Brochu told him that she was experiencing a cold, headache and shortness of breath, all after feeling totally fine when she went to sleep the night before. While she felt it wasn’t COVID, Armour pointed out to her that these were common symptoms of the coronavirus.

Brochu had been isolating at her home in Fort Coulonge since April 9 due to a possible exposure while she was working at Poupore pavilion as an special-education assistant, but had felt no COVID-like symptoms for the first seven days. With her celebrating her 55th year around the sun, she had already arranged an appointment to receive a vaccination on April 21 after her isolation was set to expire.

Armour, who spoke for his mother due to her shortness of breath at the time of this interview, grew up in Fort Coulonge but now lives and works in the city where he is a program administrator for the department of medicine at both the General Hospital and Civic Hospital in Ottawa. His work has made him acutely aware and knowledgeable of the impact of the virus which has triggered a pandemic that has lasted over a year.

“It’s been a struggle, you know, just trying to get the message out there, and being vigilant and all that,” he said. “And so I feel like the Pontiac has been very fortunate not to have any cases since the beginning of this pandemic.”

Armour and Brochu agreed they’d let her symptoms play out for another 48 hours before they decided on whether she should go get a test, and she went to her family doctor in the meantime, where she received an inhaler and antibiotics.

“Then on Monday, after work, I decided to give her a call, and she looked horrible,” Armour said. He told Brochu to lie on her stomach instead of her back, which helped to relieve some of the struggle of dealing with her shortness of breath.

After getting tested on Monday the 19th and receiving her positive results on April 21, Brochu found by Friday, six days after symptoms emerged, that she felt as though things were getting worse.

“So I said to my mom, ‘Listen, we’re at that point where you’re not feeling any better and it’s been seven days, I think that it’s best for you to go to the hospital,’” Armour explained.

“My mom is really hard-headed in some ways, you know, and she’s only 55, and I kind of felt like I was losing my mom in some ways, because I’ve never seen her this sick,” he continued. “And when I say this sick, it’s like sweats and body aches, and when you can’t even talk for more than five minutes it’s just not my mom.”

Brochu agreed with her son and went into the hospital, where she was put on oxygen and IV for roughly five hours. Once her oxygen returned to healthier levels, she was released and went home.

Saturday and Sunday passed with her continuing to experience the same symptoms, as well as extreme tiredness and an inability to taste anything.

At the time of this interview, April 27, Armour said that his mom’s condition was starting to improve.

“Today, after talking to her, the fever’s gone now so that’s something really good,” he said.

Armour asked his mom what she would tell people if they asked her for her advice on dealing with the threat of COVID.

“She said, ‘Respect the guidelines that are given, even though it’s not as pleasant, it’s better to be safe than to get it,’ she said it was something that she’s never lived before, so it’s been pretty crazy,” he said. “So now we’re at day 10 right now, and she’s slowly starting to get back up on her feet but she still has a lot of shortness of breath.”

Brochu has no history of underlying conditions that made her more at risk of having a serious reaction to the virus, and Armour said that she made every effort to be vigilant throughout the pandemic despite having to work.

Armour said his motivation for speaking about his mom’s experience was to help raise awareness for Pontiacers, given that most people in the area might not know anyone who has dealt with a serious case of COVID-19 – due to the fact that roughly 300 total cases have occurred, with the vast majority of those coming in the last several months.

“If we want these lockdowns to be over and move on with our lives, we need to [continue to] be vigilant in some ways, and try to respect it,” he said. “Because as of right now the Outaouais is number one with the highest [proportion of] cases of COVID [in Quebec].”

In a follow-up interview on May 3, Armour said that Brochu was feeling better and able to get up out of bed to do things. He did say that she was still dealing with lingering shortness of breath.

Register or subscribe to read this content

Thanks for stopping by! This article is available to readers who have created a free account or who subscribe to The Equity.

When you register for free with your email, you get access to a limited number of stories at no cost. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to everything we publish—and directly support quality local journalism here in the Pontiac.

Register or Subscribe Today!