Medicine funding.

Webmd.com

Though....not sure how far a hole he dug himself in order for medicine to FULLY work.

Lung transplant-- that's pressing it. Ya kinda need to be sure if his bodyll accept it. A whole bunch of factors that I'm sure you'd not want to delve into.

Ideas...such much yet so little time.

Aside from donating (I will only donate to Doug or a Doug-approved source, I will not send money to Steve Martin), here is what I propose:

To raise money for any proposed treatment or healthcare, Doug should sell a digital collection of his work. I don't know if there are any images that he hasn't posted on the net, or if he has any sketchbooks, but the thought of a hoard of never-before-seen Doug artwork has me saying "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY." I know Doug is predisposed against charity, so it's a great way for him to raise money for his needs.

As to what those treatments would be, I don't know, but I could find out if nobody else has an idea. I would donate $50 straight up.

If charity is making a living off of your hard work, we're all charity cases.

Just doing the math here. Limited edition book, 1000 copies, $200 a piece, autographed. $200,000 right up front.

Minus printing costs, which you'd have to be literally gold plating the books for them to come in over $50, and you've got quite a cushion there. This is just one idea.

I'm sure if you auctioned off these books they'd go for even more.

This is just one idea. I'm pretty sure there's dozens of others that could be as good or better. I'm not saying they're necessarily easy, but I don't think it'd be difficult to find people willing to put in the time.

Whatever the number is, whatever the cost to get the treatment required, or at the very least to take the edge off of the worst of it, I'm sure there's a way to get there.

Even if it was several million, which is a staggering amount of money for one person to raise by themselves, when you have thousands of fans it's not too far-fetched. For that much you can get both lungs, your heart, and your liver replaced if you can find a match. That's basically the high-end here, and it's not even inconceivable to pay out of pocket for it. That kind of money can be raised over a weekend with the right planning and coordination.

I have no doubts that staring your own mortality in the face like that is serious business, but where there's friends, there's people that want to help.

I just hope we can.

Talk to him. That's about it. Anything else we do is pointless unless Doug wants to get medical care. We can't force him to seek treatment. All we can do is express to him how much we love him and hope that he wants to get the treatment for himself, not just to please us. It has to be something Doug wants.

What ARE his compulsions against medical treatment?

Took the words right out of my beak, Felix. Nothing more I can say other than 'listen to the mink, folks.'

This sounds like what in my house is called a "framing" issue. Paradigms.

If Doug doesn't like /gifts/ -- how about an odd sort of /loan/...? Here are the proposed terms:

-> Us furfolk will send money to Doug, for the purpose of getting himself some health help. (He determines the ultimate nature of that, so long as it's ya know reasonable. Personally I'd recommend getting insurance --if he has none-- via the ACA since I've heard that they've fixed most if not all of the issues now, except for this one TV network that just doesn't get it :P )
-> Once Doug gets better, he returns the money by means of art. As in: Doug draws pretty much what he wants to (including, but not requiring, commissions if he really wants to) and posts it in a readily accessible spot for us furfolk to come and *ahem* gawk at. (Examples of that spot would be either his account here on FA or his not-very-Sekrit Site.)
-> If Doug does not get better enough to draw, then the loan is forgiven upon his health problems being obviously too bad to be overcome. At that point the money can be used for whatever.

Fairly simple if you ask me -- and it gets around the "no handouts please" problem. I've put it in Plain English for now, but knowing Doug's sense of humor... if he wants the full legalese treatment let me know. My mother's a retired attorney and I can spout Shall's and Wheretofor's with the best of them!

Another thought.

We're a huge community. I realize that the medical profession doesn't really lend itself to furrydom, but surely there are doctors and nurses and such who also happen to be furfolk? Could we quietly gather together and form some sort of moral and medical support group for Doug, including donated or at least reduced-cost healthcare...? Assuming, as janusd points out, he's willing to accept it...

Is it possible that if we keep bombarding Doug with kindness he might change his mind?