Case #26: Nika

Murder in Illinois

iHeartPodcasts

True Crime, Society & Culture

3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Nika spent half her life battling a shape-shifting condition that plagued her in various ways for nearly two decades. Fighting chronic pain, fevers, fatigue, and even strokes. In her 30s, after a series of lymphoma scares, Nika thought she was going to die without answers. But, 17 years, 26 doctors and 37 procedures later - Nika was finally able to name her faceless foe.

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****** SPOILER ALERT BELOW ******

To find out more about IgG4-RD, you can check out IgG4ward! Foundation’s website at https://igg4ward.org/

You can also find Nika Beamon on her website here.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Ruby.
0:08.5	I was driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, and everything sort of went blurry.
0:13.7	It was like somebody stabbing the side of the head with an ice pick.
0:16.6	She literally lost the ability to sing.
0:20.7	Doing 65 miles an hour, it's God holding the wheel at that point.
0:26.6	The disease is like a crow flying through the dark night.
0:30.1	Patients go months or years, incurring damage in all of these organs.
0:36.0	I can't see, and I'm in terrible pain.
0:38.2	I got to get somewhere safe, so I just got to keep going.
0:42.6	How terrifying would it be to fight an unknown enemy?
0:47.2	One you didn't recognize and didn't see coming.
0:50.6	What if that enemy was coming from within?
0:53.8	A disease that even doctors couldn't identify.
0:57.5	Nearly half of Americans suffer from some chronic illness
1:01.7	and many struggle for an accurate diagnosis.
1:05.9	These are their stories.
1:09.1	I'm Lauren Brad Pacheco, and this is Symptomatic.
1:16.4	Nika Beeman Van Scheck is a force to be reckoned with.
1:20.2	In all areas of her life, she has pushed herself to achieve.
1:24.0	She's an Emmy-winning TV writer, author of four books, and garnered a Peabody Award in her
1:29.4	20s for her coverage of 9-11.
1:31.8	Even as a young person, Nika was tenacious and full of personality.
	...

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