By Pat Anson, PNN Editor

Pain sufferers and patient advocates are mourning the loss of a trusted friend and colleague, Rebecca “Becky” McCandless. Becky passed away on January 30 at a hospice facility in Bloomington, Indiana after a brief battle with cancer. She was 59 years old.

Becky developed Arachnoiditis – a chronic and progressive inflammation of spinal nerves – after a botched epidural steroid injection in 2005. Her intractable pain became so intense that Becky considered suicide, until she found a doctor willing to prescribe high dose opioids.

Becky soon became an advocate for herself and others in the Arachnoiditis community. In 2015, she wrote one of the first guest columns to appear in PNN, defending the use of opioids and taking the CDC to task for its soon-to-be-released opioid prescribing guideline.

Becky said opioids had saved her life:

“The CDC is clueless because they are recommending a cap on the daily dosages. How can they estimate a person’s pain levels? Everyone is different, and there are genetic differences and high metabolizers who need higher doses to control their pain. If that happens, my pain will be uncontrolled again, and I worry about my future. 

Is this fair to the thousands or even millions of pain patients who may suffer from Arachnoiditis, who have been harmed by the medical community and incompetence of the Food and Drug Administration? Even though the FDA issued a warning on steroids used for back pain, doctors are ignoring it and not telling their patients. We were harmed and now we suffer because doctors are turning us away.”

“Becky was a dear friend who overcame many trials, and she never gave up when she was handed great difficulties,” remembers Terri Anderson, a fellow Arachnoiditis sufferer who met and became friends with Becky on Facebook. “Becky was a bright light in a dark world. Her life was cut way too short.  I will miss her uplifting texts and phone calls, but I will always cherish her memory.” 

Becky was still mourning the recent deaths of her mother and sister when she learned she had an aggressive form of lung cancer. 

“Despite suffering tragic losses and incurable pain, Becky always made plans for better days ahead.  She encouraged others in our Arachnoiditis community and challenged misguided individuals on the topic of intractable pain with her Tweets and emails,” Anderson said.  

“What do you say about one of your dearest friends in the world, when you have shared with them both the daily challenges and physical pain of a devastating, chronic pain disease for so many years?” asks Denise Molohon, another Arachnoiditis sufferer. 

“Becky showed incredible strength and courage. She was a fighter. She rose back up each and every time, opening up the discussion and bringing suicide into the light, just as she had done with her own chronic pain disease. As a pain patient advocate, she helped multiple people, physicians, patients and organizations.” 

Becky and Molohon’s advocacy for Arachnoiditis led Vice President Mike Pence – then governor of Indiana – to proclaim a week in July 2015 as Arachnoiditis Awareness Week.  

After so many years dealing with the ravages of Arachnoiditis, Molohon says Becky’s diagnosis with late-stage cancer came as a shock.  

“Becky faced it like she had every major challenge, with the utmost bravery, a positive outlook and a fighting attitude,” Molohon said. “Becky was known for her huge heart. There wasn’t a single person or animal she wouldn’t help, didn’t matter the situation or problem. If she couldn’t find a way, she’d find someone who could. I will miss her huge smile, her contagious laugh and most of all her kind, generous heart.”

Becky was just days away from her 60th birthday when she died.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be sent in honor of Becky to the Adhesive Arachnoiditis Research & Education Project or to the Sycamore Land Trust.  Condolences to the McCandless family can be made here.