MS is BS

Hey folks, many of you know that Rachel was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2007.  She has had many relapses and the drugs are simply not working.  Her best option is a Stem Cell Transplant Program at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.  They use Rachel’s own stem cells in order to help halt the disease.  This treatment has a 98% success rate of preventing relapses.

As you can imagine, the medical costs for something like this are very high.  A couple of her friends have started a Go Fund Me in order to help her out with medical costs.  If you can help, please consider donating.  And please share this with as many people as you can.  Rachel has done a lot for the BME community and for many individuals.  Let’s help her out in return.

rachel

You can donate to the Go Fund Me (and learn more about the procedure she will be getting) here.

Patches!

People have asked for these for a long time, well that time is finally here. BME patches!

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If you would like to buy your very own Hockey or Calm patches, you can get them here:

Hockey Logo Patch
Calm Logo Patch

You may have heard about the recent flooding in Columbia, South Carolina. Unfortunately, Rachel was affected by this flood. She lost all of her belongings in the flood and the home that she lives in with Ari and her boyfriend David received serious structural damage. Things were lost that money can never replace and during this devastation Rachel has been working hard to help others in her community. FEMA and insurance won’t come close to covering their financial losses and a friend of David’s set up a GoFundMe to help them out. If you’re interested in helping, you can check out the GoFundMe here.

Monsters of Schlock needs YOU!

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21 time Guinness World Record Breaking freakshow and body modification enthusiasts the Monsters of Schlock need your help in reaching their crowdfunding goal of making their sitcom pilot into a TV series!

The great Orbax, longtime BME contributor and emcee of the Toronto BMEFests, along with his brother Sweet Pepper Klopek the barb-wire bat wielding lead singer of the BMEFest fan favourite the Legendary Klopeks, have been traveling the world for the last ten years with their comedy freakshow. They’ve achieved some amazing feats in that time such as Sweet Pepper’s Guinness Record for the most mousetraps released on a tongue in one minute (https://youtu.be/64L5Vz5AaUc) and Orbax’s record for towing a 9000 lb truck for 111.7 metres using two shark hooks in his back (https://youtu.be/USgV62alu1U).

Last year they shot a sitcom pilot, entirely funded and produced on their own. You can see it on YouTube (https://youtu.be/GXslnT8HUZk) or watch it below. The concept is Flight of the Conchords meets Super Dave Osborne, but with a freakshow twist.

Their Kickstarter has rewards ranging anywhere from buying the DVD’s to getting your own personalized stunt, to having them show up at your house and do their live freakshow!

The only way the TV series is going to happen is if they can raise the money to pay for production, and that means that the only way you’ll get to see it is by pledging. Head over and help them out (http://kck.st/1F9O4Ut).

The Art of Suspension Fundraiser Shirt

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A few short weeks prior to his passing, Shannon had been working on new designs for BMEshop. The Art of Suspension, displaying the various styles of suspensions that have been performed, was the last shirt that he had completed.

Per Shannon’s request, we would like to use this shirt as a fundraiser in order to raise funds for his daughter, Ari Larratt, who lives with her mother, Rachel Larratt.

The shirt has Shannon’s design on the front and printed on the back is the Militia logo In Memoriam of Shannon.

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The shirts start at $20 and there is an option to add a donation amount. The final amount of the shirt you select will display on the top next to the name of the shirt as well as on the left of the donation drop down menu on the shop page.

Please note that the shirts will not be able to be printed until after Rachel and Ari return from Canada, which will be around mid April. They will be printed as soon as possible and shipped shortly after that. Thank you.

Click here to purchase this shirt.

Ari’s Fundraiser update!

Thank you. That’s what I needed to start this post with because there is nothing that can express my gratitude and what we’re feeling but THANK YOU is a good start.

In one week we’ve managed to sell 86 t-shirts, raising enough money to put a dent in the medical bills. We’re going in for more tests this week and while I wish that Ari didn’t have to go through this, she has been handling it like a champ. Ari has had to swallow bottle after bottle of chalky, sour tasting barium, get poked and prodded and do all sorts of other unpleasant things but she is taking it in stride. She understands that there is a point behind it all and that point is to make her feel better. For those of you who know her, you know she isn’t a shy kid but she definitely is over having to go to the bathroom in the “poop hat” in order to collect samples for testing! The “poop hat” is a hat shaped plastic contraption that goes under the toilet lid in order to make it easier to collect certain specimens. She is ready to get rid of it!

I explained to Ari that her Dad and I were selling t-shirts in order to raise some money. She knows all about fundraisers from school as they’ve done several this year. “That’s like what school does with their bake sales!” but when I showed her the orders that have come in for t-shirts she asked “these people don’t know me, why do they care if I’m sick or not?”. I explained that while a lot of you have met her in “real life”,  all of you have shared in her life over the past 9 years as well as during my pregnancy since it was all photographed and chronicled on both her Mom and Dad’s IAM pages. I explained to her that even though she isn’t old enough to be on BME herself, she is still a part of a community of friends who care for and support each other in times of need. She was absolutely blown away by it and I think it’s an amazing example to show a young child who is growing up in the digital age. The internet brought her parents together and is responsible for her existence and it’s also responsible for helping a little girl feel loved and cared about. Some people say that the internet is ruining our sense of community but to me, things like this show that it isn’t being ruined, it’s just changing the boundaries and dynamics as to what the word “community” actually means.

I can’t express how much it means to me that everyone has come together to help us out. All I can say is thank you.

I also wanted to give you guys an update since you’re helping us to pay a portion of the medical bills. Ari had several tests over the past few weeks. One of them indicated that a portion of her intestines (not sure if that’s the right anatomical word!) are restricting “gastric material”. That “material”  is coming back up as undigested food. So some food is getting through but the majority of it isn’t. This is why she hadn’t started showing signs of serious weight loss until last week when the vomiting got more severe. It made me think of people who have had bariatric surgery and since I’ve read several blogs from IAM members who have gone through it. I started giving her much smaller meals spaced through out the day or dinner being spaced out over several hours instead of at one sitting..

We did a practice run over the 3 day weekend. I’ve managed to get it so that she hasn’t thrown up in three days, which is a lot better than we’d done over the past few weeks. She’ll be going to see a specialist once she’s back up in Canada but in the mean time the doctors are putting her on a medication that will hopefully kick start her intestines (again, sorry if that’s the wrong word!) and get food moving. The only thing that is troublesome is that she appears to have some kidney issues that we’re getting further testing on. They don’t know if it’s related to the endless vomiting but if not, then it may have been a blessing in disguise if she has a larger issue with her kidneys. I’m just hoping that we get an answer because not knowing what is wrong with your child is one of the worst feeling one can imagine.

I’m going to be taking the shirts down on Wednesday so that I can get a clear number on the shirts that I need to have printed so if you would like a shirt, they’re linked below.

Thank you all again!

“2012 Classic Logo T-Shirt” Fundraiser

Hey Modbloggers, a member of the BME Family is ill and needs our help.

Ari Larratt is living with her mom, Rachel, in the US and has come down with some kind of illness that is making it hard for her body to digest food. As it stands right now, she’s going through a lot of tests to find out what is wrong, and the medical bills are already starting to pile up. Now because Ari is living in the US, everything is coming out of pocket from both Rachel and Shannon. The bills are already approaching $7000 and they still have yet to get a diagnosis.

So, to help raise funds for Ari, Shannon has designed a brand-new BME logo shirt. It’s going to be sold in the BMEShop for a limited time, with all proceeds going to Ari’s medical bills. The design itself is basically an updated take of Scott Fox’s original BME logo, mixed with the Calm logo, and incorporates modifications that weren’t around when the designs were originally created.

You can order the shirt right here. We’ve set the price of the shirt at $20, with the option to donate more if you wish. We’ll also be sending along a bunch of BME stickers in addition to your shirt, depending on how much you are able to give. But even if you aren’t able to give any extra, just getting one shirt will go to help a sick little girl get better.

Also, if anyone has any information on health insurance plans for children only, please get in contact with Rachel via the BMEShop e-mail address ([email protected]). Her insurance won’t cover Ari, so she’s looking for a plan that is just for children.

“2012 Classic Logo T-Shirt” Fundraiser for Ari Larratt

Hey Modbloggers, a member of the BME Family is ill and needs our help.

Ari Larratt is living with her mom, Rachel, in the US and has come down with some kind of illness that is making it hard for her body to digest food.  As it stands right now, she’s going through a lot of tests to find out what is wrong, and the medical bills are already starting to pile up.  Now because Ari is living in the US, everything is coming out of pocket from both Rachel and Shannon.  The bills are already approaching $7000 and they still have yet to get a diagnosis.

So, to help raise funds for Ari, Shannon has designed a brand-new BME logo shirt.  It’s going to be sold in the BMEShop for a limited time, with all proceeds going to Ari’s medical bills.  The design itself is basically an updated take of Scott Fox’s original BME logo, mixed with the Calm logo, and incorporates modifications that weren’t around when the designs were originally created.

You can order the shirt right here.  We’ve set the price of the shirt at $20, with the option to donate more if you wish.  We’ll also be sending along a bunch of BME stickers in addition to your shirt, depending on how much you are able to give.  But even if you aren’t able to give any extra, just getting one shirt will go to help a sick little girl get better.

Also, if anyone has any information on health insurance plans for children only, please get in contact with Rachel via the BMEShop e-mail address ([email protected]).  Her insurance won’t cover Ari, so she’s looking for a plan that is just for children.

Ran needs our help

As you may have seen over the weekend, tattoo artist Ran MacLurkin was in an accident last week which has put him in the hospital. He was riding his motorcycle on the way home from work Tuesday night when he was hit by a 4×4. The impact was so severe that it broke his T11 vertebrae as well as his C7. The doctors will be performing surgery on him this coming Friday to fuse the bones. After that he will need to wear a Halo brace for 3 months.

Obviously he will be unable to work during this time, which puts an immense financial strain on him and his family.  Peter Sheringham, owner of The Piercing Urge where Ran works, is raising funds to help Ran during this horrendous time. If you have a couple bucks to spare, please send it via Paypal to [email protected]. Anything will help. If you’ve got a couple dollars, please send it as every penny counts!

In addition, Steve May will be selling this portrait of Ran at his gallery exhibit.  All proceeds from the sale will be going to help Ran.  So if you’re in the area, stop by the show, or you can get in touch with Steve via his email address ([email protected]).  The show itself is about tattooed people in society, and kustom kulture in general.

A number of other fundraising efforts are underway, including a bake sale, and a facebook raffle.  There is also a facebook group set up to send messages to Ran.

I’ll continue to post updates about Ran as his condition improves.  We’re also in the process of getting his BMEtv interview up so for those of you not familiar with Ran can get a chance to see this wonderful man.

I’ve included his 1-hour tattoo video after the break, if you’d like to check that out.

The Piercing Urge’s website will also contain the most up to date information about Ran, so check there as well.