For PentictonB次元官网网址檚 Nancy Browne, seeing her 86-year-old mother recover from COVID-19 was a sign that there is hope.

Despite countless battles with her health, Betty Jukes continues to defy the odds.

The Bobcaygeon, Ont. resident has been through more in the past several months than most have in their entire lives, beating COVID-19 while simultaneously battling cancer in both her neck and lungs, blindness, a fractured hip, and dementia.

B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檚 86 years old,B次元官网网址� said Browne. B次元官网网址淚 guess you canB次元官网网址檛 have eight kids without becoming real tough.B次元官网网址�

Now that the dust has settled, Browne says itB次元官网网址檚 important for people to know that COVID-19 is not an automatic death sentence.

B次元官网网址淚 think the good news about this whole story is, first when you hear (of) somebody thatB次元官网网址檚 over 80 years old and they get COVID, you automatically think itB次元官网网址檚 a death sentence. ThatB次元官网网址檚 what we thought, but I think itB次元官网网址檚 important for people to know that itB次元官网网址檚 not necessarily a death sentence,B次元官网网址� explained Browne.

B次元官网网址淭here is good news.B次元官网网址�

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Despite being more than 4,000 kilometres away, Browne has managed to connect with her mother through virtual calls, although she admitted itB次元官网网址檚 hard to not be with her during these trying times.

From her living room in Penticton, Browne talks with her mother on her iPad daily. Although virtual calls are not the same as in-person conversations, Browne said they are always cherished.

B次元官网网址淲hether we have one more day with her, one more week, month, year or more we are blessed to have been given this extra time with her,B次元官网网址� said Browne.

In November, Browne flew back to Ontario to visit her mother. At this point, Jukes was still living on her own. Although dementia was starting to creep in, Jukes was adamant about not living in a nursing home.

Together, Browne and her sister Kim Tully, who lives in Ontario, worked to accommodate their legally-blind mother, but things were taken out of their hands Dec. 1 when Jukes fractured her hip.

Nurses warned the sisters during the first two weeks of December that their mother would likely not recover from the surgery, or the anesthetics, due to her dementia.

B次元官网网址淭hey might last two to six weeks, maybe three months,B次元官网网址� said Browne.

At the same time, cat scans revealed cancer in JukesB次元官网网址� lungs.

About three weeks after her hip surgery, Tully said enough was enough, and committed to staying with her every day.

B次元官网网址淪he (mom) was pretty much laying in bed going bathroom in the bed, and stuff like that. And she was used to walking all over the place,B次元官网网址� explained Browne.

Tully was with her mother at the hospital from when she woke up in the morning, until she fell asleep again at night, leaving only to make meals for the two of them.

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Come the middle of February, Jukes was still in hospital. At this point, her dementia was becoming increasingly worse.

However, Tully was able to take Jukes back to Bobcaygoen where she cared for her in her apartment.

B次元官网网址淪he overcame the hip surgery, and defied those odds, she came out of it,B次元官网网址� said Browne.

On March 23, Jukes fell in the apartment, and Tully couldnB次元官网网址檛 get her up. Fearing she had broken her hip again, they called the ambulance.

B次元官网网址淎fter falling and stuff, she maybe was sweating and nauseated or whatever, and they put her on the COVID floor,B次元官网网址� explained Browne.

When she arrived at the hospital, further cat scans revealed more cancer in JukesB次元官网网址� neck.

An infection in her neck prompted antibiotics. According to the family, a week later, a test for COVID-19 came back positive.

B次元官网网址淪o then weB次元官网网址檙e thinkingB次元官网网址� this is it. Because we heard all the stories on the news about all these old people dying, and needing ventilators,B次元官网网址� said Browne.

B次元官网网址淢y sister and I, oh my God, we spent so many hours bawling our eyes out, thinking weB次元官网网址檙e never going to see her again.B次元官网网址�

Jukes, at that point, was alone in the hospital due to visitor restrictions, with dementia worsened even more.

Because of this, the sisters were extremely worried their mother wouldnB次元官网网址檛 regularly eat, or go to the bathroom.

B次元官网网址淪o once she got diagnosed with COVID, we thought sure, she was a goner. And then they put her on oxygen, and then weB次元官网网址檙e really thinkingB次元官网网址� sheB次元官网网址檚 never going to come out of this,B次元官网网址� said Browne.

Amazingly, Browne explained, after two weeks of being on oxygen, they managed to take Jukes off of it.

Her health at this point was rapidly declining. She lost the ability to feed herself, and nurses took over this responsibility.

But the 86-year-old was resilient; six weeks later, after multiple tests, JukesB次元官网网址� tests for COVID-19 came back negative.

B次元官网网址淢y God, she overcame that,B次元官网网址� said Browne. B次元官网网址淪he is so strong willed.B次元官网网址�

On Sunday, May 17, Jukes came home to Bobcaygeon.

B次元官网网址淣o, you donB次元官网网址檛 have to panic thinking your loved one is going to die in the hospital all by themselves, because they could get over it,B次元官网网址� said Browne. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of factors I guess, but I mean, sheB次元官网网址檚 so strong-willed, there was no way she was dying.

B次元官网网址淲hen my momB次元官网网址檚 time comes to go, I think she should be carried off in a golden chariotB次元官网网址� sheB次元官网网址檚 been through so much in her lifetime.B次元官网网址�

Public Health Ontario has not yet confirmed this information. The Western B次元官网网址 has reached out to the health authority for comment.

editor@pentictonwesternnews.com
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