Lorenzo's Oil
You know how there are just some movies that really strike you for some reason? Well, I haven't seen Lorenzo's Oil since I was like 10 maybe, but I still remember it in great detail. I was just reading some news here when I came across this article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7435137.stm
Point 1: Stem cell research is amazing.
Point 2: I just barely noticed in the article the bit about Lorenzo having passed away last week, the day after his 30th birthday, and it surprised me. Crazy to think of him living out there in a world so different from my own. But it would appear that the happy ending portrayed by Susan Sarandon in 1992 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104756/) was not exactly what came to pass.
Lorenzo's mother, Michaela Odone, devoted her whole life to him but fell to cancer in 2000. And Lorenzo himself lived a physically and mentally impaired life, although he was surrounded by love and support in both his mother and father, Augusto. The oil was merely a treatment to stop the progression of the disease, so while it only stopped Lorenzo from getting worse, it did greatly help many young boys who were newly diagnosed with the disease (adrenoleukodystrophy or ALD). (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/06/03/do0303.xml) And now with stem cells, there seems to be an actual cure to this and other nervous leukodystrophy disorders (even multiple sclerosis, MS) on the horizon.
It kind of makes me wonder what my old Catholic grade school would think. I know the Church's position on stem cells, but then aren't we all supposed to help each other? Wasn't that the message we got? And didn't we spend hours and hours every year doing fundraisers for the MS society? How are stem cells bad again?
Anyway, despite Hollywood having distorted the image surrounding Lorenzo's Oil (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/health/14essa.html), I think the message to value life and love strongly are there in the film. I think the Church should start focusing on helping the living live, but that's just my thoughts for tonight.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7435137.stm
Point 1: Stem cell research is amazing.
Point 2: I just barely noticed in the article the bit about Lorenzo having passed away last week, the day after his 30th birthday, and it surprised me. Crazy to think of him living out there in a world so different from my own. But it would appear that the happy ending portrayed by Susan Sarandon in 1992 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104756/) was not exactly what came to pass.
Lorenzo's mother, Michaela Odone, devoted her whole life to him but fell to cancer in 2000. And Lorenzo himself lived a physically and mentally impaired life, although he was surrounded by love and support in both his mother and father, Augusto. The oil was merely a treatment to stop the progression of the disease, so while it only stopped Lorenzo from getting worse, it did greatly help many young boys who were newly diagnosed with the disease (adrenoleukodystrophy or ALD). (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/06/03/do0303.xml) And now with stem cells, there seems to be an actual cure to this and other nervous leukodystrophy disorders (even multiple sclerosis, MS) on the horizon.
It kind of makes me wonder what my old Catholic grade school would think. I know the Church's position on stem cells, but then aren't we all supposed to help each other? Wasn't that the message we got? And didn't we spend hours and hours every year doing fundraisers for the MS society? How are stem cells bad again?
Anyway, despite Hollywood having distorted the image surrounding Lorenzo's Oil (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/health/14essa.html), I think the message to value life and love strongly are there in the film. I think the Church should start focusing on helping the living live, but that's just my thoughts for tonight.