A New Yorker is battling cancer and another life-saving disease, and his insurance company denied his request for life-saving surgery three times.

A father-of-two from the Bronx who was repeatedly denied surgery for a rare disease has now been approved for a potentially life-saving procedure. The edition told in more detail ABC7NY.

Anthony Di Laura, 35, from Troggs Neck, suffers from a rare disease called peritoneal pseudomyxoma, which affects the abdominal organs.

He was diagnosed in August 2020 - just months after he learned he and his wife, Jackie Cucullo, were having their first child.

Di Laura underwent three surgeries to remove the diseased tissue, but it turned out to be cancerous, and Anthony began a 7-month course of chemotherapy. Around the same time, Cucullo became pregnant with her second child. Neither surgery nor chemotherapy helped in the fight against the disease and cancer.

Doctors recently told Anthony that hospice might be the best option for him.

But then Cucullo heard about a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio who had recently performed the nation's first multi-organ transplant on a Minnesota man who was dying of the same disease. The procedure consisted in removing diseased abdominal organs of a man and replacing them with healthy ones.

Di Laura visited the Cleveland clinic last spring and underwent more than two dozen tests to see if he was a good fit for the same procedure. In Di Laura's case, the doctor must remove the stomach, large intestine, small intestine, and spleen, and replace them with healthy organs.

On April 21, while Di Laura was still in Ohio, the clinic informed him that the operation had been approved.

“It was a huge relief,” he said.

Shortly thereafter, Di Laura's insurance company, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, denied the procedure, calling it "exploratory."

On the subject: New York City trial of anti-cancer drug yields 'unheard of result' - complete remission in all patients

“Everything in life can be considered research,” Cucullo said.

Di Laura appealed the decision. He was rejected again and two more times thereafter, although the Cleveland Clinic surgeon wrote to Empire to express his belief that the operation was medically necessary to save Di Laura's life. Cucullo said the doctor even talked to the doctors at Empire.

Empire wrote that "Medical research does not show this surgery is safe or will improve your short or long term health. We also got a doctor's opinion outside of your health plan. This doctor treats people with your condition. He agrees that medical research does not show this surgery is safe or will improve your short or long term health."

The insurance company has released its clinical guidelines stating that "multivisceral" transplants like the one Di Laura requests are contraindicated in patients with metastatic cancer like Di Laura.

Empire stated that several surgeons considered Di Laura's request.

On the subject: From nurse-oncologist to patients: cancer in life turned out to be much worse than in theory

“External reviewers reviewed several articles in the published peer-reviewed literature, including one written by the attending surgeon. They reviewed a couple of abstracts submitted by the surgeon with this request,” the company said in a statement.

However, in a recent statement, the insurance company reversed its decision and said it would now pay for the procedure: “Together with Di Laura’s medical team, our clinical team has made the decision to have Di Laura’s surgery covered by a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. This may be the only option left that can improve Di Laura's health. We will continue to support him and his family."

Di Laura said he had stomach pains 24/7. He must be partly fed through a tube, and he has a tube coming out of his abdomen to drain the fluid that accumulates throughout the day due to illness.

Cucullo said she was told at the Cleveland clinic that if they performed the operation at their own expense, it would cost between $500 and $000 million.

The family started the campaign GoFundMeto raise money for treatment.