Life saving surgery copay!

      My brother is in the fight for his Life! Please help save a disabled Air Force Veteran! My 51 year old brother, Mark Pleasants, was diagnosed on June 24, 2016 with locally advanced pancreatic cancer, borderline resectable. He then endured 3 months of Folfirinox, the most aggressive chemotherapy available, in attempt to downgrade the cancer to borderline resectable. He had numberous side effects from the chemo, and he did his best to have a chance at beating this cancer. At the end of 6 cycles of Folfirinox, he was so happy to be advised that he was a candidate for the Whipple surgery by his oncologist and surgeon. On 10/26/2016, he came in for the Whipple surgery, advised that it could save his life. Unfortunately, after 4 hours of operation, the surgeon came out and informed us he could not remove the tumor safely. About 3 hours after the 1st surgery, Mark's blood pressure dropped, so the surgeon suspected internal bleeding and opened Mark the 2nd time to find Mark indeed had internal bleeding. The surgeon put a numberous amount of surgical clips to stop the bleeding. Approximately 2 hours after the 2nd surgery, Mark BP again dropped to 40 range. He looked really pale. The surgeon rushed in with the 3rd surgery in the same day. They found the surgical clips fell off and Mark had a lot of bleeding. They transfused Mark a total of 30 unit of blood. Due to heavy internal bleeding, they kept his abdomen opened for 2 days with a wound vac machine to suck blood out. On 10/28/2016, the surgeon  then attempted to do a laparoscopic surgery to check Mark abdomen and luckily the bleeding had stopped, so they could finally close him up. Mark was put in an induced coma for 7 days in ICU. He awoke to the incredible disappointment that the surgery had not been successful. He woke up with multiple complications including multiple drug resistant Klebsiella Pneumonia, deep vein thrombosis with IVC filter placement due to history of heavy bleeding. He was hospitalized for more than a month then sent home for Christmas. While waiting to recover from the failed Whipple, the tumor spreads out to the lining of his stomach and duodenum. He was again hospitalized for 2 weeks at the end of January with a feeding tube PEG J put in for nutrition as he could no longer eat. Mark started daily radiation therapy for 28 days in attempt to shrink the tumor for the nano knife surgery. By the end of April, Mark traveled to see another surgical oncologist for the Nanknife; however, due to the extend of radiation damage as Mark received 20% extra dose compared to the standard therapy, the surgeon sent Mark back to Florida for 3 months of chemotherapy to allow his body recover for the surgery. While waiting for the Nanoknife, Mark had a lot of pain and the oncologist discover the tumor spread to his peritoneal cavity and diagnosed him with peritoneal carcinomatosis. We talked to the surgeon on August regarding about his new diagnosis and the surgeon said Mark has to be put on chemotherapy to clean the peritoneal seeding before the surgeon would perform the Nanoknife on him. At the same time, the oncologist informed us that the chemotherapy, Folfirinox, is no longer working for Mark; therefore, we had to switch him to 2nd line of therapy which is the Gemzar plus Abraxane. Mark was stable on it for a few months. At the end of October, Mark was hospitalized for more than a month due to sepsis and several absesses in his liver. The oncologist had to stop chemotherapy while Mark was on home IV infusion antibiotics therapy from the end of October to January. Due to the gap in therapy, Mark tumor is growing at a fast rate now so that we could actually see and feel the tumor protruding out of his navel. We have contacted another surgeon, Dr. Bruce Donoway, in Hollywood Florida, about 3 and half hours away from us, who offered us the Nanoknife procedure to debulk the tumor to reduce metastasis and chemotherapy resistance. Mark is 100% disable veteran, so we have to go through the process of getting VA approval for his treatment; however, this is a time sensitive issue as VA takes a very long time to consider any possible treatment options for us. Mark also has Medicare and Tricare. We explained our situation with the surgeon, and he told us he could get most of the things approved through Medicare; however, the nano knife does not have a code to claim through insurance, so the surgeon asked us to pay out of pocket $15,000. (normally he would charge $40,000) to be able to schedule a date for the surgery to save Mark's life. Please, please help save my sweet brother! He means the world to me and our family. We have so many fun plans for our future that we want to have the chance to enjoy! If he is unable to have this procedure, then his only option is two more chemo treatments to help relieve some of his pain then he will be on Hospice care for the remainder of time that he can hold on! No amount is too small!         Please share to spread the word!