My name is Lisa, and I am setting this up on behalf of my older brother, best friend, Dan, and our mother. My older brother is a healthy 40-year-old man and is in the hospital fighting for his life, and the prognosis isn't good. Dan has a very slim chance of survival. We have incurred a substantial financial strain due to his hospital stay. I'm asking for help to offset the medical and aftercare costs that Dan, his friends, and his family will have if he stays with us here on Earth. If he passes away, the funds raised will go towards the help of cremation and funeral costs. I am trying to help remove some of my brother's burdens if he comes out of this. If he doesn't, I am trying to help take some of the financial strain off his friends and family. I don't know what the future holds and if my best friend will come home to walk alongside me, pick on me, or blame me for something stupid LOL. Dan didn't have any life insurance because who would think at the age of 40, that death would be knocking, no POUNDING, on your door? Who would think at 40, being a very healthy individual, life insurance was a necessity yet. But boy, did he live and love life! He has had an amazing journey so far, and if his story is over, at least we can say that he lived! He and our mom were going to go to Ireland someday. And that will still happen. We just don't know if Dan will be here in person or in spirit to enjoy it. I'm asking for some relief for Dan and Mom since we don't know what the next few days will be. Just something to help ease the burden and stress. If you consider donating, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I will pay it forward in Dan's honor. I thank you all in advance for any kind wishes, thoughts, monetary gifts, prayers, etc.

In May-ish 2022, Dan was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer. He was referred for surgery, where he underwent a colon resection and removal of the mass on June 7th, 2022. He bounced back from surgery quickly and was cleared for all activities the end of July. Dan was so mad at me because I told our Dad about his cancer. He always got mad at me for the smallest things. I remember when we were younger, we were fighting and bickering. Mom and dad kicked us out of the house and told us to hash it out in the front yard. I put my hands up ready to knock him one. He looked at me, turned his back towards me "I'm not even going to entertain her because she is not worth it to me" LOL What?! I so hated my brother sometimes. But we grew up to be best friends. The person I could turn to when the going got rough. The person I could call at 2am to cry on his shoulder because my daughter was sick and I didn't know if she was going to make it or if I could even keep going because I was so defeated. He always told me to put my big girl panties on and keep going. He told me to just let it go and to keep fighting and pushing.

On August 3rd, Dan's life was about to changed. He called me and asked me to take him to Guthrie ER (Sayre PA) for severe abdominal pain and other symptoms. He was admitted to the hospital and developed a Pulmonary Embolism the next day. On 8/8 our mom called the nurses station and received news that my brother's mental capacity was diminishing quickly. Dan was in respiratory failure, among many other medical issues. They moved him to ICU and intubated/sedated him. He came off the vent with full mental capacity, and a favorable prognosis. He was transferred to a rehab floor and to build his strength back. We had to wait on insurance approval before dishcarge, for in-patient rehab which of course, didn't come yet. God works in mysterious ways. Dan started having abdominal pain and vomiting. He received a CT Scan on 8/17 that showed he had necrotic tissue in his small bowel. He went in for emergency surgery at 9:30pm.

Our mom was in the hospital and by his side when they would let her. I received a frantic phone call at 12:30 am saying "I'm losing him Lis. I am losing my baby boy". Dan's blood pressure kept dropping. He was bleeding out on the table (due to blood thinners). He received 3 units of blood. His bowel was so fragile and dead that it was just falling apart. The drs decided to stop the surgery because he quickly became very sick and very critical. They told us to prepare for the worst. Dan was transferred to ICU where they left his abdomen open so they could go in at a later date. Dan is alert, oriented, joking and being Dan! As of 8/18, his vitals were stable. He's fighting so hard and he's not giving up, and neither are we. Dan is going to fight until his last breath. Dan will give it one hell of a fight and won't stop until he and God say he is done. They will go in and do surgery on 8/19. With the necrotic tissue, it's either now or never to try to remove it. They have to try to remove the tissue for him to have any chance of survival.

Dan has so many amazing and wonderful people fighting for him in his life. He has nieces and nephews, uncles and aunts, cousins, parents, sister, best friends, coworkers, and even strangers praying and thinking of him. I don't believe his story is over. His story is not finished. It's not finished until God decides it's over. But before God decides when to close his book, he's writing in there how Dan is fighting. He's telling how Dan is a warrior, brave, and amazing. He's telling the world how kind and wonderful Dan is. He's writing his story so we can read it to the world and spread his kindness and generosity to others when the end is here. God gave us such an amazing life with Dan, and we don't know if Dan will be here in person or in spirit in the next few days. I'm eager to continue to walk this life with my brother, whether he's by my side in spirit, kicking my ass and pulling my hair or tormenting me from the other side. Or if he will be here in person to call me, pick on me, and blame me for whatever the next thing is that goes wrong. If he stays with us, I will be more than happy to take the blame for whatever he wants to blame me for. If the gas prices keep going up and he wants to blame me for it, I will gladly take responsibility, as long as he is by my side. I will continue to walk my journey with my family and tell everyone how brave and kind and amazing my brother is because he will never be gone in my life. He will ALWAYS be by our side!