Lorenzo's Oil

Now here's a touching, educational, as well as based on a true story movie - Lorenzo's Oil, starring Susan Sarandon and Nick Nolte as parents of a boy with ALD - a little known disease in 1992 when the movie was released. These parents are heroes of gigantic and human proportion. I wouldn't have the resources they had which soon became enormously stressed, but what really shows here is the tenacity of a parent's heart to do all that can possibly be done for their child and the difficulties faced dealing with and by the medical community in situations such as theirs.

from the movie - "Do you know how many children die every year from choking on french fries? Many more than from Adrenoleukodistrophy. You see, ours is what is known as an orphan disease, too small to be noticed, too small to be funded, especially with the iron hand of "Reganomics"."

A kleenex factor film, it is definitely worth a watch. This site, The Myelin Project, deals with the story of the Odone's and where they and the medical progress is today. The disease the child, Lorenzo, developed essentially strips a protective covering which causes an increasing deterioration of brain functions. The site quite thoroughly speaks to the associated diseases and the Odone's story.