Help Casey Houlihan's Major Surgery and Recovery

Our good friend Casey Houlihan has lived with a serious illness for a while now, and its worsened in recent months. In December, a CT scan found two problem areas, and his doctors determined that he needs to have a major intestinal resectioning surgery.

Casey's surgery is set for February 23rd. **UPDATE** - Due to record snowfall in Portland, Casey's surgery was canceled two hours prior to check-in.

The surgery has been rescheduled for Friday, March 3rd.

The recovery will take at least a couple of months - with physical therapy to follow - during which time Casey will be unable to work.

The good news is that the prognosis for this type of issue is generally very positive, and Casey should be back on his feet and out paddling on the river by early summer.

While Casey gets ready for his surgery and tries his best to manage his illness, his friends have stepped up to help provide direct support - like rides to and from the hospital and bringing him food during his recovery.

But we all know this type of surgery comes with a huge price tag - and Casey has already had to step back from his job due to his illness.

Casey is the kind of person who is always there for others, and he is always willing to lend a helping hand. Now, it is our turn to be there for him. By contributing to help with medical expenses, we can show our love & support in a very tangible way.

While Casey goes through this major surgery and recovery, we're asking you to join us in contributing financially to help him cover medical expenses.

Casey’s current & anticipated medical expenses:

If you prefer, you can also send a check in the mail. Please make the check out to “Casey Houlihan”, and address the envelope to:

Casey Houlihan

PO Box 42516

Portland, OR 97242

Casey can also be found on Ven*mo (@CaseyHooligan), and he'll accept cash as well - naturally. He says he welcomes calls, texts, and messages of support while he’s awaiting surgery and during recovery - so feel free to reach out to him at 541*515*7121

Note From Casey:

Hey, all. I’m generally a very private person, so most of you probably don’t know this. I’ve been struggling with increasingly serious health problems over the course of the last 18 months, and things worsened significantly in the last 6 months. At its worst, it's brought severe pain, extreme fatigue, weight loss, and a host of other problems with things like digestion, cognitive function, sleep, and even physical mobility.

The last year has been filled with so many doctor’s visits, specialist appointments, diagnostic procedures, blood tests, you name it - most of which turned up bupkis until a CT scan last December provided some helpful insight.

Here's what's happening (without too many gory details): CT found two short-segment intussusceptions in my small intestine. This is when the intestines telescope and push into the surrounding areas - so food doesn’t get digested properly… or at all. Basically, it’s as though my body gave itself a botched lap-band surgery.

It's not ideal.

Technically it's considered a ‘life-threatening surgical emergency’, but since I’ve likely been living with it for years, a couple more weeks before surgery should be fine.

It’s rare, and difficult to diagnose - which is why it took so long to get here. The ‘lead point’ of the intussusception is unknown; they’ll run a full pathology report on the parts they remove to know for sure what I’m dealing with. There is a non-zero chance that this could be something more serious (i.e. a malignant tumor or intestinal cancer, etc), but my doctors tell me it’s much more likely to be caused by something benign, and that resectioning should fix the problems for good.

People have been asking me how long I’ll be in the hospital after the surgery. To paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield… If it goes well, I’ll be out of there in about five days. If it goes badly, I’ll be out in about twenty minutes.

Folks will be pleased to know that the surgeon has a 5-star rating on both Google AND HealthGrades, so I'm feeling pretty optimistic.

Some friends generously offered help, and they asked me to put together a total for what this whole rigamarole is going to cost me, all-in - so I did. Any support folks can offer during this time is greatly appreciated - and don’t be shy about reaching out if you think I’d like to hear from you while I’m stuck at home recovering.

Managing this illness has often kept me pretty isolated over the last year, and so I’m very much looking forward to getting my health back and reconnecting with so many of you that I hold so dear.

Thank you all for your support. It means so much to me.

Cheers.