Remember Qia? Her player will probably die soon, if no help is coming.

[Donari Tyndale]

I hate to say that there are only two kinds of medical diagnoses we have so far, deviated septum and sinusitis. And, what worries me the worst is the following post:



Mrokii, can you please clarify on that?

[Calmus]

I am skeptical about his demands too. I find it a bit hard to believe that there is a several years wait time for such a surgery in Canada, especially if it is as vital for his life as he claims.

[Donari Tyndale]

Pierre, I find it really hurtful that you are throwing around these accusations. You really have hurt my soul. For me, I don't have too much money for myself anyway, but I always have a coin or two for the poor stinky guys in the streets.
Raven however needs quite a bit of more money, and before I'm giving him some of the money I quite dearly need myself (as I would never ever let another human being suffer, nevertheless die), I would just like some proof that he really is in the situation he claims to be, unfortunately many others on the internet scam you outright. As I said before, I don't even doubt that Raven needs help, I'm just not convinced the self diagnosed need for emergency treatment is really the best for him and his lovely daughter.

P.S.
You just gave us a talk on how not to judge others, yet judged us in the very same talk? Isn't that the first thing Jesus teaches us not to do?

[gonger]

Dear all,

This thread is in serious danger of getting out of control. So everybody, please take a deep breath, cool down, and do not let your emotions get the upper hand on your reasoning, no matter which side you are taking.
The topic is serious, and therefore should be discussed in a serious way.

Thank you,

Gonger

[Donari Tyndale]

I think we all should take a calm, deep breath, just as Gonger suggested, and not descend on the low level of insults that Pierre is on. The topic is quite serious and I believe that every single one of us wants just the best for Raven Singularity, yet we solely disagree on the exact methodology to apply to the situation at hand.
Perhaps we give Raven and Mrokii some time to come up with actual proof of the gravity of his illness, which, if his statements are really true, he will surely be able to provide, insha'allah.
If you want something to do in the meantime, perhaps we should in all honesty ponder Raven's unqiue mind and his future contributions to society? For his creative computer program to explore the depth of the human brain and allowing humans to transcend their mortality really is unique in this world, so far.

[Cairn]

Idk.

It might be a good idea to lock this thread lest opinions run rampant. Leave the donation information around so that people can donate if they want to. Those who have a vested interest will, those who wish for proof can go and find it if need be.

[Sen]

I think that is the point. Nothing wrong with questioning, but noone forces you to any 'loss' of your money.

You can decide to give the money and 'risk' that the claims are wrong, and therefore the money won't be used what you supposed it to be used for.
Or you can decide that you won't give anything to someone possibly in need until an ultimate proof, and therefore rather buy a shiny new keyboard with that money.
It's totally up to you.

But please don't capture a threat like this for the usual urge to prove one is right or plain trolling. There's enough other threads where you can do and actually do just that 

[Rigwyn]

Mroki,

It might help if there was someone coordinating the care and allocation of resources on Raven's behalf like his wife or a social worker? Perhaps people might feel more comfortable donating if that were the case.

It looks like prior to the birth of his daughter, he wasn't complaining about his ills. Becoming a father is a huge change and can introduce of a lot of issues. Some get though it fine, others have more trouble with it. Does he have the support of other guys who have been through fatherhood?

[Mrokii]

You, ath the very beginning, said that he was going to die. How is that possible from a broken nose and sinusitis? I understand very much that is can be something of great discomfort, but how is that lethal?[/li][/list]

The problem as I understand it is that due to his very long time of being sick, he is extremely powerless (not sure what term would describe it best). At times he has been afraid of suffocating, due to the thick mucous that is clogging up his nose and throat. He had told me a few times that he was afraid he could die while sleeping, as the mucous begins to build up whenever he goes to sleep, which is why he often lacks sleep. Plus, there is the infection that he can't get rid of and (as I understood it) it could eventually spread to his brain, which he has been tested for as well.

All of the "being sick" is very very vague. What symptoms does he actually have? Note that things such as fatigue etc. are probably a sign of psychological problems..

The main symptoms are the sinusitis and the severe clogging up of his throat and sinuses. This gets more severe as soon as he is exposed to dusty air and when a lot of mown grass is around, but there are many other causes he talked about.

The overall notes give the impression of a deep psychological problem, exacerbated by possible chronic sinusitis, such as: He claims to have consciously reprogrammed his brain, wants to change his name to "Raven Singularity", looks to cats for advice on parenting, claims landlord abuse, suffers from MCS etc. (Both are actually indications of a paranoid schizophrenic mind).

These are in part due to his autistic traits, I would say. And the landlord abuse aren't just claims. They could be confirmed by the mother of his child. They had also been to some kind of official agency that deals with rental problems, and the people there confirmed all of his complaints, as far as I know.

Did he consult a psychiatrist about that? It more seems like he is a hypochondriac instead of actually ill.

I can't say anything about that. To me it never sounded so.

And considering he wants to spend an insane sum on air purifiers (which are useless against "chemical" contaminations in a normal home, as the concentration of chemicals in the air is so low they can't be removed, plus the home is far from isolated, making it even more difficult to purify the air)

All I can say is that Raven had tried a cheaper air purifier before which helped a bit, but not enough to make his situation considerably better. Raven had researched the expensive air purifiers for a long time.

, perhaps seeing a psychiatrist about his mental illness might be a more appropriate way to spend all that money?

I seriously doubt that, but I am no expert. All I know is that he has talked about his degrading health for a very long time and that, according to him, he absolutely needs this surgery that should make it easier for him to unclog his sinuses, which should hopefully make the infection go away.

He claims his daughter also suffers from the same illnesses (MCS, ES). That really sounds like he is projecting his mental problems on his daughter, which is a bit worrying, not to mention that this isn't even a real diagnosis. Are there any indications whatsoever his lovely daughter is actually ill?

As far as I know (and as Raven described on the campaign, Malaika showed some similar problems of clogged up throat some time ago, so much so that they had to get her to a hospital to treat her.

And is the charge of buying air purifiers for her mothers' home actually warranted, given that they are divorced anyway?

As far as I know, yes. Despite them being separated, she seems to still regard him as a friend and would accept him putting an air purifier into their home. Raven told me about this as well.

The "regaining health" section really needs a workover before I am considering giving any money. ... not healing any underlying medical problems. That's basically the same as alternative medicine.

All I can say is that all these were things that Raven tried and which seemed to really help him, reducing the mucous a bit, and thus helping him to regain energy.

He claims he wants help to break free from poverty... That does sound a lot like he just wants money. I don't see either how a chronic sinusitis (which I have as well) prevents him from doing any paid work (even if it is from his home). From the pictures, he looks quite far from wasting away due to his "disease". Is there actually any certification from a doctor that proves he is unfit to work? If not, he really should earn some money on his own to help the funding..

The "break free from poverty" just means that he wants to be healthy enough to start working again. He *only* seeks money for his medical treatments and what he believes will help him to regain his health. As for the "doctor certification" Raven has put something on his Facebook-page and I had asked him about another confirmation. He said, he could get another one from another doctor, which (I think) confirmes his environmental sensitivities. But he has to contact him first, go there and get it. I will ask him if he can get that asap.

Lastly, what is his daughter's weight? She looks a little too heavy, perhaps that is causing some problems for her?

I don't know about that. The video contains scenes that are several months old I think, and so are most of the photos. At the moment I have no really recent information about Malaika.

He claims his "throat is swelling shut" but on his facebook page he listed his diagnosis by his sinus specialist as (...) For those who aren't into medical terms, pharynx: normal means his throat is alright. So that seems to be a paradox. And furthermore, it just says "Hey, you have a broken nose (quite broken) and a chronic sinus infection", but nothing about his condition being lethal.

The lethality (as I see it) comes from his years-/months-long chronic problems that kept his body from gaining energy (I'm sorry I can't describe it better). Raven seems to be in a very weak state, his body just doesn't seem to have enough energy to keep up fighting the infection for much longer.

Lastly: Raven has asked me if you, Donari, are reachable somehow, maybe on IRC. If so, I could give you his nick and he could talk to you directly and answer your questions.

[Mrokii]

Some more things that worry me are:
In his facebook page, he constantly claims to suffer from a new deadly illness from which he seeks relief (cystic fibrosis etc.) and shares his stories of how doctors think he's nuts. To quote his fb:

The last time I went to the Burnaby ER, the doctor decided that I had made up my condition because it sounded "too unlikely", and said he was refusing to treat me, told me to stop wasting their time, stop calling ambulances, and told me to see a psychiatrist not a medical doctor, made fun of my shaking in pain, and refused to let me consult another doctor.

Clearly, medical professionals think his sinusitis is no reason to worry and he suffers from psychological problems which make him believe to be dying.

Not quite. There was at least one other doctor, afaik, who took him seriously and who has confirmed his environmental sensitivities. As I said in my last post, I will try to get Raven to get the paper that this doctor wrote. Raven has said that he has to contact the doctor and get that from him.

[Mrokii]

I think he truly does need the surgery. (...) If I had the money and if he would only put the money toward the surgery I would donate.

The surgery is the first goal of this campaign and all the money Raven gets will put towards the surgery. The air purifiers, while important for him, will only be bought if he gets more money.

However, he seems to desperately need psychological counseling. He is not weird, he is abnormal. It is not normal to believe he can create a thinktank website and save the world. It is not normal to model your parenting on cat behavior.

I said he has some traits of autism, among other things, and he has a rather unique style of learning. He has taught all he knows to himsilf in his own way, obviously because he needs a specific style of learning. All of this doesn't make him delusional, imho.

It is not normal to repeatedly go to the ER expecting to be treated for a non-life-threatening illness/injury.

I beg to differ. It is normal to go to the ER if your throat is so clogged that you can hardly get *any* air and afraid to suffocate from mucous that clogs up your respiratory system. The last doctor,that sinus-specialist, took his problems serious and I think he was also the one who did the tests to check if the infection spread to his brain, which seems to be a real danger. But I am no expert, so I can't say if this is the case, or even likely.

You don't go to the ER because you can't "breathe well enough to sleep." You go when you can't breathe to the point you think you might literally die of asphyxiation. The ER does not exist to keep you comfortable. It exists to keep you alive.

Raven had times when he barely could get any sleep that lasted longer than only a few short hours. From that I can absolutely understand that he went to the ER because of a severe lack of sleep.

He wasn't near death. He has sleep apnea. It is not going to kill him.

That may sound rude, but that is nothing but an assumption of yours, which may or may not be true.

[Donari Tyndale]

So he is afraid of dying of sinusitis? To me, that seems rather like a psychological problem, as I was suspecting before. But alas, we'll need to wait for the doctor's notes, probably, to say more.
The issue with spreading to his brain sounds more like a fact he picked up from Wikipedia. Yes, sinusitis CAN spread to your brain. And no, it's not remotely likely if he is healthy and doesn't have AIDS. So again, this seems more like being a hypochondriac.

If Raven wants to reach me, he can try querying me on IRC, I'm on freenode as Donari in the evening CEST.

[Mrokii]

Some would argue that saying "unless you donate money, he will die" is a form of emotional blackmail.

I'm sorry if you see it this way. I won't accuse anybody of not helping out if they don't want or can't. It's their own decision. All I can do is presenting his case as I see it, according to what I know about it.

[Mrokii]

I know people that are really dying. Not one of them would ask for colloidal silver. The problem here is I do not see proof of medical diagnosis, not in an obvious or implied manner. I do not seek to offend however, I would say try again, but stick to the medical points that have been verified and confirmed by doctors.

The colloidal silver was more like a treatment Raven had tried out, but in the end, if he gets the surgery, it might not even be necessary anymore. The colloidal silver was mostly used to treat the infection and actually helped him somewhat, as it seems.

[Mrokii]

Just wondering (and not questioning anyone) why surgery is not covered under the Candian Health Care System.

I *think* the public health care would pay, but that would involve a very long waiting time. Raven believes that he doesn't have that time, due to his long term illness, which has made him weaker and weaker. At the moment he's often too weak to even get out of bed and stays inside for long hours or even days.