9/1/2021 Local family advocates for alternative COVID treatment to save their mother’s life – Westside News Inc

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Features

Local family advocates for

alternative COVID treatment to save
their mother’s life
Tami Raco • February 22, 2021  4,534  4 minutes read

 Glenna Sue Dickinson. Provided photo

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Glenna Sue Dickinson, 65, of Albion, first contracted COVID-19 on January 7.

According to her sister, Gloria Reis, of Hamlin, her condition deteriorated, and
on January 12, she was taken by ambulance to Rochester General Hospital.
Glenna Sue was admitted to the ICU due to the respiratory issues she was
experiencing from the COVID infection. Even after she was admitted, she
continued to decline. On January 17, doctors put her on a ventilator. According
to the family’s attorney, Jon Minear, “Glenna’s lungs were not expelling carbon
dioxide, causing toxicity in her body.” The hospital told the family that they had
exhausted all available treatment options, and sadly Glenna Sue’s chances for
survival were bleak. 

Glenna’s daughter, Natalie Kingdollar, received a news story, which ran in a

Buffalo newspaper, about an alternative COVID treatment used on an 80-year-
old Cheektowaga woman in life-threatening condition. Judith Smentkiewicz
was also on a ventilator and given a 20 percent chance of survival. With the
help of a lawyer, her family received a court order compelling the hospital to
treat Smentkiewicz with Ivermectin, which is not FDA approved to treat COVID.
Within 48 hours of the first dose, she was off the ventilator and out of the ICU.
She has since recovered and been released from the hospital. After reading this
story, Natalie asked RGH to use the Ivermectin treatment on her mom, but it
was denied due to it being a non-FDA-approved COVID treatment. 

Ivermectin is a drug that was discovered in 1975 and went into medical use in
1981. It is an anti-parasitic drug that has been used to treat hundreds of
millions of people worldwide for head lice, skin rashes, rosacea, and parasitic
worms. It has also been used for the past 40 years in veterinary medicine. 

Elderwood Nursing Home in Amherst, one of the busiest COVID-19 treatment

facilities in western NY, has been using Ivermectin to treat some of its COVID
patients. They have treated 90 patients with Ivermectin, and 80 of them have
survived. 

The National Institute of Health initially recommended against the use of

Ivermectin as a COVID treatment but changed its position on January 14 of this
year. NIH says it no longer advises for or against using Ivermectin and that
doctors and patients should make their own decisions. 

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Glenna’s primary physician, Dr. Tom Madejski, former president of the NYS
Medical Society, has experience treating some of his COVID patients with
Ivermectin. He prescribed the drug for Glenna Sue when the family reached out
to him. Because the hospital did not carry the pharmaceutical, the family had
the inexpensive prescription filled at a Walgreens near the hospital. “The cost
for prescription was only 83 cents per pill,” said Minear.  

On January 19, the family delivered the prescription to the hospital’s security
department with instruction that it be delivered and administered to Glenna as
prescribed by Dr. Madejski. According to Minear, “RGH misplaced the
medication.” Due to the dire urgency of time with Glenna’s condition, the
family quickly hired Minear’s firm, The Law Office of Ralph C. Lorigo, to ensure
Glenna Sue would receive the treatment that Dr. Madejski prescribed. The firm
also represented the Cheektowaga woman who recovered after being treated
with Ivermectin. 

Minear said, “We immediately filed a court order requiring RGH to administer
the Ivermectin to Glenna. Judge Caruso then directed Rochester General
Hospital to comply with Madejski’s prescription of Ivermectin for Glenna Sue
Dickinson.” 

Twelve hours after the first dosage of Ivermectin, Glenna’s condition improved,
her vitals stabilized, and her ventilator was reduced by 50 percent. When
Glenna was due for her next dose a few days later, another mishap occurred
with the prescription. 

“Further court orders were filed compelling the hospital to follow Dr. Madejski’s
orders and administer as well as properly store the remaining doses of
Ivermectin,” Minear said. “Judge Caruso approved the order, and the
paperwork was filed on a Saturday.” Since it was a weekend, the law clerk
personally drove the documents to the judge’s home, where he reviewed and
signed them. “To have all of this come together on a Saturday is something; I
have never seen this happen before!” 

The family, attorney, and judge all responded promptly to help get Glenna the
treatment with the hopes of saving her life. After she took the full course of
medication, Glenna’s condition improved. Her oxygen levels and kidney

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function showed improvements, and she was weaned off a paralytic. “The real
heroes are Glenna’s daughter, Natalie, and Judge Caruso,” said Minear. 

Glenna Sue remained in critical condition but was finally stable. Despite the
immediate improvement from the Ivermectin treatment, Glenna faced another
medical hurdle. Although the COVID infection was gone, her condition took a
turn for the worse with an antibiotic-resistant blood infection that likely began
as a UTI. 

After Glenna Sue was hospitalized, a prayer page was set up on Facebook
(Prayers for Sue Dickinson) to harness the power of prayer and faith to help
Glenna recover, as well as communicate updates on her condition. Family,
friends, and community members showed up daily with an outpouring of
support and prayer for Glenna Sue on the Facebook page. 

On Saturday, February 6, Natalie was granted visiting privileges to see her mom
for what she feared might be the last time due to the life-threatening infection
that was ravaging Glenna Sue’s body. Natalie went in thinking it might be a
goodbye but instead witnessed a miracle. When Natalie spoke to her mom, she
became responsive. This was the first sign to indicate she could be pulling out
of this near-fatal infection. 

That visit began Glenna Sue’s slow but steady recovery from what most
medical experts believed was impossible.  Her body began to respond to the
antibiotics and fight the infection. As of last weekend, Glenna had been taken
out of the ICU into a Step-Down Unit, was being weaned off medications, and
beginning rehab to remove the tracheotomy. 

Glenna Sue has a long road ahead of her. But the chance for recovery, no
doubt, was made possible by her loving family who never stopped fighting for
her, all the prayer warriors, the medical professionals, as well as the directives
of the legal team that helped get Glenna Sue the Ivermectin treatment.

 “It is so important that families don’t stop advocating for their loved ones. It
could save their life. I am so glad to be part of this movement,” said Minear. 

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For more information on Glenna Sue’s condition, visit her prayer page on
Facebook. A GoFundMe account has been established to help with her medical
and legal expenses. To contribute, visit https://gofund.me/22105c58.

Glenna and her sister, Gloria Reis, of Hamlin. Provided photo

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Glenna and her husband, Bob Dickinson

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