This Week in the Mercury
Monday, August 24, 2009
Music Help Brian Perez Dance Again*.
Posted by Alison Hallett on Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 10:16 AM
So the awkward thing about publicly proclaiming local performers to be dashing/handsome/really good at singing George Michael songs, is that Portland is a really small town and you probably have mutual friends and pretty soon that person is going to find you on Facebook and you're going to feel kind of creepy. Brian Perez of the panty-dissolving "One More Try" cover contacted me this morning to ask if I'd do a post about how he needs to raise $2,000 by tomorrow to pay for surgery on a torn ACL. So here it is. We're not going to make a Mercury habit of this, but a good rule of thumb is: If we've sexually harassed you on the blog, we will publicize your attempts to raise money for surgery. Bonus points if you hurt yourself while vigorously dancing, as Perez did. Details below the jump, here's the Paypal link; support your local uninsured musician, if you can.
*sorry 'bout that headline.
I, Brian Perez, was performing an impressive (and foolish) dance move on July 4th of this year when I heard a snap and lost my ability to walk. What appeared to be a clumsy expression of patriotism on my part quickly became a very serious and troubling medical dilemma. A few days later, I discovered through an MRI that I had completely destroyed my left ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and the only way to repair it is surgical ACL reconstruction.
Being uninsured, I assumed surgery was financially out of reach. Estimates online ranged anywhere from $15,000 to $30,000. The information on the internet clearly stated though, if you fail to repair a torn ACL, the damage from use of the knee is irreversible and extremely debilitating. A friend of mine who works in pain management referred me to a surgeon for evaluation.
The surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Greenleaf, is the first choice in the Portland area for most athletes with similar injuries. He has performed hundreds of ACL repairs. He approached the surgery center, anesthesiologist, and staff and was kind enough to lower the cost of my surgery to approximately $5,000.
Although $5,000 is no small sum, it is incredibly inexpensive for surgery. Anyone who has had the misfortune of an uninsured accident or illness can attest to this. With Dr. Greenleaf’s estimate, I made my appointment for surgery for August 25th.
I am sending this email to you today because the surgical center requires $2,000 up-front to have surgery this coming Tuesday. I have been unable to work since my injury and I do not have $2,000. Because of recent economic turmoil, I do not expect any of you to have that kind of money to give to someone else for their medical problems. My parents, unfortunately, are unable to help in any regard as my father has been out of work for over a year. I’m sending this email to everyone I know in hopes of small donations from many individuals in order to preserve my future ability to walk.
At the bottom of this email you will find a link to a PayPal donation site where you can use your credit or debit card to make a contribution of any size. Please take a moment and consider what you, if anything, can contribute to my ACL surgery. I have all ready incurred approximately $1,000 of cost for an MRI and pre-op appointments. I have attempted to finance this surgery with no success and am running out of time and options for recovery.
If you cannot contribute, I know your thoughts will still be with me. Please forward this email to anyone you think may be able to help in any way. I will keep you all updated on my progress.
Thank you,
Brian Perez
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"he needs to raise $2,000 by tomorrow to pay for surgery on a torn ACL."
This isn't actually how the medical industry works.
Well...if you don't have insurance, yes it is.
Also, that Brian is gllllurggleeedrooooll...uh...a nice looking young man.
I've never had insurance. I've also never been to a doctor that wasn't willing to send a bill for services. The "he NEEDS to raise...by tomorrow" part is patently false.
"I am sending this email to you today because the surgical center requires $2,000 up-front to have surgery this coming Tuesday."
So, it is OK for dreamy people to e-beg.
Nice to hear the hip, attractive and talented folks are finally getting a break.
I'm sure we'll get more pleas from the uninsured who need operations that DON'T arise out of some incident of personal stupidity, right? Oh, wait, no - you said we definitely won't. Thanks!
And lest you think I'm an even bigger prick than it is fair to surmise from this post, I can say that you wouldn't be so sympathetic to this guy if you were privy to the inside info that I have.
Yours cryptically,
-CC
CC, if you got gossip... you'd better be dropping some tasty morsels on us.
OK, I'm sitting down. Please proceed, Colin.
K, finally read the after the jump bit. Who the fuck starts a letter, "I, such and such,..." unless they're writing a legal declaration?
First you want money to bail someone out of jail, then money for surgery? What is this paper coming to?
Sorry, no further elaboration beyond "it's reliable, and it's not good."
Maybe if you put the money you might have donated into getting me loaded....
I vote for getting Colin loaded and publishing a cover story on whatever he ends up saying.
Graham can fact check it.
Guilty feet have got no rhythm.
I only know Brian from "around". The same way anyone knows anyone in Portland. We're certainly not close, but I've never known him to be anything but an incredibly kind, smiley, fun guy.
Stupid made-up bullshit gossip is so dumb. If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise, fuck off with your lame insinuations that no one can prove wrong.
I say we get CC drunk and then get the gossip.
And yes, I'll do some fact checking.
Can I help? I can pedantic with the best of them.
p.s. "Get Colin drunk and write/edit stories should totally be the next blogtown mixer.
IMPORTANT EDIT: that last comment needed a closing quotation mark.
I hope Colin's story is about him cheating a friend and wasting a chance that he'd been given.
[I don't know where to put in pony requests on this site, so I'm gonna put it here: Can blogtown get a 5-minute edit grace period like ?land has?]
@ The genius who knows brian from "around":
I'm not INSINUATING anything. I'm SAYING based on what I know, don't donate. I'm also SAYING that I refuse to tell the internet my basis.
If you knew what I was talking about, you'd probably appreciate my discretion on your acquaintance's behalf.
Finally, I could give a fuck about your ability to prove or disprove what I'm saying. If you don't want to believe the completely-un-elucidated-thing-posted-semi-anonymously-on-an-internet-comment-board, I don't think anyone would really fault you.
Colin, in spirit I'm completely on your side [Really, A CAT approves of internet drama? What has the world come to??? -the editors], but the sort of cryptic accusation you're throwing around does lend itself to people calling you on insinuation. While you might be SAYING "don't donate, i haz reasons," you're simultaneous INSINUATING that there is a some sort of horrifying behavior that backs up your position, and refusing to pick a side of reveal/no reveal seems like you just want to consume your cake and still have your entire inventory of cake remaining.
@ A Cat and others,
Y'all know I would be right there with you if I were the one having such juiciness dangled before me - e.g. just last week, I was telling the neighbors of the ransacked community garden that they should talk to the cops, and ignore the fear of consequences.
I want so badly to drop this nugget on you all, and I know each comment just makes it worse, and makes it seem like some colossal thing. Please understand I would totally drop this if I could, but I simply can't do it, for a couple very good reasons.
Console yourself with the thought that at this point, just about anything I might say would probably be a big letdown.
CC, So what you're saying is that Brian was secretly the mastermind behind 9/11 and the Lockerbie bombing?
Brian gave Humpy the herpes that was then passed on to my dog. What a cunt...
A CAT: You know you aren't allowed to say that here. You can only strongly imply it.
-Rowdy, the Herpes Infected Dog
Get off the fucking bed, Rowdy.
Found out. He imprisons primates.
Why can't he do it? Why can't he set his monkey free? If he would only do it, we would help fix his knee.
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