Creating a surrogate for price?

["orionsturtle" <orionsturtle@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Question: How do I reference the first close in a data set, perform a 
calculation on it and that becomes the new surrogate close going 
forward?

ie. Dow close 5 yrs ago = 9500

    surrogate dow close = 9500+5

If I use:
InitalSurrogateClose = ref(c,-1)+ 5 ; 
SurrogateClose = InitalSurrogateClose + 5;

it works for the first bar in the data set but then continues to 
reference the real close. I need to Isolate this first surrogate close 
and I an just not seeing it. Please help if you understand what I'm 
after.

Thank you!