The Real Housewives of Orange County alum Slade Smiley’s teenage son Grayson continues his fight with brain cancer.
“He’s hanging in there,” the Bravo alum told Page Six Tuesday. “He recently turned 17, praise the Lord.”
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Smiley said his son is looking better after being first diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2006.
“He does have a lot of complications, but he’s in regular physical therapy,” Smily said. “We have school come to the house, so he’s actually really looking good. Really, really good. I’m pretty excited.”
Grayson’s mom currently runs a Facebook page about his progress, where she recently shared a video update of the teen dancing along to “Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer.
“Can’t Touch This!” the caption reads. “Added bonus today is no oxygen and after this dance his O2 level was 98%. Gray has been weaned off oxygen for up to 12 hours a day.”
Smiley and fiancรฉe Gretchen Rossi meanwhile are trying for a baby of their own through the in vitro fertilization process. They tried to get pregnant using in vitro about three years ago, but Rossi previously said they lost about 14 embryos during the process.
“I tend to have children every 10 years,” Smiley joked, adding that his oldest son, 27-year-old Gavin, just got engaged.
Rossi said, “We were laughing. We were like, ‘Your son is going to have a baby the same time we have a baby,’ which is going to be so funny and weird. But he says they aren’t having a baby for a while, so I think we’re in the clear.”
In 2012, after facing accusations of being a “deadbeat dad” from RHOC cast members Vicki Gunvalson and Tamra Judge, Smiley opened up about how difficult it was keeping up with the then-11-year-old’s medical bills.
“The most disheartening was obviously the whole ‘deadbeat dad’ accusation,” Slade, told Wetpaint. “That was the hardest on me, because I had full-custody of my kids, and I fought for full custody of my son.”
He explained at the time that he could no longer keep up with his son’s medical bills and child support. He’s filed for reduction of support and said, “I was ordered to pay almost $4,000 a month, which means the first $8,000 I make, half goes to taxes, half goes to support. So I’d have to be making 20 to 30 grand a month to keep up with that type of order. And I just don’t have that type of job anymore.”
The “deadbeat” buzz didn’t help either, he revealed: “It affected my ability to earn for my son. A lot of my contracts, they got cancelled. So by those girls, using me as content, and making those accusations, they literally hurt my ability to earn for my son. If they were so concerned about him, why would you make such public accusations? If you want to help, do a charity event. Come and ask me what the truth really is. How can we all work together to help him and kids like him?”
Photo credit: Bravo