Weston Kelley

This past month has been very emotional and tough for the Kelley family.

Back in 2019, Melanie and David’s son (Weston) came home from kindergarten crying and in pain.  Weston shared that the teachers told the students to crawl on the floor with their hands.  Weston tried to do it and it was so painful he stopped, the teachers insisted he finish the exercise.

Concerned for their son, Melanie and David took Weston to the military hospital on base and they told them Weston had a sprain and not to worry about it.

In the fall of 2019, David received his new orders and the Kelley family moved back to the United States and bought a home in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

At this point Weston’s wrist was not showing any signs of getting better.  Now that they were back in the USA, Melanie did some researching and found a doctor that specializes in pediatric orthopedics.

Last month, the Kelley’s drove 3 hours northwest up to the University of Carolina in Chapel Hill and saw the specialist that would figure out what was going on with Weston’s wrist.

After several long drives and visits to the University, Weston had X-rays, MRI and blood work done to determine what was going on with his wrist.

Within a week, Melanie and David got a call from the doctor and braced themselves for the news the did not expect to hear.

Weston has been diagnosed with Juvenile Idipathic Arthritis, low immune system and is also at high risk for an eye disease called Uveitis.

Weston has very limited range of motion in his wrist and will again need to be sedated for steroid injection and physical therapy rehab. Weston’s eyes are in pain when he is direct sunlight and he finds it “blinds his eyes”.  The doctors will continue to monitor Weston’s blood work to correct and balance his white blood cells that are too low and effecting his immune system.

Because of this new and unexpected diagnosis, Melanie and David are now having to drive frequently to see his rheumatoid doctor and occupational therapy at  the children’s hospital in Chapel Hill, NC. which is about a 6 hours round trip from their home in eastern NC. Because Weston is categorized at the highest risk for uveitis he will need to have his eyes examined every 3 months which is roughly a 3 hour round trip down to Wilmington, NC and back.

When Melanie and David moved back from Okinawa, Japan they bought a small compact car for Melanie to drive around locally.

Now that they are going to be driving across North Carolina for frequent follow up visits, physical therapy and routine eye examinations its became obvious that Melanie’s car is too small for the entire family to travel around with such frequencies.

Both Melanie and David would love to trade in their compact car for a caravan that has drop down DVD player to keep their children occupied during these long road trips.  As many of us know, making long trips with small children comfortable for everyone can lead to a more enjoyable and less stressful car ride experience.

Both Cindy and I are doing this for and on behalf of Melanie and David. We know they would be incredibly grateful for contributions to help offset the cost of trading in their car, new medical expenses, hotel expenses when they have to stay overnight and car expenses for all the traveling they will be doing.  Any monetary gifts would be greatly appreciated and welcomed.

Thank you so much for your love, kind thoughts and contributions,


Michael and Cynthia Woodbury.