Brayden’s Voyage is dedicated to our son who was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II.

Brayden Michael Janetzke was born March 12, 2010. He was a whopping 8lbs. 12oz. and 21″ long! He has always had a happy spirit, ever sence he was born 🙂

Braydens first few months were great, always alert and interested in what was going on. I remember him kicking his legs in the crib to let me know when he was up. He even started rolling over at 5 months. So things were going great. His older brother Logan, who was almost 2 years old when Brayden was born, was so excited to have a little brother!!! It was very precious to see them together!

About 7 months I noticed that Brayden wasn’t rolling over anymore and thought that maybe it was just a fluke. I didn’t even realize that he had stopped kicking his feet when he woke up. I did notice that he wasn’t sitting up on his own like his brother had done at 6 months. Logan was walking and running at 11 months. Which, I know was early so I thought Brayden will learn at his own pace.

At Brayden’s 12 month check up our Primary Care Doctor noticed something wasn’t right so he refered us to a specialist. On April 7, 2010 we were told Brayden had Spinal Muscular Atrophy. We never heard of SMA and would never have thought Brayden would have a Neurological Disease. Our first thoughts were will he ever walk and how long will he live? Both were answered with words I didn’t want to here! We had a blood test to confirm which seemed like forever to get the results. In the mean time we did some research about SMA. In one of the first documents I read it stated that 50% of baby’s diagnosed will not live to see their 2nd Birthday. We went though a lot of emotions and had many more questions. We were then refered to a Neurologist, who reassured us that Brayden can live a long life and may be able to walk with equipment aids. We take our days one at a time….and thank GOD for the life we are living and know that we are Blessed to have all the support from our friends and family!!!