Texas sheriff deputy who sued for Ivermectin leaves the hospital (Part 9)
Jason Jones is recovering from COVID at rehab facility
EXCLUSIVE SERIES: This is part seven in an exclusive 10-part series on a dying Texas Sheriff Deputy suing for the right to try Ivermectin for COVID.
To catch up, read part 8 here: Texas Sheriff Deputy who sued for Ivermectin is off the ventilator (Part 8)
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Texas Sheriff Deputy Jason Jones left the hospital that fought him in court over his right to try the medication Ivermectin.
After almost four months at Texas Health Huguley Hospital, Jones is now recovering from COVID at a long-term care facility.
Erin, his devoted wife who faced down police at the hospital in her effort to save her husband's life, is exhausted but hopeful.
To get caught up on my series on Deputy Jones’s case, read the first exclusive story here from Nov. 9 and the most recent here.
“I think he’ll be able to recover, but it will be a long process,” Erin, a mother of six, told me as she drove home Friday.
“We’ve got birthdays coming up with all the kids. And our 17-year-old is graduating in May. So I really need to work on getting Jason up and moving.”
Dr. Mary Talley Bodwen is Jason’s personal doctor who prescribed the Ivermectin that the hospital refused to allow be administered.
“Jason continues to face setbacks but has overcome each one. He still requires continuous nursing care but is becoming more alert,” Dr. Bowden told me. “I am amazed at his strength and have high hopes that he will survive – despite being refused the right to try off-label medications with proven safety and efficacy.”
Dr. Bowden is referring to the Ivermectin that the Texas Huguley doctors blocked in court. A judge ruled that courts don’t have a role in medical decisions.
The Joneses are appealing the bizarre ruling, but the court process will take a long time.
I explain at the end of this story why I am not more specific about whether or not Jason has been treated with Ivermectin. 
Erin had been in a daily fight to save her husband’s life since he was put on a ventilator on Oct. 7. He’s slowly being weaned off it at this rehab.
The photo of Jason at the top of this story shows him during a CPAP trial of breathing on his own. He’s still getting some support from the ventilator because of damage to his left lung. He has just one chest tube now.
As Erin did her “own” treatments in the hospital, she’s doing her own PT at the new facility.
“He’s not awake enough for physical therapy, so I'm doing it on my own,” she said. “He moved his right leg for the first time today. I’m working on his range of motion, and now he can move his upper body more. I got him squeeing my hand.”
I asked how she knew physical therapy. “I don’t really. I’m just doing my own thing and looking at the numbers on the monitor to see how he’s doing.”
“I know he’s in there because he got mad at me,” she said, laughing. “Yesterday, I was trying to understand what music he wanted, so I used his finger and pointed on the phone, and he kept shaking his head. He hasn’t used his right hand much so he was uncomfortable. He got angry and pulled his hand away and mouthed ‘Get rid of it.’”
She is also aggressive about his food because he’s lost 70 pounds since he went to the hospital. He lost 20 pounds just in the first two weeks at the care facility.
Erin said she didn’t like the type of nutrition that was being given to him in the feeding tubes. She found a brand called “Liquid Hope” online that has whole foods in it. She said the facility is starting to give it to Jason on Friday night.
The Jones kids were not allowed to visit their dad at the hospital ICU for three months. “It was really rough, especially with the holidays,” Erin said.
The photos in this story are from their one-time, special visit at Christmas. “It helped them so much to see him,” said their mom.
Unfortunately, the rehab center changed its visitor policy for Omicron the day Jason got there.
Only one person is allowed to visit each day. Erin said if she leaves, she’s not allowed back inside that same day. So the kids can’t visit their father until the polices change back.
I asked Erin about her own health since she’s been a single mother and her husband’s full-time caretaker for months now. “I feel that my steam is running out. I told Jason that he needed to get with it,” she said.
Keep praying for Jason’s recovery and Erin’s strength.
Update on Kathleen Davies
Many of you have asked for an update on the woman in Virginia who sued — and won — to get Ivermectin. The story from December is here:
Sadly, Mrs. Davies died on Dec. 18, just two days after my story. The family’s attorney, Beth Parlato, said the court order for Ivermectin was “too late for her because she had already been on the ventilator for 40 days.
“It was a long shot, and unfortunately she was already too far gone for any type of treatment,” Parlato told me. “Her body shut down, and the hospital called the family in to say goodbye.”
***For paid subscribers only, I’m sharing the inside details of this series to answer questions that people keep asking about the Jones family's medical and health decisions, below the paywall line.
KEEP READING — To continue reading the rest of the case, click below and read part 9 in my exclusive series on Deputy Jones:
Texas Sheriff Deputy who sued for ivermectin is off the ventilator (Part 8)