Mark Burns' Pancreas Transplant

 A little over a year ago, my father (Mark Burns) went through the miracle of receiving a kidney transplant from a live donor. We came out of that with a perfect kidney,  a healthy dad, and room for a pancreas- as my dad has had Type 1 Diabetes for a very long time. 
 
   A little over a month ago, we received awesome news- a pancreas was ready for my father. None of us were prepared, as the transplant took place the next day- July 1st. Mark was in surgery for about 6 hours. The start of the recovery was rough for him. He had trouble eating, going to the bathroom, even standing up. His blood pressure was increasingly high as the days went on, and it was all over the place. But we had hope. 

When he came home from the hospital, it went downhill from there. He couldn't sleep, was too uncomfortable, couldn't eat, was throwing up, and so many complications. 

When he returned to Hackensack Medical Center for his weekly check after the surgery, he was immediately admitted to the hospital once again. They ran tests and did scans, and so his surgeon decided to call an emergency exploratory surgery. 

While me and my mother were at home, we had no idea what was going on or what was going to happen.

5 hours later we received devastating news. The surgeon called and told us that they had found a major blood clot in the main artery of the pancreas, and while they tried to fix that blood clot,  my father started losing blood and was bleeding out on the operation table.

Because of that, the surgeon and his team decided to take the pancreas out to save my father's life. 

Here we are, my father okay and recovering, but neck deep into medical bills from two major surgeries, time in the Intensive Care Unit, and 20 days of hospitalization. 

My father told me that when he woke up *with* the pancreas, he felt like a different person. He lost that, and he is now with diabetes (Type 1) once again. 

The kidney transplant was a different story, a happy one at that. We sold our old house and moved in with my Grandmother, using the money to pay off the kidney transplant. 

But now, in the midst of this awful pandemic, my mother is jobless and struggling, so because she works for herself (babysitting) she can not receive unemployment, and my father isn't allowed to work. I transferred from a private catholic school to a public school because we can't afford it. 

I ask for your help- for me and my family. 
The money would help us with bills, taxes, food, everything imaginable. 
Thank you.