Kate Lee O'Connor Recovery Fund

Many of you may be familiar with Kate Lee O’Connor as one of the brightest young singers and fiddlers in the Americana/folk/bluegrass world. She has won a Grammy Award and has performed numerous times on the CMA Awards shows as well in many of the top performing arts centers and venues around the country as a lead singer in multiple groups. More important, she is a beautiful person who has inspired and uplifted the lives of so many people who have known her and been around her.

On September 18, 2022, our sweet Kate was admitted to St. Thomas West Hospital in Nashville, TN in critical condition. To understand what happened, here’s some background:

For the last two and a half years, Kate has been suffering from a series of incredibly challenging physical, psychological, and neurological issues stemming from an incident in June 2020 during which her doctor removed her “cold turkey” from a medication she had been taking (and had depended on) since she was 8 years old. This resulted in an unusually severe case of SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome, which yielded a significant spike in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (which Kate was diagnosed with as a child but which had been controlled throughout her life) as well as akathisia (neurological tremors), anxiety, depression, and internal “activation” from numerous ensuing medication changes and led to multiple hospital stays and a long process of slowly changing potent medications in an effort to achieve a psychological and neurochemical equilibrium. It took nearly a year and a half, but in late 2021, she finally experienced enough of a reduction in side effects that she was able to start living normally again.

After a few months of ramping back up to a performing routine and lifestyle, her health declined again in May 2022, likely as a result of long-term doctor-mandated benzodiazepine use, which set off a downward spiral through many of the same issues as before, in addition to extreme nausea, physical illness, and sleep deprivation. After being put on several new medications at Vanderbilt University Medical Center – some of them negatively interacting with each other, according to other physicians we consulted with after the fact – Kate’s immensely challenging summer culminated in a suicide attempt on September 18. She was unresponsive for about 24 hours, and doctors at St. Thomas Hospital were concerned about potential brain or other organ damage, but with family and friends around her, she miraculously woke up and has been recovering ever since.

Kate spent nearly two months at various hospitals in Nashville (primarily St. Thomas West and Vanderbilt). Her leg developed compartment syndrome and required four surgeries, including a fasciotomy and skin graft. Her medication regimen has been completely recalibrated, which thus far has shown positive results, but she is going to require extensive therapy. She will see a highly regarded psychotherapist for medication management, and she has begun counseling for OCD and grief/trauma and will soon engage in EMDR therapy. In conjunction with her doctors, Kate will consider additional options for treatment, such as PHP (partial hospitalization) and residential treatment programs, in the coming months.

Thus far, our hospital bills from September and October have amounted to nearly $200,000. Therapy sessions going forward will be out-of-network, so we will be paying roughly $500/week out of pocket for at least the next 6-12 months. (We are also spending about $100/week on home medical supplies.) We have accrued nearly $50,000 in credit card debt because, since post-COVID concerts started back up over a year ago, we have had to turn down and/or cancel many booking opportunities (amounting to many tens of thousands of dollars in lost work) due to Kate’s health complications.

We are incredibly grateful for the support Kate has received over the last two years. Today, we find ourselves at a crucial juncture in her journey, and with minimal funds of our own, we are humbly asking for contributions to help her overcome a long stretch of unbelievable psychological and physical challenges.

Thank you so, so much for any assistance you may be able to provide. We believe in Kate and are absolutely optimistic that, with the right treatment, your gift will help Kate emerge from this stronger than ever.

One final note: We recorded our debut full-length album for Compass Records just before Kate became ill. We have had to delay the release for more than two years under the circumstances, but here’s a video we made, with help from our friend Lauren Balthrop and with a sub-$1k budget, for what is still slated to be our title track, “While We’re Here.” It is a portrait of Kate in her element, and it is very relevant to the challenges we have been facing. We hope you enjoy it!