Gray started 1st grade in September at Selwyn Elementary. So far we have been very impressed with his school and feel fortunate for this. His teacher was Mrs. Nettles and he had the same aide as last year, Mrs. Hager. They were both great!

After attending school for approximately five weeks, Gray was scheduled for Spinal fusion surgery at the Shriner’s Hospital located in Greenville, SC. The entire first grade gave Gray an outstanding send-off. Michelle Reibel, some of the Selwyn mom’s, and our neighbor, Amy Elaasar had T-shirts printed with the Gray’s Gang logo. The T-shirts said “Official Member of Gray’s Gang”. Mike’s company, Southeastern Consulting Engineers donated the cost of the shirts and the entire first grade was able to get a shirt. Everyone wore the shirts on Gray’s last day of school prior to surgery to surprise him. He was amazed and also slightly embarrassed by the “spotlight” (see picture). His class also had a little going away party for him and presented him with a customized pillowcase to remember them by, complete with a photo of the class all wearing the fancy new T-shirts. Needless to say, we were extremely touched by the outpouring of support, care, concern, etc. for Gray as he was heading into a very scary surgery.

The doctors, nurses, and staff at the Shriner’s Hospital in Greenville, SC could not have been more helpful and competent. Everything went smoothly. Dr. Pete Stasikelis did an amazing job on Gray’s back. (See picture) The anesthesiologist, Dr. Finholt, was wonderful in taking care of Gray’s needs and listening to our concerns. The PICU nurses and respiratory therapists were on top of every issue before it happened... and Gray was the ideal patient. We were so blessed with such a successful, uneventful, “answered prayer” surgery! We were prepared for a much harder road to recovery and so very happy to be surprised. Gray was back at school after Thanksgiving! YooHoo! A huge thank you to everyone who kept Gray in his or her thoughts and prayers during this scary time. We appreciated allof the cards, notes, and meals that were sent to us during and post-surgery. The Selwyn Moms were amazing with all of the dinners that were sent our way. The dinners seemed neverending! We were very grateful for their generosity.

The 7th annual Gray’s Gang SMAshing kickoff fund-raiser was a huge success once again! We raised over $22,000 this year and have raised over $122,000 to date! WOW! We are so very humbled to all who generously give their precious time and energy to Gray’s Gang. Because of this Gray and other children with SMA have hope for a healthy future! We constantly thank God for all of our angels!

The Learning Express toy store in Charlotte included us in their annual fund-raiser once again. Everyone who bought toys the first two weeks of November and asked that their purchases go to Gray’s Gang had 20% of their total purchase donated to Gray’s Gang. We raised over $400! How bout a shout out to Learning Express!

Gray’s Christmas break was unfortunately spent trying to get well. He caught a cold and was battling it the whole break. The good news is he stayed out of the hospital and did not miss any school from being sick. The bad news is he had a very boring, sick Christmas break. But.......Santa felt very sorry for Gray and therefore Gray sort of hit the jackpot with his gifts.

In January, Gray suffered his first broken bone from an accidental fall off the sofa. Never a dull moment!

In February Gray finally got his new wheelchair........N.C. State Red. It’s the bomb! It can lift him up to see eye to eye with his friends, it tilts and reclines and it’s FAST! He loves it. However, now we have a van issue. The new chair is
too big to fit in our current van. We are working on that.....stay tuned.

Gray’s spring was uneventful until we got to Easter/Spring break. Gray seems to have something against being healthy over a break. In April he got roto-virus along with a respiratory infection. That one-two combination knocked him out of commission for a good two weeks. Gray was sick, sick, sick for days. He got pneumonia, ended up in the hospital for 4 days with us begging to go home Saturday night before Easter. Although it was one of our most frightening experiences in the hospital, Gray bounced back quicker than anyone had expected, even his doctors. We thank God for answering our prayers and yours. Riley was well taken care of by Mae Mae and Papa Doc. He even spent Easter at the beach with his grandparents, Aunt Amy, Uncle Matt, and cousins Renny and Patrick. We missed spending Easter with Riley, but were glad he was with family.

Gray had many exciting events happen this summer, but none more exciting than his aunt Carroll and Zac getting married in June. Gray and Riley were ring bearers. Renny, their cousin, was the flower girl. Gray, being a 2-time ring bearer, coached Riley, the novice. What Gray did not anticipate was Riley catching a ride out of the church! They performed wonderfully and looked especially handsome (see pic).

Gray’s summer has also been filled with much travel. We took advantage of Mike’s business conferences at the beach and went twice with him. We traveled to San Diego in July for the FSMA conference. Riley came along for the first time and was wide-eyed at all of the wheelchairs-everywhere. Once again, it was a great conference and we educated ourselves about the latest SMA research. It was great to just enjoy the time together as a family (San Diego Zoo,Padres game, Old Town, Pool).

At the end of July and beginning of August we spent more time at the beach, which was such a blessing. We played in the water daily. Gray’s lung capacity is being built up this summer tremendously because he loves being underwater! Gray enjoyed domino games in the afternoon and lots of ice cream after dinner. Perfect beach time!

Gray has had a great summer traveling, playing gamecube with friends, reading books (his mom makes him). He went to Math Camp this summer and studied math & robotics. He is anticipating 2nd grade, a new teacher (Mr. Pressly), and lots of fun when school begins.

Gray’s one-year anniversary of his spinal fusion surgery will be October 3rd. Hopefully, he will be able to participate in wheelchair soccer again.

Thanks again from the bottom of our hearts for all of the tremendous support you all give Gray and our family.
We are all truly blessed.