Prayers Up for Ron McHone

My dad is in his mid 70’s and drives a school bus. On Friday he didn’t show up in the morning and didn’t answer his phone, so the bus barn person and the school resource officer went to his home to do a wellness check and he was confused. They called my mom, who was out of town, and she authorized an ambulance trip to the hospital.

There have been several tests and scans but none of them are abnormal, except for the COVID test, which came up positive because of course it did. The nurse told my mom that these tests can be very hit and miss, and the presence of a virus doesn’t mean the person is contagious or that they even have the disease. He did have a case in June and another case a year ago in the Spring, but he has not been vaccinated. Yesterday, the doctor came in while my mom was on the phone with my sister and suggested Remdesivir, which my mom declined. His response to her was inappropriate and she held her ground and told him she would not accept that sort of disrespect. My sister then got on the speakerphone and gave him a piece of her mind.

I visited this morning and he was eating and talking normally. Other than a cognitive decline that is being monitored, my dad is essentially normal, at least for him. The hospital is keeping him now because his Oxygen levels go below 90% when he is without assistance. We explained that my dad has COPD and nodules in his sinus passages, which have required three surgeries in his lifetime to enable better breathing. There are other factors here and none of his symptoms regarding his respiration are outside of his normal range for the last 20+ years. Whatever is going on with him is not likely to be COVID, based on what we have learned in these dark days.

This morning, the doctor (maybe the same one, maybe not) recommended Remdisivir because of the positive COVID test. I said absolutely not, and the doctor seemed surprised. I followed up that I didn’t want my dad’s kidneys to be damaged. The doctor corrected me by saying that Remdisivir doesn’t hurt the kidneys but can hurt the liver.

Let me restate. The doctor admitted that this drug he wants to administer, based on a very unlikely diagnosis, has been known by him to attack a vital organ. He wants to do this based on the debunked PCR test and without any other factors.

So I asked why he would suggest such a drug to a patient in his care and he responded that every drug comes with possible side effects. I didn’t want to debate treatment plans so I didn’t mention drugs that have been used by humans without problem for years. Instead, I let my question hang in the air. An advocate for his patient pointed out that he is willing to take risks with my father’s health that I believe to be inappropriate. I then explained myself. I told him that great evil has been done in this country over the last few years, including the use of a drug that adversely has affected people whom I love. And the usual next step after this drug is the use of a ventilator, which has a dismal record of patients being released vs patients being buried.

I tell you what. Doctors don’t know what to do when someone stands up to them. I don’t pretend to know as much about medicine as a doctor, but I know how to read the signs of the times. The days are indeed evil. The fog over our culture is not pagan, for even pagans value the family, the elderly, masculinity, and so on. This is demonic. This is noetic. This is Legion.

The entire time I was in the hospital, I was without a mask. Nobody challenged me. Not the security guard who had to buzz me into the next hallway, not the nurse I passed in the hall, not the doctor. The doctor came in with a face shield, two masks and a gown. And when our conversation was concluded, he took all of his PPE off and disposed of it in the biohazard bin inside the small room that my dad was still in.

Even the doctor doesn't believe my dad is infected to the point of contagion. 

So I ask for prayers for my dad. Not because I’m afraid that he will die of any natural causes. I ask that you pray for him because he is under the care of someone who took a Hippocratic oath to do no harm, but who may as well have taken a hypocritic oath. Because he demonstrated that even he doesn’t believe in the need for the treatments he is wanting to prescribe.

My dad needs to improve his blood oxygenation enough to be released. Barring that, my parents need to sign him out of the hospital before they do cause him harm. It is common knowledge that a COVID diagnosis carries with it a certain additional financial payout to the hospital, as does a Remdisivir treatment. I am praying that my dad can leave that place before any harm can be added to him, and I am praying that he fully submit to any treatment plan that is consistent with the ideals of medicine that we all used to understand.

It isn’t people like me who have eroded the respect given to the medical community. A reputation is built by the community over time, and that reputation can be tarnished quickly when it is shown to be undeserving. Show us that your first concern is the health of your patient and that reputation will begin to rebuild.