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Don't make me turn this van around!

One family. A difficult diagnosis. An old van. And a new lease on life.

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About this blog

Until late 2015, life was exceedingly normal for the Kile family: work, school, little league, ballet – sweating the small stuff and missing the big picture. Then Jon suffered a ruptured abdominal aneurysm that required life-saving surgery. It would be the first of seven surgeries over the next seven months, including emergency open-heart surgery to save him from an aortic dissection. He was eventually diagnosed with a rare genetic condition called Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Sydrome, in which the most serious symptom is fragile arteries prone to spontaneous rupture. Jon has adjusted to a lifestyle which forbids him from strenuous activities and stress, while finding inner peace and humor against the backdrop of raising two feral children. Jon gave up business proposals and sales presentations for writing, car-line and PTA, while Monica traded committee meetings and budgets to take on the roles of patient advocate, genetics expert, cool mom and goddess of a 17 foot Dodge van. Together they’ve determined to “live in the moment” and fill the empty spaces in the calendar with family travel and adventure.

Featured Post: ‘Live in the moment’ because a moment may be all you have.

Before we got our sweet ride, I was a frequent passenger in another type of van.

Recent Posts

8,500 miles in a van wasn’t enough… Monica is going 26.2 miles more.
A long series of near misses or a trail of destruction?
Outtakes from the road
Five tips for road-tripping with Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (that can even help humans with non-mutant arteries)
Homeward bound!

Archives

October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018

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Marine Quest - one of three “can’t miss” events in St. Pete today. #marinequest #floridanature #realflorida #stpete #stpetersburgfl #marinescience #bonnetheadshark

New blog post! In a few weeks she’ll tackle the #nycmarathon ! www.dontmakemeturnthisvanaround.com #veds #teamritter #ritterfoundation #johnritter #johnritterfoundation #aorticdissection #veds #vascularehlersdanlos #ehlersdanlossyndrome #running #marathonrunner

I can explain. #dontmakemeturnthisvanaround #sonyougotapantyonyourhead

Great night for our first Rowdies game. #tampabayrowdies #stpetersburgfl #stpetersburg #dtsp #stpete #florida #soccer #futbol

#stpetersburgfl #dtsp #stpete #beach #beachvolleyball #beachguitar #stillsummerhere #floridatravel

Preserve the Burg - the original Movies in the Park! Every Thursday this month. #preservetheburg #stpetepreservation #stpete #stpetersburgflorida #dtsp #ilovetheburg #moviesinthepark #dontmakemeturnthisvanaround #mrsmithgoestowashington

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