The Truth About Ruth - Part 3

[spookyginger]

I see a very short list...but she does clarify where she got the JHawksgirl screen name at least. Apparently she's a "Jayhawk by marriage." As a KU alum I was a little bummed to think she might be an alum herself. It would have brought much shame and disgrace. This is kind of a relief.

[Curious]

On the other hand we discuss and snark about people's blogs every day on this forum and how many actually quit or give their blog a major scrubbing?

I do understand why an innocent person would set their blog to private, especially since there are children involved.

I guess when I said that, I was thinking of myself. I don't have pictures of my kids (other than my 4 legged ones) all over my facebook, even though it's friends only. In fact, I'm not even sure you would know I have kids reading my facebook.

I don't post a lot of personal stuff on FB, because it's....personal. I figure the people that need to know personal stuff already know it. I don't need to plaster it all over the internet.

I will admit that the times I have been suddenly hospitalized I have had my husband post a message on my facebook or in other venue's to let them know, but I'm online A LOT and my sudden disappearance can make people worry (since they know I'm disabled). Posting a short message keeps people from individually, asking and making a lot of extra work for my husband in trying to answer. It might be silly, but I don't want people to worry unnecessarily and no one responding would do that.

However, he doesn't go on forums I belong to and post or even my facebook and post "up to the minute" updates. It's more of a "Curious is currently in the hospital for tests or xxx if we know why. She didn't want anyone to worry about her sudden absence. She will be home in a few days and will let everyone know when she's back."

Then when I get out, I post a "I'm home" type message and that's the extent of it. I'm happy to have people that worry about me and I don't want to cause them unnecessary worry if I suddenly fall off the face of the planet.

[RealityTVRN]

Pneumonia is probably the number 2 killer on ICUs. (Sepsis is first, but they often are tied together). Some of these people were healthy, as a previous poster said. When H1N1 first showed up here in the US, the pneumonia associated with it was killing pregnant women.

But it doesn't kill you the way The Possum claims it does. The progression just isn't right. Same way with SLE. You can certainly have the co-morbid conditions with it and complications, but not quite in the way she claims them. I know no one has any reason to believe I am a medical professional, and I'm totally good with that...but most of you probably have a medical professional in your life. If you have ANY doubt that Possum is a lying piece of shit, have one of them read her detailed accounts. I am not going to post specifics about where she went wrong, because I don't want to help her in her next scheme. The most obvious is this supposed "sunburn" she got under her clothes because of lupus. Try telling a person who really has lupus that the lesions they get from their photosensitivity is a "sunburn". And that they can go to the pool with no covering and get in the water and not have a problem. It's ridiculous.

[Mama Mia]

I guess when I said that, I was thinking of myself. I don't have pictures of my kids (other than my 4 legged ones) all over my facebook, even though it's friends only. In fact, I'm not even sure you would know I have kids reading my facebook.

I don't post a lot of personal stuff on FB, because it's....personal. I figure the people that need to know personal stuff already know it. I don't need to plaster it all over the internet.

I will admit that the times I have been suddenly hospitalized I have had my husband post a message on my facebook or in other venue's to let them know, but I'm online A LOT and my sudden disappearance can make people worry (since they know I'm disabled). Posting a short message keeps people from individually, asking and making a lot of extra work for my husband in trying to answer. It might be silly, but I don't want people to worry unnecessarily and no one responding would do that.

However, he doesn't go on forums I belong to and post or even my facebook and post "up to the minute" updates. It's more of a "Curious is currently in the hospital for tests or xxx if we know why. She didn't want anyone to worry about her sudden absence. She will be home in a few days and will let everyone know when she's back."

Then when I get out, I post a "I'm home" type message and that's the extent of it. I'm happy to have people that worry about me and I don't want to cause them unnecessary worry if I suddenly fall off the face of the planet.

There is such a huge variation in what people post online. I'll post pics of my kids and grand kids, Talk to friends and family and post funny things I find. But I don't generally talk about problems. I stopped when I realized that I was only doing status updates when someone was sick or in an accident or something else upsetting was going on. It wasn't that life was all negative all the time, but I noticed I wouldn't change my status unless there was something going on, and that tended to be something negative. I'm also a very private person so I'm not going to talk about personal drama or feelings.

I do know a lot of people who post the most minute details of their daily life, and others who get into full on drama flame wars.

Blogs are just an odd concept to me. Unless they are on a particular topic, it just seems like an awful lot of personal information to put out to the world. To me it would be like a sibling finding the diary I hid under my bed and reading it out loud at the dinner table :shock: everyone has mean or weak moments, but why would you want them all recorded forever and broadcast to the world?

[MerryHappy]

Merryhappy, isn't it a small enough group that you and the x's would know who she is, were she real? Given my cultish background, it's amazing what a small world it is. I don't participate much with the x's forums bc there's just so much bitterness and hurt, and while I understand, I can't live in that without being miserable. My point though is when I have participated a little, it's amazing how connected everyone is. You know this family or of that family and what not.

Edited to fix a typo

Edited again to fix another. Typing on phones sucks

I could tell my story and no one would know who I am, if I were careful to keep identifying details out of the story. I think Ruth has the attention of the X-er community because she claims to be a pilot family kid and there have been no notices of any PF fathers passing away recent. However, that means that someone needs to check with all 102 (I think) families. That info might make it into a newsletter and it might not. I don't find that to be conclusive, given how the family is choosing to cope with a death. I know my conspiracy theory parents would rather cut off a limb than allow an obit but that is because they are batshit crazy.

Ruth, if you are reading this- My family knows the pilot families-you are welcome to out yourself privately to me and I will vouch for you. Just an offer.

I find myself wanting something a bit more concrete as far as proof that she is a scammer before I am willing to throw one of "my own" under the bus. I can understand the concern and will definitely file the information away for the future but as of this moment, I don't see enough to make me turn my back on her.

[formergothardite]

Doesn't she also claim that her dad works for ATI and is fairly high up in it? Wouldn't SOMEBODY know something about an ATI employee who died suddenly?

[MerryHappy]

Doesn't she also claim that her dad works for ATI and is fairly high up in it? Wouldn't SOMEBODY know something about an ATI employee who died suddenly?

Fair question.

[formergothardite]

A longtime ATI employee who died suddenly, who had a daughter who escaped after breaking off a courtship(wasn't that like 10 years ago), who has a sister who got pregnant at a conference, left, gave her kid up for adoption to a lesbian couple, then came back to ATI and married another ATI person should be fairly easy to confirm if she is telling even a semblance of truth.

[MerryHappy]

A longtime ATI employee who died suddenly, who had a daughter who escaped after breaking off a courtship(wasn't that like 10 years ago), who has a sister who got pregnant at a conference, left, gave her kid up for adoption to a lesbian couple, then came back to ATI and married another ATI person should be fairly easy to confirm if she is telling even a semblance of truth.

One would think but in a community where public perception is everything, why would one advertise their child's sin as it would be seen as the result of parental failure?

Finding a pilot family father who has died recently might be doable for folks who still have connections with people in ATIA who would know.

As for the rest of it, I don't know how much her parents disclosed to other ATIA people, thus how many people would know who Ruth was based on those points.

edit: a word that I left off the first time around. :lol:

[Mama Mia]

A longtime ATI employee who died suddenly, who had a daughter who escaped after breaking off a courtship(wasn't that like 10 years ago), who has a sister who got pregnant at a conference, left, gave her kid up for adoption to a lesbian couple, then came back to ATI and married another ATI person should be fairly easy to confirm if she is telling even a semblance of truth.

Would her family be telling people that their daughter went off and had a baby? I would think they would keep that a secret, and if anyone noticed her disappearance would just say she was off helping an elderly relative, or helping with a siblings new baby, or on a mission trip or something. If someone even noticed, I would think it would be easy enough to just say she was sick or running errands or something if someone asked where she was.

Back when they sent girls away to have babies to be put up for adoption they didn't broadcast that was what was happening.

[Coconut Flan]

The most obvious is this supposed "sunburn" she got under her clothes because of lupus. Try telling a person who really has lupus that the lesions they get from their photosensitivity is a "sunburn". And that they can go to the pool with no covering and get in the water and not have a problem. It's ridiculous.

Absolutely true and factual. I speak from plenty of first hand experience also.

[formergothardite]

I guess they could keep the pregnant daughter disappearing for a long time a secret, but they would have a harder time keeping a daughter who ran away a long time ago a secret. They would not, however, keep the sister's wedding a secret. So it would be a pilot family where the dad worked high up in ATI for years, had a daughter who ran away however long ago Ruth was supposed to run away, had a daughter who recently just go married and the dad died a couple months ago. Surely someone with some ATI connections could confirm that there is a family like that.

[Ex 2x2]

I could tell my story and no one would know who I am, if I were careful to keep identifying details out of the story. I think Ruth has the attention of the X-er community because she claims to be a pilot family kid and there have been no notices of any PF fathers passing away recent. However, that means that someone needs to check with all 102 (I think) families. That info might make it into a newsletter and it might not. I don't find that to be conclusive, given how the family is choosing to cope with a death. I know my conspiracy theory parents would rather cut off a limb than allow an obit but that is because they are batshit crazy.

Ruth, if you are reading this- My family knows the pilot families-you are welcome to out yourself privately to me and I will vouch for you. Just an offer.

I find myself wanting something a bit more concrete as far as proof that she is a scammer before I am willing to throw one of "my own" under the bus. I can understand the concern and will definitely file the information away for the future but as of this moment, I don't see enough to make me turn my back on her.

Thanks for answering. I'm glad she's on the radar of the x's. If you feel comfortable with it, let us know if things change in terms of how the x's are viewing her. Do you have any idea how the people who are still in view her?

[thoughtful]

I assume the "Evie" articles have an author. Perhaps someone could email the author who did the original research? They probably could not verify out of confidentiality reasons, but they could say no if it wasn't the same person.

The "Evie" article is from ABC News, and mostly uses that story as a lead-in to talking about Internet scams, etc. The "Evie" story comes from something the author actually experienced, and, from what she said, I'm not sure the members of the online group involved ever found out their scammer's real name.

Here it is:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... and-decep/

[spookyginger]

From reading the comments on the truth about ruth blog, it seems that there were some people who spotted some connections between the Evie thing and Our Lady of Many Identities. I'm very curious to see what Odds will post next. Of course, there may be no connection at all...but it would be interesting if there were!

[MerryHappy]

Thanks for answering. I'm glad she's on the radar of the x's. If you feel comfortable with it, let us know if things change in terms of how the x's are viewing her. Do you have any idea how the people who are still in view her?

The folks that I am familiar with are just watching from a distance right now. Some think she is full o' crap for various reasons , some (like me) are just waiting it out to see what the end result is.

I don't have much, if any, contact with folks still in ATIA. I find it too stressful to deal with the madness.

[Rueinthesky]

I'm a former ATI member connected with former ATI members and the ones I know are either doubting or "don't know and don't want to throw a real ATI ex-er under the bus if she's telling the truth."

One common theme seems to be that they say they feel "something is off." And most of the conversations I've had about her took place in the last year or so, not recently.

I think she could know someone in ATI or have been in ATI but I don't think that her blog as presented is even 50% true.

I have read about countless experiences from former members (a lot of them terribly horrifying and sad and crazy) and RR's is the only one that didn't ring true to me.

Edit: I also have a hard time believing that someone wouldn't have figured out who she was if she was part of the original 102 families. Not one person I've talked to had a clue who she could possibly be.

[nelliebelle1197]

Are those families listed anywhere?

[Ex 2x2]

So odds, no pressure, but hurry!!!!! ;D I'm on pins and needles waiting for your next post! :lol:

[Patsy]

Absolutely true and factual. I speak from plenty of first hand experience also.

Yep, backing up the "sunburn"-looking reaction on unexposed sections of skin here too.

[RealityTVRN]

Yep, backing up the "sunburn"-looking reaction on unexposed sections of skin here too.

I'm not saying people who have lupus can't burn (including under clothes)Or that all people with lupus have photosensitivity. SLE lesions are mostly circular raised bumps that look like hives or awful ringworm. The classic butterfly rash doesnt look much like a sunburn to me either. No one has to take my word for it. Googlehas plenty of images under "lupus lesions".

[Ex 2x2]

This is kinda off topic and kinda on topic. I have a couple questions about Lupus.

I've always heard that it's super hard to diagnose, but recently, I was tested for it. It was a blood test. So how can it be hard to diagnose? I'm not clear though on one thing...would the blood test have shown that I definitely had or didn't have lupus, or just show that there were markers for it?

Another question...years ago, I thought I remembered hearing that some people didn't believe Lupus was a real thing, or that it was all in a person's head. Am I wrong about that? B/c what I read about it while waiting for the test results indicated nothing of the sort. Maybe I have it confused with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Isn't that one that some people don't believe is real? I've never watched House...is this why the dr said, "It's never Lupus?" Because he thinks it's not real?

The good news is my test results were normal. Still have to figure out what is causing my symptoms, but I'm very relieved that it's not Lupus!

[DarkAnts]

I'm not saying people who have lupus can't burn (including under clothes)Or that all people with lupus have photosensitivity. SLE lesions are mostly circular raised bumps that look like hives or awful ringworm. The classic butterfly rash doesnt look much like a sunburn to me either. No one has to take my word for it. Googlehas plenty of images under "lupus lesions".

My grandmother had lupus and she would get the hive and rash look instead of a sunburn look. She could sunburn in addition to this reaction.

My sister and I are both photosensitive/ allergic to the sun. We burn easy and do break out in hives and get a rash from the sun. We have both tested negative for lupus.

[Coconut Flan]

My apologies. I believe my response was unintentionally a master work of ambiguity. I was actually agreeing with RealityTVRN. The lupus rash from sun exposure is indeed usually plaques and ugly ones at that plus they can leave scars. Lupus rashes do come in various forms and not all are exactly like the textbook pictures, but being much like a sunburn isn't really what I was aiming for or is likely. It is possible for a lupus patient to get both a sunburn and a lupus rash at the same time and that is indeed a hellish experience. A friend of mine did that and was horribly sick from it. I've so far known only one lupus patient who once they made themselves seriously sick from sun exposure who was cavalier about it again. That one I pronounced a total dingbat. She went water skiing without sun protection a month after getting off a round of Cytoxan.

The skin can burn and itch from UV exposure long before any rash or visible burn presents also.

ETA: Lupus is indeed frequently hard to diagnose. It can take many people years and on average eight doctors to get a diagnosis. It isn't one blood test that says yes or no either. It is possible to have negative blood tests and still have lupus. It's less likely but possible. There are maybe 10 or 11 diagnostic criteria and if a person has four or more then the diagnosis of lupus is probable. Early lupus is frequently vague and gets kind of ignored as someone being too histrionic.

You could be thinking of fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome either one as neither one has definitive lab findings (yet) so many doctors dismiss them.

I'm very happy for you that you probably don't have lupus. :) What they probably did was run an ANA (Antinuclear Antibody Titer). It isn't definitive as many other autoimmune disorders cause a positive ANA as does old age. However, a person with a titer below 1:80 is unlikely to have lupus. See above where it is possible to have seronegative lupus. The higher the titer the more likely the person has lupus. If the titer is 1:80 or higher then further testing with a complete lupus panel is normally in order to further define if it's indeed lupus or another autoimmune disease.

[Ex 2x2]

Thank you Abigail! I think maybe it was Fibromyalgia that I was confusing Lupus with!