covid. She seemed to be trying to get us to change our minds as to the Ventilator and we felt extremely uncomfortable and pressured. It was an extremely negative and uncomfortable call that basically left my mom saying, its hopeless, I’m going to die. My father was livid, (and he is NOT easily angered) We all felt like we had met with Dr. death. It was very confusing because the Infectious Disease Doctor was so hopeful and was saying, she will turn the corner any day!

Over the coarse of the next several days, my mom stopped communicating with us, via text as she seemed to grow weaker and more tired. She was spending more and more time on the Bi-Pap machine and less time on the Nasal Cannula. She was not being turned or moved. The nurses would still tell us that she was fine and stable. I called several times a day, sometimes I could not get a nurse to return my call or answer me at all. They usually seemed very busy and hard to get real answers out of.

Finally on Aug. 23, my sister called to check on our mom and the nurse with her said that she had ripped her mask off and wanted to die. Somewhere in the middle of that conversation the nurse told my sister that Palliative care had been in the room offering my mom morphine and the opportunity to just die! When my sister heard this, she was very distressed and we as a family began realizing some very bad things were going on and that out mother was being phycologically manipulated and bullied into taking morphine and dying.

On Aug. 25th we were called by the Infectious Disease Doctor and told that we should come to the Hospital because she might not make it. They told us that she had not been eating or drinking for the last day. Upon arriving, we were allowed to go into her room, two at a time. Upon seeing her, she had a look of disbelief and shock on her face. She was like a frightened, little child. She could not believe we were there. We thought she was too weak to eat or drink or talk or even hardly know we were there, but it was quite the opposite! She immediately started asking us, how we got in and that she needed some water. She said she had been begging for food and water all day and that they REFUSED to give it to her. She said, they had been threatening her, that they had tied her arms down and had hit her. She said that they were trying to kill her and wanted her to die. She also had been laying in her own waist for hours, as they kept her in a diaper or forced her to use a bedpan. They did not help her to the restroom or give her a catheter! My brother, who works for a medical gas company found several parts of their machinery to be broken and in need of repair. We were able to give her water on that visit, and while being scolded for removing her mask for a few seconds to give her a drink, we realized that she had no problem eating or drinking. So was she trying to remove her mask to get a drink, the very drink they were refusing to give her, and they threatened and hit her and tied her down for it? We also were told by my mother that they had kept her naked and exposed the whole time she had been in there. She was very concerned about that! It was obvious they were trying to demoralize her!

We took turns with her for a few hours and my father somehow got permission for my sister and I to come back and be with her the next day. Upon entering the room, we found my moms face and pillow covered in blood. She apparently had a bloody nose, that nobody had bothered to clean. Her pillow and mask had blood all over them as well. Her lips were chapped, peeling and bleeding. Her teeth were covered in dry skin and blood. She did not have a catheter and had a messy bed, which they let her lay in for 8-10 hours! The floor was covered in PPE, needles and trash. Yet, we were forced to wear gowns, gloves and double mask! My sister had a full-blown anxiety attack at the sight of her mother like this. Her arms and abdomen were bruised and bloody, she had multiple IV’s and wires. But upon seeing that we were there, she perked up and began talking and asking again in shock, “how did you get in here”. We told her we were there to help and that we were not leaving. She began asking for water and food, so we fed her and gave her sips of water. She said, “I can do this, if I have help.” These people want me to die, they won’t give me food or water, they kept hitting me, the only Doctor that talks to me wants me to pull the plug”. 

We stayed with her that day and the Palliative Care Doctor Zoomed called her room. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, she had been Zoom calling my mom’s room every day! When she called that day, and asked how my mom was doing, I talked to her, instead of my mom. I said, “She is doing great! She is eating and drinking and believes she can fight this if we are here to help her.”  My mom then mustered the strength to say, “They are saving my life!” That Doctor was irritated that she was talking to me and not my mom and asked to see my mom. After giving her a glimpse of my mom’s head, she said, Okay, I’ll call back tomorrow..” 

At this point, my mother had been given 10 days of Remdesivir. I had requested Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine again and the Doctor said that she took it to the Administration and they refused, saying that just that week they had been threatened by the FDA, not to give patients Ivermectin or Hydroxychloroquine. The Doctor told me that it was Political and very troubling. She told me that if we could get my mom out of the Hospital, she would prescribe the Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine. 

Unfortunately, by this point, my mom was on 100 percent Oxygen and there was no way to get her out. She had become a medical prisoner and they had weaponized the Hospital. 

We were forced to leave after that day if we did not put her on Comfort measures. Since we did not know what that meant and no doctor had come to see us or explain my mom’s condition or treatment plan, we refused and asked to speak to a doctor. The charge nurse was getting very irritated and demanding that we leave. Finally, they agreed to let us speak to a Doctor. The Doctor showed us some X-rays and talked about her condition. We explained all our concerns and that she was not getting proper care and that we could definitely see a marked improvement in her since we had been there. She was hopeful and trying and getting her needs met. She was having her dignity restored, while we were there. We told them we couldn’t leave or she would die. They told us we had to leave because it was Covid Protocol. We asked if she was still Covid positive and one Doctor said no, and then the Charge nurse came in and said she was partially positive and we had to go. (Isn’t it a negative or a positive) My mom was terrified and begged us not to go. So we made a list and said, we would only leave if the nurses promised us that they would give her water and do the things on the list. Knowing that we would be filing a complaint with the Administration.

That weekend was a nightmare. We called frequently to check on my mom, and the first nurse she had, after we were kicked out, was kind and responsive and gave her water. The next nurse, on the night shift, had a nurse in training with her, named Danette! I though, hey, that’s my name too, Maybe its a sign, because my mom had been calling for me and didn’t want me to leave the Hospital. But whatever ended up happening that weekend sent my mom on a downward trajectory. She ended up, somehow, getting her phone and dialing all of our numbers. She put it on speaker and yelled for help! She was so desperate! She had been pushing the nurses call button for hours and nobody was responding. She called my dad, my brother, my sister and I. All four of us, to get help. My dad called the charge nurse and demanded that someone immediately go check on her and give her water. That should never happen! I still have voicemail of her desperate, weak voice asking for help!

That was on a Friday and there was nobody returning calls and hardly any staff in the Hospital. The Administration apparently does not work on the weekend. So we waited until Monday and called the Charge Nurse and the Patient Advocate. We had a letter prepared to send to the Hospital, which is included at the bottom. My Father ended up just reading the following list to the Charge Nurse:

Reasons we are demanding a person in the room with her:

1. On August 23rd Palliative Care Department entered Judith Kneeland’s Room and offered her morphine, but she stated she is not in pain.  The morphine was offered without calling her husband who is the power of attorney.  She was being called daily by the Palliative Care Doctor and felt pressured and bullied. We viewed this as very manipulative and suspect of questionable motives by Palliative Care. This is unacceptable because she had no advocate in the room with her except her nurse that stood up for her. 

2. On Wednesday, August 25th the family was called in to see Judith Kneeland because a doctor believed she was at risk of not surviving.  They said that she hadn’t eaten all day nor drank water that day.  We were under the impression it was because she was unable to eat or drink. At that visit we were told by Judith that she was begging for food and water for the last 24 hours and was denied.  This is clear indication that basic care was being denied. 

3. She also stated that her hands were slapped by a nurse. She was yelled at and threatened. She stated that the only Doctor that has been speaking to her daily was the Palliative Care Doctor and was pressuring her to “pull the plug”. 

4. We have had extreme difficulty getting any calls back from her Primary Care Doctors. 

5. We know that hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and that the staff is extremely overextended and have many patients to see, but that is all the more reason to allow a family member to be an advocate for the patient.  This will aid in her mental and emotional well being and give her a person to help speak for her when she feels bullied. As we experienced when we were with her for one day.  During that time she made marked improvement and several nurses and doctors agreed that we should be with her.

6. Doctor Barbara Stewart, her family doctor, has stated she believes that Judith needs a family member in the room with her.  Doctor Pushpalatha Arakere, infectious disease doctor, has agreed that she needs a family member in the room with her.

If we are not allowed one family member in the room we will be calling the state Ombudsman

Along with that letter we opened a case against the Palliative Care Contracted Doctor that was coaching people to their death.

Within hours, the Charge nurse agreed that we could have 2 family members in the room with my mom at all times. Not only did this seem to us an admission that they were totally neglectful, but that the Palliative Care Doctor was purposefully coaching our mom, with an agenda to kill her off quickly while no family was there to advocate and speak up for her.

We moved into her room and brought proper food, Smart water, chap stick, vitamins, which the hospital would only give her a baby dose of. We spent the next 18 days by her side 24, 7. Never was she alone with those animals again. We brushed her hair and wiped her face and gave her all the water she wanted. But at this point, the poison of Remdesivir was taking its toll. She was getting weaker by the day. We would ask for the nurses to roll her over to a prone position and nobody would do it. We still had to request someone come clean the room. They continued to poke her and bring in more medicines and fluids and never once tell us, oh, by the way, her kidneys are shutting down. One Doctor would say, “Her lungs are filled with fluid, and she has Pulmonary Fibrosis”. The next Doctor would say, “there is no fluid in her lungs and no pulmonary fibrosis”. Then a Doctor would come in and say, “we really don’t understand this,medicine, its all like VooDoo!” But they still forced her to take the experimental, Emergency only Authorized drug Remdesivir! While refusing to give her the medicines that we requested over and over. Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine, IV Vitamin C! I told the Doctor that President Trump had passed the “Right to try” bill and that I know we have rights, so please give her these medicines! To no avail! The Doctor said, “I don’t know how she is even still on this Bi-Pap machine! Its like sticking your head out the car window while driving down the highway. I couldn’t handle it for 5 minutes!”

After some days we were told her lungs were clear and she seemed to be getting better and was able to wean off the 100 percent oxygen a little, then something would cause her to get worse. One night with her, the RT that was on duty was from Fresno Community Medical Center, and when he saw that she was on a machine with DRY oxygen, no humidifier, he was livid. He tried to get a new machine with moisture attached and realized, Clovis Community does not even have them! he called his supervisor at Fresno Community and had one sent over for her. She had gone 17 days on nothing but dry oxygen! No humidifier in the room, begging for water!  We have video of this! 

Her electrolytes were bottomed out and she had no potassium, they weren’t even checking these basic things. She was in pain when she had to urinate and I told them, I think she had a bladder infection or a UTI. The Doctor was like, oh, ok. I guess we can check for that. Most of the nurses and Doctors just came in and checked off their boxes of medication. They did not look her in the eyes and talk to her, they were impersonal and cold. There were a few who were angels of mercy, but many who were terrifyingly mean! We tried to be as helpful and quite as possible so as not to rock the boat and get kicked out. We were doing everything we could to get her to a point of being able to come home. While they kept medicating her to death! All this time, they kept coming in, every 6 days to Covid test her. I asked if she was still Covid positive and they would never give a straight answer. Finally a Doctor said, no she is over that! So why then, is it Covid that is listed on her Death Certificate?

After about 30 days in the hospital, when it became obvious she was not flushing the fluids out of her system because her kidneys were shutting down. She could no longer speak to us or move much at all. She could wiggle her toes in response to us, but slept most of the time. When waking, if she didn’t have Ativan to keep her calm, she would panic and gasp for help and say, Hurry, hurry! Her heart was having episodes of Afib and during these episodes her heart rate would jump up to 245 beats a minute. So they starter her on a drug to control the heartrate, a couple of days of this and her blood test came back that she had toxic levels of it in her system. Yet the next day, Aug, 16th, her blood oxygen levels were great all day, she was sustaining her O2, in the 90’s and we were able to wean her off of 100 Percent Oxygen. Again, she seemed to be fighting it and getting better. That afternoon her heart rate began to jump again and the nurse said lets give her the Heart medicine. I said, The Doctor said that her test came back that she had too much of that in her system and it was dangerous. She said, “oh no, He told me that was a misread by the lab, she can have more”. So they gave her more of it. Within the hour, her blood oxygen saturation dropped into the 80’s and they could not get it back up. The nurse that came on shift at this point was in a full blown panic that my mom should be in the ICU and on a Ventilator. We told them that she didn’t want the vent. But they said we had no choice, it was that or give her morphine and let her die. So we called my dad to see if he could come back to the Hospital, (We live 45 minutes away), he rushed back as quick as he could because he was the one with Power of attorney. As we waited to decide, the Respiratory Therapist told us that we could vent her, but she would not survive and if she did, she would have a feeding tube and trach and be in a rest home for the rest of her life. At that point, my dad ripped the sheet off my moms feet and said, “Judy, they want to put you on the vent. would you like to go Home to Heaven and be your mother on her birthday tomorrow. Wiggle your toes if you want to go to Heaven.” She wiggled her toes very clearly and we sent them all away! We stood there with broken hearts and in disbelief at what was happening. We had just spent the past month watching this Hospital poison our mother with their Protocols and now we had to watch her take her last breath hooked up to this Bi-Pap machine that held her prisoner. We did not give her a morphine drip. We sang to her and loved on her and kissed her and held her hand and treasured every, precious moment with her. On her own, within 2 hours, she took her last breath. She was free to go home and we took off that horrible mask. They did their best to kill her early on, but she fought it. She told on them and we got in there. We saw first hand the neglect and mistreatment she had received and heard it from her lips. “They are trying to kill me!!!”

The following is the letter we never had to send to the Administration, because the charge nurse complied. So when they say, “we can’t let you in, its protocol”. They are lying! They can override it!

Whom it may concern:

Our family member Judith Kneeland has been a patient at Clovis Community Hospital since August 13, 2021. She was admitted with Double Covid Pneumonia.

On Wednesday, August 25th the family was called in to see Judith Kneeland because a doctor believed she was at risk of not surviving.  They said that she hadn’t eaten all day nor drank water that day.  At that visit we were told by Judith that she had been begging, asking for food and water all day and was denied.  She also said her hands were slapped by a nurse, she was tied down, threatened and that she felt bullied by palliative care and felt pressured to “pull the plug”. 

We were told that the CDC was limiting visitors to the hospital and we were not allowed back in, but were shown no documented proof of this policy and have heard conflicting information about the guidelines for visitors. Because of these extenuating circumstances and our fear that she is not receiving proper care we are asking for an exception to be made allowing us to be in her room as an advocate for her. 

Since visiting her the nurses have tried to listen to our requests and have been better about answering our calls and giving updates.  We appreciate their consistent care and being willing to listen and help with our requests. 

We have extreme difficulty getting any call backs from her Primary Doctors to receive updates and get our questions answered. Doctor Pushpalatha Arakere, infectious disease doctor, has been the only doctor to give consistent updates through phone calls and text messages. She has been very helpful, but does not see the patient daily so we would like calls from each primary care doctor as they are assigned.

We know that hospitals are overwhelmed with patients and that the staff is extremely overextended and have many patients to see, but that is all the more reason to allow a family member to be an advocate for the patient.  This will aid in her mental and emotional well being and give her a person to help speak for her when she feels bullied. 

Because of this report we are requesting the following to be done immediately:

1. We want one family member allowed to be in the room with her.   
2. The Palliative Care Doctor or department is not to call her again.
3. We want a camera provided by us placed in the room so we can see the patient, Judith Kneeland.
4. We would like daily updates from the primary care doctor. 

We would like to speak to the hospital administration as soon as possible.