07/11/2026
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Mom update:
Hello everyone, I'm sorry to be so late telling you this but I was so overwhelmed with everything
Despite a hard fought battle, my mom lost her battle on July 26, 2026 at approximately 9:50PM.
This is the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. I am so used to saving my mom's life and few others along the way, I was helpless this time. It didn't matter how much research I did or how out of the box my thinking was, there was absolutely nothing I could do to save her. It is so sad how quickly she declined in 26 days. On July 1, 2026, mom was healthy and the happiest she had been in a long time, she was even enjoying her meals and that was one of the things that was totally amazing. By the time July 8th rolled around, she had shingles and was having a hard time breathing. JULY 9TH she was rushed to Almonte barely hanging on but that evening, she wasn't improving at all so she was rushed to Ottawa by the Ornge Critical Care ground ambulance. Everyone at the Almonte hospital worked extra hard with mom to ensure that she had the best chance of survival and the guys from Ornge Critical Care ambulance were awesome. I think their names were Mark and Phil. Thank you both very much, you put my mom at ease during your trip to Ottawa.
Once mom arrived at the Civic Hospital in Ottawa, she was seen by many doctors and nurses and most of them were fantastic so thank you to those of you who I am talking about.
By the start of the third day in the emergency department at the Civic, it was determined that mom was way to sick to stay in a normal room so she was taken to the ICU department where she was intubated, a scope of her lungs was done, ct scans of various parts of her body and an MRI of her brain.
It was determined that mom had a rare type of pneumonia ( of course my mom never does normal). This type of pneumonia attacks people with weak immune systems. It is called PJP. Mom started to show a little improvement in the first couple of days but then she started to have major problems with other parts of her body shutting down. This was something I never thought would happen to my mom at this part of the year, especially after feeling so well just a couple of weeks before.
We all miss her so much. I just want to thank everyone who thought of us and prayed for my mom and eben just took the time to check and see how she was from time to time.
My mom lived with us for the last 30 years or so and I never had to worry about her because I knew she was getting the best of care and all the love we could give.
If your parents are still alive, please take the time to talk to them everyday and visit them as much as you can because once you become the empty tester, life becomes very lonely and you feel like you have been forgotten. For the bit of extra time you can give them on a daily basis, it makes a huge difference to their quality of life.
Once again, I just want to thank everyone for everything they have done to help my mom and our family along the way. Everyone has been so amazing and supportive.
Mom has been cremated and is being kept safe and sound but due to family commitments etc etc, we will be holding a celebration of life most likely in the spring of 2027.
Once Again
Thank you
Brenda Catier
