Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. – Isaiah 40:30-31
Hi everybody!
Ladies and Gentlemen; boys and girls; it’s ME! Yes, ME, the incredible Loren.
How do ya like that for an introduction? That’s what I do when I get on stage. I know, I am not on stage, but I like to say it anyway.
Well, here we are. I last rote to ya on July 8. Wow! It’s only been one and a half months cents I told ya what’s goin’ on.
Uh oh. Ya don’t think that means Daddy’s sick do ya? I mean, sumthing must be wrong if Daddy’s updating my blog this fast.
Ah, who cares. I’m just happy Daddy is doin’ this now. I am sure if Daddy is sick, he will take care of it – after he get the update dun.
Let’s see. What’s been happenin’.
Well, Mommy, Daddy and Trisha took a trip to sumplace called Memphis. I must have a speshul Mommy and Daddy ‘cause they went to sum king’s house. Trisha got to go too. I never heard of this guy, I think his name is Elvis, but they got to go. I don’t understand, though. They said they were in Memphis, but the guy was king of Rockin Roll. Is that sumwhere near Memphis.
Mommy, Daddy and Trisha also went to a place called the National Civil Rights Museum. Daddy said it was really neat. See, they took this place called the Loraine Motel and made it into a museum. Sumbody famus named Martin Luther King got killed there.
Mommy went by herself to a fire fighter’s museum. Trisha and Daddy went and played Putt-Putt when Mommy was at the museum. When Mommy got back to the room, she showed ‘em the fire fighter shirt she bot me. See I couldn’t go ‘cause I was in Shreveport, so she got me a present. Cents Daddy and Trisha didn’t come with her, they didn’t get a present. Guess that’ll teach ‘em. The shirt is grate!
Mommy, Daddy and Trisha then went to a place called Vicksburg. They went thru this old courthouse that is now a museum. They said it was really cool. They bot sum stuff there for friends and Papa Jim. Daddy got sum hospital bullets. Now I don’t know why they call ‘em that. I mean, why would you want to shoot at a hospital. I spent a lot of time in the hospital and, believe me, they aren’t any fun, but I didn’t ever want to kill it.
Daddy says hospital bullets got their name from when dokters had to cut peeple’s legs off. Cents they didn’t have any of the stuff I get when I have an operashun, they gave the peeple’s a bullet. Then, when the leg was cut off, the people wud bite the bullet ‘cause it hurt so bad.
Ok, so that’s what happened to Mommy, Daddy and Trisha. I, on the other hand, got stuck in Shreveport. I missed Mommy and Daddy – ok, Trisha too – but I had Memaw, Pawpaw, Maria, George and everyperson else to keep me playin’. It wazn’t too bad.
August wazn’t that bad of a month. Daddy had a birthday and he, Mommy and Patrick went to a place called New Orleans a cuple of days. Say, do ya think they’re tryin’ to tell me sumthin’? I just been tryin’ to make things go smoothly, but we ran into a problem.
See, when Mommy, Daddy and Trisha got back from their trip, Daddy saw a bump in the floor. Well, now there are a bunch of bumps and even a cuple of places that are big as mountains! Everyperson who has looked at it thinks sumthin’ is leakin’, but we haven’t found out why there is a problem. I think we will have to move out of the house a cuple of weeks while they fix the house.
One bad thing happened this summer. I started taking swim lessons and the next thing I know, I am afraid of swimmin’. It’s the funniest thing…well, not so funny…but when I get in the water, I get real scared and won’t let go of whoever is holding me.
Oh, yeah! I got a new sister! No foolin’. Well, just a little foolin’. She’s not my sister, but she is living with us. See, this nice girl, we will call her Jessica, has moved into our house. ‘Course Jessica isn’t her real name, but Daddy says I can’t use her real name. Her Mommy and her Mommy’s boyfriend don’t want her livin’ with ‘em anymore, so Mommy and Daddy said she cud stay with us for a while on account of she is Patrick’s friend. I don’t know why Jessica’s mommy doesn’t want her living at home, but Mommy and Daddy say sum peeples are just that way. I am glad I don’t have a Mommy and Daddy like that!
So, I been thinkin’. Ya know, I get tired sumtimes and wanna just give up. You know, like when ya keep tryin’ to get a new Wiggles DVD goin’, but ya can’t find the rite buttons. Or, maybe when the physical therapy person keeps puttin’ you in the water and ya really don’t like it. Sooner or later, I just give up and go with the flow of what sumone is tryin’ to do. Well, I do believe in Jesus and I do wait for Him to help me and He always duz. I mean, I don’t fly in the air like eagles, but I do a lot of runnin’ and I know I got lots of energy, just ask Daddy.
God reminds me of sum things, though. Like today. He ‘minded me that things aren’t so bad for me. ‘Cause of what has happened to Jessica, I know I am lucky. I got a Mommy and Daddy who love me. I got a brudder and sister who love me – sumtimes. I got a home. There’s lots of peeples who can’t say that, like Jessica. When y’all have a chance, include Jessica in your prayers. She’s pretty nice and sure cud use some help rite now. I just know if we ask God, He will give her strength, and maybe wings, to beat the bad things in her life.
Nite nite,
Love Loren
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. - Ephesians 6:1-4
Hiya peeples! It's me, Loren. I am here to let ya know what happened today. I just know ya been dyin' to know how my day went today, so I will tell ya. In a wurd - frustratin'.
Let's see, first, I woke up and Daddy got mad at me. I don't know why, all I did waz get in his bed. Ya know, just 'cause I got in bed and started talkin', duzn't mean Daddy had the rite to get mad at me. He even made me get out of bed and go to my room! Sure, he tried to make it look gud by puttin' on a Barney tape, but I knew he waz just tryin' to make me leave the room so he and Mommy cud sleep a little more. It didn't wurk 'cause I made him stay in my room. I can be verrrrrrrrry stubborn sumtimes. Anyperson who tries to get the best of this kid has an edukation comin'!
A little later, Mommy came in the room and said we had to go to church. She told Daddy to wake...
Say, ya know what? Daddy did fall asleep, even if it waz in my bed. Do ya think he really one after all? Naw, can't be. I am too smart to be fooled. Nope! He definitely lost!
Ok, so we went to church and I got to play on the big playground. That waz fun. Oh, I gotta tell ya. I saw a castle today. How they fit it in our parish hall at church, I don't know, but it was a real castle. I get to go there tomorrow to something called Bakation Bible School. They call it VBS for short, but I don't know why. Bakation starts with a "B", not a "V". Like I said before, grownups just can't be figured out!
Then, we went to Memaw's and Pawpaw's house. That was kinda frustratin' 'cause when Daddy said he was goin' home, I wanted to go with him, but he wudn't let me. He said he waz gonna wurk on my web page. So, if he wurked so hard on it, how come it looks the same? That's ok, though, I got to go swimmin' and make cookies. Ha! Ha! I got to have fun and Daddy had to wurk!
Well, that's about it. After that, I just came home and wurked on my update. That's leeds me to my bible stuff tonight. See, mommy's and daddies are always tellin' us to do what they say. Sumthin' 'bout God tellin' kids to honor mommies and daddies. Well, I just want to go on rekord as tellin' ya that there's anuther part of the rules. See, this guy Paul says that daddies (probably mommies too) shouldn't get us kids all frustrated and stuff. I mean, how we gonna lurn anything if we are upset all the time?
I took this part of the bible and showed it to Daddy. Ya know what? He said that he read it a million times and agrees with it. When I asked him why he keeps frustratin' me 'bout updatin' my web page when the bible says he's not s'posed to do that, he just smiled and said, "Well, nobody is purfek." So much for not frustratin' your kid.
Well, nite nite guys. I love all of ya.
Love - Loren
Allow me to introduce myself - I am Jim McClelland. In the post below, which is extremely long, you will come to know me as the guy my son Loren likes to complain about.
Loren is my now almost 9-year-old son. If you want to learn more about him, you can go to www.crystalisland.com. This is an outdated website that I used to keep people posted on his progress during his two bone marrow transplants. Loren has a disease called Hurler Syndrome. He likes to spell it Sindrome because it is a sin anybody, but especially a child less than a year old, should be faced with a disease that will kill him in 5 to 10 years.
Such was the case with Loren. He underwent one transplant in August of 1999 and by October of that year, the transplant was a failure. He underwent a second transplant in January 2000. By September 2000, it looked like he had lost that transplant also. We were resigned to his death before he turned 10 year-old. That's pretty much what we expected until June 2001 when his transplant went from a dismal failure to a resounding success. I will tell you about that as I build this blog.
Early on in my journalizing, I began to write from what I perceived would be Loren's one year-old viewpoint. That is the reason you will find massive misspellings and other gramatical errors in most of the posts until I finally get caught up to 2007. I will try to get there as soon as possible. I will also, finally, see if I can get Loren to say a few words instead of using my own and pretending I am him.
After Loren's first transplant, I compiled the journals to that point and published a book called Cookin' At Cook: A Babe in Transplantland. In retrospect, I am sorry I called it that, but that's the name and I am sticking with the title now. If you go to Loren's Place bookstore, you will find a link to several major book sellers. I would appreciate it if you clicked on one of those links (Amazon is a good one) and buy the book.
I won't lie to you. I want the book to sell because I need the income. It's not that I do badly in my chosen profession as a certified public accountant, but the expenses of taking care of three kids, one of whom has a terminal disease and requires a lot of physical, speech and occupational therapy are daunting. Thank God for family.
I also plan to give at least 10% of what I make to the National MPS Society , the organization that advocates for kids like Loren and a few other organizations that have blessed Loren and my family greatly. The money for the MPS Society will probably be earmarked for family support. I don't know how much you, the reader know about terminal diseases, but they don't just affect the patient. They affect everyone in the family. Last night, my 17 year-old son remarked that he went without a mother for several years so his baby brother would live. That happened because the transplant was in Fort Worth, Texas; three hours away from our home and we were lucky it was so close.
The point is that such diseases take a tremendous toll on everyone in the immediate and extended family. I am convinced that Loren's disease was the catalyst for my own mother succumbing to psychosomatic illnesses that eventually led to real illness that she couldn't handle, so she killed herself. The stresses can be that bad and anything I can do to support other people in their fight to keep their child or children alive, is something I want to do.
I guess that leads me to the final reason for this blog. It's time I got back into the business of writing down my experiences so others might benefit from my family's experience. As we say in AA, we need to share our experience, strength and hope in order to help others escape from a living hell and to keep ourselves from falling back into it.
So, there you have it. This will be a selfish page where I shamelessly try to get people to buy my first book so the publisher will want to publish the second book. It will also be an altruistic page that I hope brings help and healing to all who read it.
By the way, with the success of his second transplant, Loren's disease is in check and he is doing well. Although I expect a long life for him, others feel he won't live much past his 21st birthday. Most of the time I live in a fantasy world, but a long life for my little pal is one fantasy I hope to see become reality.
Finally, Loren will now be taking back over this journal. Although he is now in third grade, he still has difficulty expressing himself and, while he will spell better than eight years ago, he still has his own unique and inspired viewpoint on life. He is a special kid, and so are his brother and sister.
Excited!
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