Help Bec Rebuild as She Fights to Survive with Long COVID

Bec McNamara, a multi-disciplinary artist, education professional, and all-around loving brilliant human has been dealing with long covid and many other expensive medical complications since 2020. She is fighting for her life and she needs our help. We are trying to raise $40,000 to help Bec survive. Anything you’re able to donate would be greatly appreciated, as would sharing this with others. Scroll down to the bottom for more ways you can help. If you’d like to know more, read on:

Because of her long COVID, Bec has suffered damage to her heart, lungs, diaphragm, skin, jaw, teeth, nervous system and experienced pain in all of her joints, along with extreme fatigue. In addition to this she has POTS, sleep apnea, and insomnia.

It started with Covid…

In March 2020, Bec caught COVID from a packed polling place. After two weeks, she felt like she was getting better only for things to take a turn for the worse. At this time, the medical community was warning people to stay away from hospitals, so she wasn’t able to get medical attention for a year and a half following the initial infection.

During this time, she couldn’t walk from her bedroom to her kitchen without using the wall. She couldn't carry groceries upstairs. She couldn’t talk to people on the phone. Keeping track of things became an issue so she had to stop using her stove and oven. She lost a lot of weight as her muscle mass decreased. Most of the day would be spent stationary staring into the void so her mental health situation was alarming. She was sick to her stomach, had increased depression and anxiety, and cognitive neurological concerns.

Two steps forward…

After a lot of time fighting for an appointment with a neurologist, she was accepted into Northwestern’s COVID clinic in September 2021. She started seeing a cardiologist and was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), which is where the nerve that tells your heart to beat no longer coordinates correctly. She started occupational therapy for her lungs, cognitive concerns, and to help her get through each day with less difficulty. She’s been seeing an insomnia specialist. She finally got a neuro/psych evaluation, meaning she has actual data with which to understand and talk about what exactly is happening in her brain and body. Now she can begin to find the tools to disrupt the physical and mental cycles that have caused her health to backslide.

Bec is very grateful for all the great doctors she’s seen and the care she’s been given. All of these steps have been hard fought with a system that has been unhelpful and stagnant. But with each of these victories, comes the frustration of backsliding–

…One step back.

She’s been trying to get disability benefits, something her doctors have been advocating for her to receive since the beginning. It’s been two years of red tape; meeting with lawyers and paper work all while she is taking on debt.

In December 2023, Bec had an internal infection caused by a dead tooth due to TMJ. That she hasn’t been able to follow up on for financial reasons.

Her heart rate would spike over 145 BPM, even at rest. She was prescribed medication for this, but it prevented her from sleeping, so she had to stop taking it.

After a sudden hospitalization for what they thought was a stroke, she was diagnosed with silent migraines. However, this can not be confirmed till November 2024.

In April 2024, her doctors found a painful cyst and Endometriosis. She has an upcoming meeting with a surgeon to determine if she needs surgery for this.

And there are still other lingering health issues that she doesn't have answers for yet.

A brief and vain attempt to summarize Bec’s life and achievements

Originally from a tiny suburb outside Chicago, Bec is an artist, advocate for many and education professional with over 15 years of experience in the field of skills development through arts exploration, collaborative creation, and play. She’s worked with a diverse range of people as young as Pre-K through adults such as: Chicago Public Schools, graduate students in business, executive teams, medical practitioners, military veterans, incarcerated persons, girl scouts.

She is a ray of sunlight and a true gift to her friends, who will often reach out to her to help them with tough interpersonal situations. She has the patience and skills to be present with challenging and sensitive topics and help others understand each other.

Right now, she can only work a couple hours a week. Currently she’s teaching theater in a Cook County jail with two other teachers who assist or take over when she can’t go in. When she can, she enjoys attending artist meetups where she reads scripts and gives feedback. She and some of her colleagues are working on an article about the state of American Theater as well. Things have gotten better, but she still isn’t getting the medical support necessary for her to fully participate in the world in the way she is meant to.

“I just want to get better, so I can go back to contributing to the world. I just need space to catch up.”

Asking for help is not Bec’s strong suit—which is why we have put this together for her.

First and foremost, Bec needs money to pay for the doctors visits, treatments, specialists, and systems mentioned above. Most of these procedures (the physical therapy, psychiatry, and somatic therapy) are not covered by insurance or if they are, it only covers a small percent.

Some other large expenses she needs help with:

Ways we can help that don’t involve money:

Thank you for supporting our dear friend, Bec. She is very important to us, and she makes the world a kinder, more joyful, and more worthwhile place to live in. She deserves health, wellness, and relief from the extreme challenges of the last years. Please help us shower her with love, support, and yes, money!