Who are the parents of Grayson Smiley

Grayson Alexander Arroyo-Smiley, born on the 16th of May, 2000, is the son of Slade Smiley and Michelle Arroyo. Slade Smiley is a TV host, and he featured in the reality TV show titled “The Real Housewives of Orange County”. Slade has two sons with his now ex-wife before their divorce; Gavin Smiley, who is the elder, and Grayson Smiley.

The ex-couple were still seen on RHOC together with their elder son, Gavin, but not with Grayson. However, the fans got to know that the reason behind this is because Grayson had been battling brain cancer. He has been diagnosed with brain cancer since his tender age.

However, Slade Smiley seems to be in a new relationship with Gretchen Rossi. Let’s discuss more about Grayson Smiley.

His Brain Cancer Incidence

Grayson was born perfectly fine and healthy; however, he began exhibiting some symptoms at the age of four. When he was in kindergarten, he started having some developmental delays, and his vision began deteriorating.  Later, he began sleep-talking and in two years, it had become worse.

He would vomit whenever he’s fed. This made her mother, Michelle, think that he could be affected by stomach flu. So she took him to the hospital for treatment and he could feel better.

However, when got to the hospital, the diagnosis of the CT scan revealed that there has been a tumor in his brain. It was so obvious that Grayson is having complications because of the massive tumor growing in his brain. A few weeks later, he was then diagnosed with a rare brain tumor known as “Diffuse Fibrillary Astrocytoma” which forms from the astrocytoma cells. 

At this time, the brain tumor had spread through Grayson’s brain. It had also affected his cerebellum through to his spinal cord. The doctors then, having concluded that this tumor can’t be removed through surgery, decided to conduct chemotherapy for him. 

At such a tender age, Grayson went through several chemotherapy treatments. At a point, surgeries were conducted for him just to save his life from this deadly disease. Grayson had spent the majority of his childhood at the hospital.

The Fundraising Program

In 2011, towards the fall of the year, Slade Smiley and his newfound girlfriend, Gretchen Rossi, organized a fundraising program in the honor of Grayson Smiley. At that time, Slade had no job, so he decided to use his fame to organize a fundraiser for cancer victims through the Beckstrand Cancer Foundation. He mentioned that he was raising these funds for cancer victims in honor of his son who had undergone brain surgery seven times but was not cured of his brain tumor.

He said, when his son was diagnosed with this brain tumor, he was emotionally strong. However, after the brain surgeries Grayson had gone through and didn’t respond to treatment, then he was emotionally devastated. Hence the reason he decided to put his fame to work for the Beckstrand Cancer Foundation, he concluded.

The Beckstrand Cancer Foundation proffers financial help to people and families battling cancer because they understand the financial struggles that come with battling cancer.

His Mother, Michelle Arroyo

Slade’s baby mama, who happens to be Grayson’s mother, verbally attacked Slade in 2012. Just as Slade and his new girlfriend were walking off a red carpet show, she jumped out of the crowd and attacked him verbally. She claimed that Slade hadn’t been able to pay her the child support fee. 

She shouted at him and called him all sorts of names, accusing him of being a useless father. She then threatened to sue him for not paying the child support. TMZ also claimed that Slade still owes his ex-girlfriend about $95,000 even though it was agreed that he would be paying her $775 every month.

However, Gretchen Rossi, Slade’s new girlfriend came out to defend her boyfriend that the amount agreed upon was based on his previous income. But then, he wasn’t earning quite as much as he earns before, and that it has now become a large sum to pay. However, we don’t have any information about if Slade has paid the child support sum that he has accrued or not.

We can just hope that he does and that Grayson gets the amount he needs for the treatment and he survives his brain cancer. Going by statistics, just 46% of people having the Diffuse Fibrillary Astrocytoma disease live longer than 4.7 years, while no one has survived it at ten years of age. If you want to know more about Grayson’s current situation, you can visit his official website.

The meaning of His Name

The name Grayson Smiley is of English origin and it means “Son of The Grey-Haired One”.