Whew! It has been a WHILE since I’ve done a typed out update for you all. I do try to be more frequent updating on FB & IG stories @hopeforgrayson and @alicia_malone_ if you want to follow along there. Also, if you’re not into the details, you’ll still want to read the very end. 💙

Let’s circle back to September. We experienced Hurricane Helene (thankfully only as an inconvenience), and just over a week later, we left on a three week trip across the country. 

In Arizona, Grayson received another round of autologous stem cells (where he is his own donor) and also had an ultrasound done of his leg muscles. They were very fibrotic, but the muscles that have been receiving hyaluronidase were SO much healthier! It’s so nice to have confirmation that we are making the right choices for him. 

During the scan, they found a muscle tear near his right hip. We’ve known for months now that he’s been having pain on that side, but none of his providers imagined that was a likely cause. Although heartbreaking that he had to endure it that long, the doctor also had an immediate solution treating him with the excess stem cells she had left over from his procedure. Within three weeks, he had already started rolling to that side again, and it is clear the pain is gone! 

After that, we flew to Texas for the Team Luke conference that they so generously offered us a travel scholarship to attend. My number one goal there was to attend a lecture by Dr. Ygnve in orthopedics. There is a surgical procedure he performs (SPML) that we’ve been researching to help Grayson with lower limb spasticity. Dr. Ygnve talked with Grayson and me after the lecture, and it confirmed that this is the right next step for him. 

All the finances and logistics around this are going to be a lot to manage, so please pray with us that God will direct this whole situation. We have two very qualified surgeons to choose between. Both are far from home, and both have very different outlooks on what Grayson needs. 

Speaking of finances, we had a very generous donation come in recently that has us confident that it is time to start searching for his wheelchair van! We are so excited to share this with you, as you all have been our biggest supporters and cheerleaders through this whole crazy ride. 

Our goal from the beginning was to try to fund a wheelchair van and cover the cost of stem cells, so our last step before closing down the fundraising for a while is to host a raffle. So many businesses have given amazing gifts, and I’m so excited that some of you will be able to win and enjoy them. I’ll share more details about that later, so this novel doesn’t get any lengthier. 😅 

If you made it to the end, thank you for being here. We love you all!

💙 Alicia