On Thursday, October 30th, our beloved Becca went in for a routine checkup. She found herself with insurance for the first time in her adult life and felt the responsibility to use it. During the visit she mentioned she had some intense leg cramps at night so they ordered some labs on the suspicion of an electrolyte imbalance. By the following Monday she got a call from her provider telling her, to her absolute shock, that she needed to go to the ER immediately.

She listened, and was promptly admitted. The hospital did followup labs and came to the same conclusion, and confusion, as her provider: her kidneys weren’t working…like, at all. As the absolute unicorn that we all know Becca is, she didn’t have any of the symptoms her care team would normally see in cases like this. In the span of less than a week, she went from living her normal life to needing an emergency catheter placed on her jugular vein for Dialysis access.

Dialysis does not fix the kidneys but basically replaces them through very long and draining ‘blood cleaning’ sessions multiple times a week. This will be something that is imperative to her health until she can get a transplant. As Becca says ‘There's nothing quite like suddenly having your community metaphorically throwing their organs at you.’ She has had such an outpouring of love and offers to help her find a suitable match. It is not an easy process and definitely not a short one. Her sister, Annie, is her best bet for a match and is already doing everything she can to start the donor process. We are all hopeful that they can have the procedure before the end of the year.

For the past 5 years Becca has been establishing her small business selling handmade jewelry. In 2025 she took the leap to go all in on herself and business and commit to it full time. It was the best choice she could have made but with her health issues starting right before the holidays she took a big hit in sales. As a lot of people know, a retail business makes most of their money during the holidays. Most businesses rely on that, and hers was no different. This means she and her family have been experiencing financial difficulty on top of medical and emotional stress for months. While she qualifies for disability, it can take up to TWO YEARS to be approved and not a lot of updates during the process.

All that to say, things have not been easy the past few months. I think we all know how hard it can be to not only ask for help but to accept it. So I am so happy we are able to come together and show support for one of the most amazing humans. I mean just listen to what she has to say about the funds:

The decision to start this funding effort came with great consideration. Every day we are inundated with the real life and growing needs of our communities. From essential assistance programs being used as bargaining chips, to the most basic human rights being totally dismantled, it was hard to convince myself that my struggle deserved attention. It's was once I realized that my struggle actually creates hardship for those around me that I recognized the necessity to set aside my hesitations and ask for help.

The funds raised here will go directly to paying for food, housing, and necessary expenses for myself and my family. Since it's impossible to determine how long this journey will last, it's hard to know what to plan for, but should any funds remain after the dust settles on this long and harrowing road, the money will be donated back to mutual aid programs to further assist others in crisis.

These funds, as she said, will help her and her family stay afloat while they figure out life with this huge change. Anything you can spare, or even just a share is so incredibly helpful and very much appreciated.