23-year-old Cancer Patient Cryopreserved after a Successful Fundraising Campaign - Polidicks

[QUOTE]by Shannon Vyff January 19, 2013 [IMG]http://www.kurzweilai.net/images/kim_suozzi.jpg[/IMG] [I]Kim Suozzi before her diagnosis[/I] Kim Suozzi, diagnosed at age 21 with brain cancer while studying neuroscience at college, passed away Thursday, January 17, 2013 at age 23. The Society for Venturism, a cryonics advocacy and support group, started a charity fund for her cryonic suspension in August of 2012 and through an overwhelming amount of support from the extreme life extension community, enough funds were raised for her to be cryopreserved with Alcor. She had a successful standby and suspension and now is in stasis at Alcor Life Extension Foundation. Alcor CEO Max More announced today that Alcor will be publishing a brief summary of her suspension and details about her memorial in the next few days on the Alcor blog. The Society for Venturism is thankful to have helped fulfill her last wish to be cryopreserved in the hopes that she will be able to finish her life someday. Kim knew about the next charity recipient that the Society for Venturism is taking on for 2013, a man struggling with ALS, Aaron Winborn. She wrote to him on Dec. 13, 2012 saying that she wanted to help promote his charity, and also hoped that people who supported her would support his case. She was hopeful that the Society for Venturism would be successful in gathering donations for further charity cases in the future. She apologized to him for not helping more, explaining that her condition had deteriorated. He responded to her; “My condition as well is beginning to worsen; my breathing has declined considerably, and my FVC has reached 25%, far below the threshold of 35%, when respiratory failure is imminent and can happen at any time. My only option at this point is to opt for invasive mechanical ventilation, which may give me a 50% chance of surviving a year.” Sadly, Kim’s health kept her from being able to help Aaron as much as she wanted, and also his own health has kept him from being as active as he would like. Here is a link to Aaron’s story that he submitted to the Society for Venturism in November 2012: [url]http://www.venturist.info/aaron-winborn-charity.html[/url] It includes a button where you can donate if you are able. Every amount helps as this is the very beginning of the cryonics charity campaign for Aaron and it is not known how much time he has, as his condition has deteriorated more rapidly than expected since November. Kim was very thankful for all the support she received. The Society for Venturism has started collecting funds for him and is working with him to have the funds ready for the cryonics organization he contracts with. Kurzweil AI’s readership was instrumental in helping Kim be cryopreserved and hopefully many will again choose to help with Aaron’s case. All funds collected go to the cryonics organization that the recipient has contracted with, and not to the individual directly. Leftover funds, if there are any after a recipient is preserved, will go to help a future charity recipient. Shannon Vyff is Society for Venturism Director, Alcor and Cryonics Institute Member, and LongeCity/ImmInst Director[/QUOTE] [URL=http://www.kurzweilai.net/kim-suozzi-cryopreserved-january-17-at-alcor]Source[/URL] Pre-cryopreservation article for context: [QUOTE] by Lauren O'Neil Posted: September 5, 2012 6:12 PM Last Updated: September 5, 2012 6:35 PM When 23-year-old Kim Suozzi learned that she was dying from brain cancer, she turned to the online message boards of Reddit.com for advice on what to do in her final months. Of the more than 4,000 suggestions that rolled in, one stood out above the others: Don't die at all; instead be cryogenically preserved. As this YouTube video and follow-up Reddit post show, Suozzi has decided to pursue the idea - with a little bit of help from her internet friends. "I'm back on Reddit again, mostly to ask for help because I want to be cryogenically preserved upon my death," she wrote on Reddit on Aug. 17. "I know this is a big thing to ask for, and I'm sure many people are doubtful that preservation is plausible with cryonics. I'm far from convinced, but I would rather take the chance with preservation than rot in the ground or get cremated." [MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW3peOK1X9E&feature=player_embedded[/MEDIA] Suozzi explained that the procedure offered by Michigan's Cryonics Institute costs between $30,000-35,000, with transportation to the facility included - a fee that neither she, nor her family can afford. "A lot of people on Reddit wanted to start a fundraiser for me awhile ago to aid in doing fun things before I die," she wrote. "I am hoping that Redditors will still have some interest in helping me even if it's not going towards vacation or skydiving ... Cryopreservation is sincerely what will bring me the most peace in death." Some commenters say that Suozzi, who has a highly aggressive form of brain cancer with recurring tumors called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), should seek better treatment to recover from her (incurable) illness. Others say she should just accept her condition and the outcome. Many more have come to her defence. As difficult as the fallout of her new Reddit fame has been (Suozzi says her Christian parents were very resistant to the idea), the controversy helped her catch the attention of a group called Society for Venturism, which set up a fund on her behalf. "Kim is hoping the cryonics community and others will enthusiastically support the Venturist Charity Fund, as it has successfully helped two other people get cryonics arrangements in the past," reads the donation page. "It is set up to help those who are unable to get life insurance, the normal source of funds for cryonics, and have had a desire to be cryonically preserved." As of this Aug. 31 blog post, $27,000 had already been raised. [/QUOTE] [URL=http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/09/terminally-ill-woman-seeks-help-to-get-cryogenically-frozen.html]Source[/URL] The original reddit thread: [url]http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/uvaqe/today_is_my_23rd_birthday_and_probably_my_last/[/url] Her [URL="http://wiki.transhumani.com/index.php?title=Cryonics#Kim_Suozzi"]entry[/URL] in the cryopatient list. Initially she planned to go with the Cryonics Instutute, which is like $35,000 dollars; but amazingly she raised enough money to be neuropreserved at Alcor. I have doubts about the feasiblity, but hell, this is a lot better than the suggestions of most of the r/atheists to cure her tumor with woo or give up.

Is cryo-sleep already possible? Would definitely want to go thru cryo sleep and wake up when spaceships are a normal thing.

[QUOTE=Kinky Frog;39306278]Is cryo-sleep already possible? Would definitely want to go thru cryo sleep and wake up when spaceships are a normal thing.[/QUOTE] No, it's not currently possible. The most advanced technique in Cryonics right now is Vitrification, in which a human body is immersed in preservatives and kept very cold. This greatly reduces cell damage.

[QUOTE=Kinky Frog;39306278]Is cryo-sleep already possible? Would definitely want to go thru cryo sleep and wake up when spaceships are a normal thing.[/QUOTE] No, you choose which organization [URL="http://wiki.transhumani.com/index.php?title=Cryonics#Alcor_Criticism"]less[/URL] [URL="http://wiki.transhumani.com/index.php?title=Cryonics#CI_Criticism"]shady[/URL] to you and they pump you full of a kind of antifreeze.

ok well ill just cryofreeze until the technology is available to cryofreeze obviously

I find it kind of sad. I know I can't really judge a dying person, but it seems like maybe she didn't come to realize her mortality. Maybe it's not bad if she got some comfort out of it. :(

[quote]Kim Suozzi, diagnosed at age 21 with brain cancer while studying neuroscience at college[/quote] Damn, what a morbid coincidence.

Signing up for cryonics is one of the things I want to do eventually but with today's technology I just don't see the point. Maybe that fancy new plastination technique might work. [editline]21st January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=GustavTrapp;39306524]I find it kind of sad. I know I can't really judge a dying person, but it seems like maybe she didn't come to realize her mortality. Maybe it's not bad if she got some comfort out of it. :([/QUOTE] She realized her own mortality and fought against it. Death is not a good thing.

[QUOTE=DainBramageStudios;39306616]Signing up for cryonics is one of the things I want to do eventually but with today's technology I just don't see the point. Maybe that fancy new plastination technique might work. [editline]21st January 2013[/editline] She realized her own mortality and fought against it. Death is not a good thing.[/QUOTE] I've actually heard plastination is worse than cryonics in some ways. Can't recall any specific arguments, but there's a shitton of Cryo v. Chemopreservation threads on New Cryonet that a extremely informative. Personally I'm less concerned with the technology and more concerned with the organizations.

[QUOTE=GustavTrapp;39306524]I find it kind of sad. I know I can't really judge a dying person, but it seems like maybe she didn't come to realize her mortality. Maybe it's not bad if she got some comfort out of it. :([/QUOTE] -snip that part was retarded and I missed a bit of the article- Why not freeze yourself man. If she's been told she'll die of cancer then why the fuck [i]not[/i] get frozen?

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LpbEr0E5hE&t=1m51s[/media] 1:51

I feel so sorry for her life to have been cut short as it was but am very hopeful in the distant future she will awaken, a little confused, really drowsy with a headache that wont quite. But when those subside she will be in a awesome looking world where things are so vastly different that anyone of us would give almost anything for a chance to see a world like that even only if for a few moments at the end of our days. BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY Kim Suozzi!

[QUOTE=Eudoxia;39306646]I've actually heard plastination is worse than cryonics in some ways. Can't recall any specific arguments, but there's a shitton of Cryo v. Chemopreservation threads on New Cryonet that a extremely informative. Personally I'm less concerned with the technology and more concerned with the organizations.[/QUOTE] I haven't studied it much, my views come from [url=http://www.gwern.net/plastination]this[/url] and a few of Hanson's blog posts from a while ago, but I've been out of the loop for a few months.

Wow i'm breathless. some things in this world is just unfair. i hope she will make it through the cryonics and gets to experience life like us 1 day. Guys remember to appreciate life and what you got everyday!

The initial cryo part is possible, but we still haven't figured out a way to actually unfreeze people without damaging/killing them yet.

There's an old quote from [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Darwin"]Mike Darwin[/URL] that I think really fits here: "[...] I wish you the very best and it is my most fervent desire that we meet again, hopefully in a time and place where we can laugh and reminisce about the dark ages from which we were so lucky to have made our escape from..."

I'm seriously doubting she will be revived. If she is, she will be a vegetable.

[QUOTE=tinhead50;39306711]The initial cryo part is possible, but we still haven't figured out a way to actually unfreeze people without damaging/killing them yet.[/QUOTE] One proposed method is just to scan the brains of the patients and then emulate them on a computer. (though this has immense technical problems of its own)

Maybe by the time she is revived, they'll have found a way to wake people from cyrosleep. Imagine waking up like 50 years later. Everything will be so different by then.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39306734]I'm seriously doubting she will be revived. If she is, she will be a vegetable.[/QUOTE] That depends on how much information was preserved, and vitrification does a pretty good job of preserving the really small structural details. Right now she's a glass sculpture of who she was a few biological minutes after she died, with very little decomposition in the middle, if everything went according to plan (The report should be out in a couple of weeks). EDIT: And what DrainBramage said, about [URL="http://wiki.transhumani.com/index.php?title=Whole_Brain_Emulation"]whole brain emulation[/URL].

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39306734]I'm seriously doubting she will be revived. If she is, she will be a vegetable.[/QUOTE] Why would she be a vegetable? You're assuming that when she is revived that we will still have the same technology we do today.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39306734]I'm seriously doubting she will be revived. If she is, she will be a vegetable.[/QUOTE] Hoping is better than just dying, to many people.

It would be great if she could be revived later, though I've never heard of such a thing yet.

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;39306790]Why would she be a vegetable? You're assuming that when she is revived that we will still have the same technology we do today.[/QUOTE] I'm assuming that her brain will suffer a lot of damage due to freezing that might not be possible to repair.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39306734]I'm seriously doubting she will be revived. If she is, she will be a vegetable.[/QUOTE] I agree with you for the most part. The cells would be so damaged that it would be incredibly difficult to repair them. What I could see happening though is a model of her brain being reconstructed from a scan of her brain. The model could either be implemented biologically or simulated in a computer. Of course, it wont be an extension of her conscious life.

[QUOTE=tonynegs;39306663]I feel so sorry for her life to have been cut short as it was but am very hopeful in the distant future she will awaken, a little confused, really drowsy with a headache that wont quite. But when those subside she will be in a awesome looking world where things are so vastly different that anyone of us would give almost anything for a chance to see a world like that even only if for a few moments at the end of our days. BEST OF LUCK ON YOUR JOURNEY Kim Suozzi![/QUOTE] Or she'll wake up in the great garbage avalanche of 2505 and destroy someone's house while he's trying to watch Ow My Balls!

I want to take a break from life. Get off the ride if only for a week or so. If I could and if it was completely safe, I'd definitely "take a break" and freeze myself.

[QUOTE=Eudoxia;39306646]I've actually heard plastination is worse than cryonics in some ways. Can't recall any specific arguments, but there's a shitton of Cryo v. Chemopreservation threads on New Cryonet that a extremely informative. Personally I'm less concerned with the technology and more concerned with the organizations.[/QUOTE] Isn't plastination the technique Gunther Von Hagens developed and uses in his Body Worlds exhibit? Basically they dehydrate the body and then impregnate it with plastic solvents? Essentially turning you into a giant hunk of acrylic? aka I don't see how you could come back from that.

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;39306849]I'm assuming that her brain will suffer a lot of damage due to freezing that might not be possible to repair.[/QUOTE] It's not typical freezing though, if it was that simple we would never bury or cremate anyone, they would be slapped on ice in seconds. You've gotta flood the body and as many cells as possible with compounds that prohibit the formation of ice crystals, and we aren't too sure about how we would go about reviving them exactly, as far as memory serves at least.

[QUOTE=OvB;39306900]Isn't plastination the technique Gunther Von Hagens developed and uses in his Body Worlds exhibit? Basically they dehydrate the body and then impregnate it with plastic solvents? Essentially turning you into a giant hunk of acrylic? aka I don't see how you could come back from that.[/QUOTE] It has been used to preserve ultrastructure quite well.