Help please! Brother with tongue cancer

Hello!  As with most stories, mine is long- this is part venting (I'm in what I call the 'verbal diarrhea' stage of a crisis) part plea for help about what I need to do to help my brother who has advanced tongue cancer :

I am 50 years old and have not seen my mother since 1985 (she was an alcoholic, addict and drug dealer starting her spiral when I was about 2 years old).  My only brother is 15 months older than me, and he and I have had maybe a dozen points of contact over the past 25 years- he's been a raging alcoholic (and used many drugs in teens and twenties) with a temper and angry personality for the past 30 years.  He and I fought like cats and dogs our entire childhood.  I got away from the family and have created a nice little life for myself, happy to have separated from their diseases.

3-17-2016, St Patrick's Day, I got a phone call at 9:35am, just before I was leaving for work (I'm a substitute teacher).  It was my cousin- whom I haven't seen in 30 years- telling me that 1) my mother had died the previous Sunday 2) my mother had left her entire estate to my brother, and appointed him executor and 3) my brother was living in a dangerous situation suffering from untreated tongue cancer and someone needed to go get him.  Because he is the executor and sole beneficiary of our mother's will he needed to be brought home to deal with that.  My cousin assumed that he would be declared incompetent and she's listed as #2 executor, but although he's very ill, his brain is as sharp as ever.

I bought a plane ticket and flew to New Orleans the next day, Friday, and managed to have the sense to seek out a private investigator based in New Orleans who picked me up from the hotel Saturday morning and went with me to get my brother with a gun tucked under his shirt.  (my brother had sent me an email in November 2015 telling me he was living with two guys who had threatened his life, but he didn't have enough money to find another place)   He had had tongue cancer diagnosed by Lousiana State university Jan 2016 and was scheduled for surgery- his entire tongue needs to be removed, jaw reconstructed, trachea breathing hole put in and feeding port installed- but two days before the surgery the hospital told him they couldn't establish that was a legal Lousiana resident (he'd been unemployed for many years and was sharing a place so he had no electric bills in his name, no pay stubs, etc to establish that he was a Louisiana resident- my mom had apparently been sending him $1000 a month which was just enough to pay for rent, vodka and cigarettes)- so they told him the surgery would cost some exhorbitant amount, so he went home.  He's not been able to eat solid food since November 2015, and has been living on Sprite, orange juice, vodka and cigarettes for the past 6 months and has lost 80 pounds (he was fat before this started, thank goodness, so he had some reserves to pull on!)  He has had no internet, tv or phone for many many months.

So the private investigator picked me up, and we went and got my brother out of a hell hole.  he was sleeping on a bed in the kitchen, wears diapers and the roommate was doing nothign but purchase alcohol, ciggies and beverages for him.  He walks with a cane, has lost 80 pounds in 5 months and can't get up from a chair unassisted.  I took him to the ER at Tulane unversity where they checked him out- I wanted to make sure he was safe to fly home because it's a long way to drive from New Orleans to Seattle!  He refused to spend the night but stayed long enough for them to give him fluids, Tamiflu (he tested positive for tupe-a flu) and some concoction with potassium- his white blood cell count was 25,000 (normal is 12,000).  I took him back to the hotel and when I wasn't looking, he snuck to the Shell gas station on the corner anc bought 6 1/2 pints of vodka- I told him I wasn't going to fight that issue.  We flew home Monday, I got him to my doctor Tuesday who told me to take him immediately to the University of Washington ER where he was admitted.  The docs are evaluating his case, but confirm that he does need to have his tongue removed- he gained 4.5 pounds in the first 72 hours he was in the hospital.  He threatened on Wednesday to leave the hospital AMA and just wanted to return for the surgery, but I went back on Friday with all his belongings and told him if he leaves AMA I'm walking away.  He had $80 in his pocket when I picked him up and it will take 6-9  months for the probate to be settled, so he's broke until then.

The docs are not communicating with me at all.  The only reason I got any info is that I went and sat in the hallway at 8am Friday waiting for the docs to come do their rounds- they got there at 9:30- that's when I learned that the cancer/medical team meets on Wednesdays and they will evaluate his case on 3-30.  David did tell me that he thinks they are installing a food port in the next couple of days, which I take as good news and that they think he'll be able to get the surgery.  I can't keep showing up at 8am every day waiting for the docs to come by- I can take a lot of time off of work and have a flexible schedule, but it will wear me down very quickly if that's the only way I can find out information.  My brother has difficulty speaking, and can only explain so much.  I've contacted the social worker several times but haven't heard back from her- the nurse told me yesterday that my brother needs to contact the social worker himself to let her know that I should be kept in the loop, but I don't know if he's followed through on that yet- I'll check Sunday.

I am his only sibling, and the only person in the family who has the means to cover his bills (meaning my mother's bills, which he's now resposible for) until the will settles.  I have no idea how long he has to stay in the hospital, nor what kind of care he will need after he's discharged.  He can come live with me unless he needs more than a visiting nurse can do for him until he's capable of living elsewhere- either an assisted support facility or somewhere where a visiting nurse can come as needed (which I'll get when he comes to my house, too).  i've gotten him a lawyer to help with the will, and we'll try to hold off on settling things for as long as possible because right now he's eligible for free health care- when the estate settles, he'll have enough money so he won't be eligible for anything through Obamacare.

Does anyone have the energy to tell me what to expect?  Recovery time?  How long in hospital after surgery?  Will he need to be in a nursing home for a while after he's discharged or will they try to send him home with me?  Do most people  who have this use a smart phone or an i-pad to facilitate communication post-surgery?

I found a couple of nearby cancer support groups, but they meet just once a month, and of course, the first meeting I can find doesn't happen until April 5th.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help- I have never had to deal with most of these sorts of issues before and although I can line up docs and lawyers, I feel as if I'm in an information vacuum.  

Sincerely,

David's Sister.