My brother, Merle, was recently diagnosed with a bad heart valve. During a scan to prepare for surgery to address the valve, they discovered he has a cancerous tumor on his pancreas. Please read his story below. Any donations would be appreciated. While it's unknown exactly how long he will be out of work due to heart surgery, recovery, and then surgery to remove the tumor and recover from that, it will likely be at least 12 to 16 weeks. Any donations will help with uncovered medical expenses and other expenses incurred during treatment.

He will have open heart surgery on July 24th to place a mechanical heart valve. He'll have surgery to address the malignancy once he is sufficiently recovered from his heart surgery, likely a few weeks after.

"A year ago I was diagnosed with a bad aortic heart valve that would eventually have to be replaced or repaired. During a scan to measure the valve, and check the arteries, they found a mass on the tail of my pancreas.

I had a PET scan, and was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine malignancy."