Help fund Brandon's second chance at life

Please help!! I have created this fundraiser for my best friend's husband, Brandon Pol. I know it's a longer read, but bear with me, we felt it was important you know the whole story of how Brandon got to be where he is today.

As many of you know, Brandon was diagnosed with Acute Pancreatitis in winter of 2017. On March 18th, 2018, Brandon was in excruciating pain and was having difficulty breathing, so Jeni rushed him to the hospital. Within an hour, Brandon was placed in a medically induced coma because his pancreas was so badly inflamed that the inflammation had moved to his liver, his stomach as well as his lungs, which was making it difficult for him to breath. The doctors had to place him in a medically induced coma so his body could rest in hopes it would help with the inflammation. During the first week of Brandon being in the coma, he developed ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) and doctor's told Jen to get Brandon's affairs in order as he was not expected to make it out of the coma due to all the complications he was having. Three weeks later, Brandon was taken off life support and began breathing on his own. Two weeks later he was discharged from the hospital. The family thought the worse was behind them and they would be able to focus on Brandon's healing and eventually, Brandon could get back to work, but that was not the case.

Over the past five years, Brandon’s pancreas has been rapidly deteriorating and he was diagnosed with Chronic Pancreatitis in 2020. He went from having a bout of pancreatitis every few months, to having pancreatitis consistently every day. In June of 2022, his Oncologist and GI doctor teamed up and decided that Brandon should have the Whipple Procedure done in hopes that would eliminate the chronic pancreatitis, as well as heal his other issues in his GI tract. The plan was to have the Whipple surgery end of August. Then on August 10th of 2022, doctors were running tests to clear him for surgery, and they found tumors in his pancreas and ultimately, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, Brandon was no longer able to do Whipple surgery as the cancer was not only in the head of the pancreas but throughout the whole bottom of the pancreas. Brandon’s GI and Oncology team could no longer help Brandon due to the complexity of his health, so they referred Brandon to University of Ohio to see an Oncologist Surgeon in hopes Brandon would be a candidate for a Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Auto Transplantation (TPIAT) surgery. This procedure is only done at three hospitals in the country and Ohio is the best one.

Brandon has been in and out of the hospital over the past three years, battling pancreatic issues, and fighting for his life. So, when Brandon got the call from the University of Ohio to schedule the consultation, they were overjoyed. On January 22nd of 2023, Brandon flew out to Ohio for ten days for his consultation where he would be undergoing a variety of medical testing such as CT scans, MRCP scans, blood work, stomach, and liver biopsies as well as meet with a genetic doctor for testing. After waiting three weeks, their family finally heard from the surgeon, and he was able to give test results as well as what the Oncology Board decided to do as far as Brandon being a candidate for the TPIAT surgery. Based on Brandon’s recent testing, the surgeon diagnosed Brandon with portal hypertension and coronary and gastric varices. Due to these diseases, he is not able to have the TPIAT surgery, as they hoped, due to the high risk of hemorrhaging during surgery. The surgeon has agreed to do the Frey surgery instead. This surgery will remove the cancer from the pancreas as well as reconstruct the bile duct (tail) of the pancreas where they connect the small intestine to the bile duct to ensure the pancreas is draining properly as currently his bile duct is clogged with no drainage.

The Frey surgery is scheduled for April 25th, in Cincinnati Ohio, at the University Hospital. There are high risks to this surgery in general, but with Brandon’s diseased portal valve and the number of varices veins wrapped around his organs, it will make the surgery even more risky as if you touch one of those varices on the vein, it could rupture, and he could hemorrhage to death. The recovery time in the hospital is 3-4 weeks and then 8 weeks of recovery once he is home. To say Brandon and Jeni are nervous and stressed is an understatement. Not only do they have to mentally prepare for the surgery, but the financial burden is weighing on them as well. Between the cost of surgery, 4-week recovery time in the hospital along with all the medications, the amount is roughly $400,000.00 which Brandon and Jeni must pay 20% of the total cost out of pocket. They also must factor in the cost of travel and lodging for Jeni as she plans on being in Ohio with Brandon for the 4 weeks he is there.

The Frey surgery is Brandon's only option for survival due to being high risk for medical complications. We hope this surgery will give him the chance to live longer and feel “normal” again. It's been a long 6 years that Brandon has been sick, and he is ready to feel heathier, out of pain and be able to eat again. His ability to hold down food has been an issue, to the point where he is malnourished. Brandon hasn't been able to eat his favorite foods in over 5 years, so he is SO ready to grub down, when is he is medically cleared to do so, of course!

Jeni has been my best friend for 30 years now and Brandon has been like a brother to me for 23 years. I want to be able to give this family some relief as they have been through hell and back these past five years. If you can, please donate to this wonderful family and help ease their burdens, any amount of money is welcomed, nothing is too small as every penny counts! Prayers are free and always welcomed, so please keep Brandon and Jeni and their children in your prayers. Please share this post with your family and friends as well if you can. God Bless!