2025 URGENT UPDATE Support Beca’s Recovery

UPDATE 3/29/2025

Beca is steadily, but very slowly, recovering from heart failure, still needs extensive medical care, and must continue to pause her guide work through 2025.

The family has had an insurance change, and the updated amount reflects Beca’s deductible, coinsurance, copayments, necessary medical equipment, medications and supplies

Along with heart failure after Louie’s delivery, Beca experienced multiple organ failure, infections, and on too of it all was diagnosed with sleep apnea! She’s a private person, but those of us who are close to her have seen her and Evan struggle hard to handle everything. They’re a great team and beautiful family that bring so much to our broader community! Beca is expected to make a full recovery, but the road is so very long and resources are limited with loss of work and the medical bills piling up in 2025.

Please help them with this final leg of recovery!

UPDATE 9/16/24 amount updated to reflect the mounting costs of a lengthy recovery… as we say in Minnesota “Uffda!” ~Uma

 From Beca:

“It’s been 122 days since I had Heart Failure and with the help of this beautiful angling community, my wonderful husband and my strong family, I’m ever so slowly getting back on my feet. For the past 4 months Ive had to step away from social media, work, volunteering, teaching, guiding and even yard work in order to focus all the energy I had left to pull through this. For weeks where I couldn’t walk or stay awake I even had to step away from being there for my children, which hurt the most. Turns out the heart heals much slower than I understood and that recovery can be complicated. And although we are not out of the weeds yet, I’m still giving it my all. Some days that’s more, some days that’s less. I’m relearning to be patient, to put my body first, to advocate for myself and to trust my instinct now more than ever. Im also relearning what love truly looks like through the random acts of kindness, folks helping me get out of the house, the warm meals, the financial support through the GoFundMe set up by Melony, the encouraging text messages, the phone calls, the safe spaces to break down, the medical advice, the time spent sitting with me in the ER or hospital, the biggest hugs that bring out all the tears and now all of the messages on here that I get to look forward to reading. Alllll of that is of equal value. So until I get around to thanking each and every one of you personally, thank you from the bottom of this swollen, leaky heart I appreciate you. And thank you for showing me what love truly means, it has been the greatest gift this horrible situation has given me and for that I can be grateful ”

UPDATE 7/24/24 It’s heartwarming to see everyone coming together to help our friend Beca! A big thanks to those who’ve also stepped in to help with things like yard work and meals- you’re all amazing! Beca made it home this week with a minor setback requiring an ER visit. She’ll be on oxygen 24/7 for the next 6 months… which means her recovery will extend into the 2025 insurance plan year. PLEASE, dig deep, share, and let’s get her across the finish line!

UPDATE 7/17/24 Beca and family are so so grateful for all your support in many ways! Beca went in for emergency surgery this week and continues to struggle with recovery in the hospital. Congestive heart failure can cause organ failure, and in Beca’s case her gallbladder became extremely inflamed, infected, had to be removed. She’s currently fighting infection in her pancreas and surrounding area. She may need yet another surgery to help her body clear this. She’s woozy and has been in a ton of pain. I’ll be reaching out for additional support this week and would love to see us all come together to move this fund over the $10k… they’re going to need all the help we can give to get through this. Please continue to do what you can for our beloved Beca!

This request is on behalf of our amazing friend Beca, who developed heart failure in her recent pregnancy and needs our support. She’s been in the hospital with congestive heart failure and now faces a surgery in August due to complications. Congestive heart failure requires an extended recovery period of months to years, and lots of rest and ongoing medical care. With a new baby and a preschooler, she and Evan need us to come together so Beca can make a complete recovery. How many of us have benefited from Beca’s generosity in the fly fishing community, and beyond? How often has her laugh infected you with joy? Her ears listened to your story, her words encouraged and taught you? Now is our turn to support Beca and her family. Let’s come together to make this mountain possible to climb for Beca, Evan, and their babies! No amount is too small. We’ll update this page as Beca and Evan get more info on treatment and billing details. We know $10,000 is a conservative estimate and doesn’t include lost income or all the inevitable extra expenses that go with a long term recovery. Thank you heaps for your help! ~Uma (Melanie)

Additional details from Beca:

On the night of May 16th I was admitted into the hospital for Heart Failure under Critical Status due to my tricuspid valve and pulmonary vain on the right side of my heart lacking strength and not functioning properly - I had severe blood regurgitation leading to back flowing blood, restricting my organs to get the blood flow they needed. After 5 days of obstacles, test/procedures and medications I was finally moved to Moderate Status and began the process of heading home to spend some much needed time with my family - especially my newborn son who I had just given birth to a few days prior on May 13th. Since my heart failure, we have been getting opinions and options from the cardiologists at the University of Utah and St Marks to help us make a plan for the road ahead. Doctor visit copays, CTAs, MRIs, hospital stay expenses, ER bill, specialists, medication, long term care and much more have quickly become challenging unforeseen expenses. We are grateful for the opportunity to at least have health insurance at this time but unfortunately it is not enough to help us stay ahead of all of the bills. We are beyond grateful to Melanie for reaching out and offering to set up this opportunity for friends and family to make donations. We appreciate everyone and promise to pay it forward as we work towards getting back on our feet. A immense thank you everyone who has reached out with love and words of encouragement. That means more than I, or my family, can put into words - it fills my heart to know we are surrounded by such a loving and caring community "