Fred Perry is long known to those in the Hudson Valley music community. Besides being a drummer, guitarist, and extremely affable guy, Fred is the co-owner of the Reservoir Music Center instrument shop on Route 28 in Kingston. Unfortunately Fred has been best with some serious health issues that require multiple treatments—treatments that, for a musician and small business owner, are dauntingvery expensive. To raise the money necessary to cover his steep medical bills, Fred has set up a campaign at volunteer donation site Gofundme.com.
“For the past three years, I have been struggling with pain and limited mobility in both shoulders and arms,” says Fred on his account page. “Finally, with no relief in sight, my doctor ordered an MRI, and it was determined that I need shoulder replacement surgery on my left shoulder AND shoulder reconstruction surgery on my right shoulder. This involves a six-week period after the surgery when my arm will be in a sling and unable to move AT ALL, followed by a six-month rehab period, and this is for each shoulder! The surgeries will be performed consecutively, not at the same time, so the total rehab time will be one year, during which I will have no, or very little, use of my arms! As a musician, this is devastating to me, personally, professionally, and financially!”
“The only protocol that shows any promise of relief without surgery,” Fred explains, “is stem cell injections, which have been shown to regrow tissue and cartilage…The only problem is the treatment is not covered by insurance, and could be as much as $6,500 per shoulder!” Currently, Fred is unable to work, having “pretty much lost the use of both arms.”
So this post is to help get the word out about Fred’s predicament and hopefully get some of his many local music scene friends to give him a hand, so to speak. To learn more, visit http://www.gofundme.com/6tznds.
This article appears in February 2014.
