Dad's surgery and three weeks off work

My father has driven long-haul for twenty-six years and has never once missed a shift for anything. Next month he has a spinal fusion he can't put off any longer. The surgeon says three weeks minimum before he can hold a steering wheel. The copay is due before the operation, and three weeks without a paycheck means the rest of the bills won't wait either. My brother and I are covering what we can, but we're short. He doesn't know we started this. We'd like to tell him his friends handled it.