The Gift of Stem Cells

After more than 4 years of recovery time, Ron and I decided to submit the paperwork to possibly make contact with his bone marrow donor. The required wait time was longer because the donor wasn't from the United States. Ron did not have a match in the United States registry; when the international registry was used, there were 3 matches. We knew the donor was from Europe due to the timing of the flight that brought the stem cells to Detroit, then Ann Arbor. The transplant had been delayed one day due to requiring a second harvesting of stem cells. This seems like a lifetime ago.
Why wait more than 2 years beyond the required wait time when you are so grateful? Due to the many complications, repeated hospitalizations, physical and cognitive changes, we weren't sure what the donor would want to know. In spite of everything, Ron and I are so grateful that he is "still here", and Ron is amazingly accepting of his altered quality of life. During Ron's 9 months of remission between acute myeloid leukemia diagnoses, he was able to return to officiating high school volleyball, softball, and basketball. He ran in a 5K Turkey Trot at Thanksgiving. Life was back to normal. October 2010.

Then he relapsed in May 2011. Following chemotherapy to bring him to a second remission, he had his bone marrow transplant August 26, 2011. Although he was a 10 for 10 match with his donor, his new bone marrow has waged battle on his body, much like an autoimmune disease. Chronic graft vs. host disease. cGVHD. So…where are we now? The permanent effects from the transplant and the infections that Ron has battled through ("You do know that Ron is a miracle?" one nurse said recently.) have immensely changed his quality of life. But the leukemia has not returned, and Ron does have life, and there is much that we can still enjoy, so we are so grateful to a donor halfway around the world who was willing to give Ron this lifesaving gift.

My Christmas Letter 2015

I am not adding a letter to my Christmas cards this year. I plan to write a note here on the blog to catch up our news. This is my 500th entry on the Ron Hover's Update blog!! (I am still working on the cards that I mail.)
No one moved this year! (except Andrew from Iraq back home in Germany) That is newsworthy in itself. The next move will be Andrew, Lisa, Abby, and Lily from Germany to Hawaii. Niccole and Cole live in Fredericksburg, VA, and she did change high schools this year. It has been a good move for her. She continues to work on her doctorate at VCU. Matt, Kate, William, Anna, and Sarah live in Springfield, VA; Kate teaches at the same school, but Matt now works at Ft. Belvoir instead of the Pentagon. Cale, Jessica, Joey, Jack, and Allison live in Bowling Green, OH, and Cale is now teaching physics and chemistry at Eastwood High School. Best of all, no one is deployed. Andrew and his family are especially enjoying the holidays this year--starting with Halloween! He missed so much last year when he was in Iraq, including Lily's first birthday on January 1.
******Pictures of the kids, spouses, and grandchildren are below in the previous blog entry.******
Ron and I have enjoyed time at both of our homes; our Bowling Green villa is our second home instead of the Hampton Inn in Ann Arbor. I didn't count up our days in AA this year! Ron's treatments are now every third week instead of every other week, but we had several extra appointments there with hospitalizations in June and August for pneumonia. He also goes periodically to have special eyedrops made from his blood and for his immunity infusions.
I have included pictures of the youngest Troxells: Sophie and Ty. So fun to have babies at the family Christmas at my sister's home. The winter sunrises at Gilead Lake are breathtaking some mornings. This year we have our BG Christmas tree in the great room where we can see it all the time instead of by the den window where it can be seen from the outside…such a simple change but one that has been enjoyed daily!
We hope that all of you will experience the joy of the season and feel at peace. Enjoy reminiscing about holidays past and make new memories to carry you into the new year: 2016!!
Love, Ron & Jan

D.C. Turkey Trot, Lake Erie, France

The two Turkey Trot pictures show the Matt & Kate Hover Family and the Hover-Taylor Team. Our (Cale and Jessica) grandchildren at Lake Erie, and our Andrew & Lisa Hover Family touring in France (home in Germany).

Tis The Season 2015

Can't believe it has been a month since I blogged; that speaks to the time of year it is! November proceeded as planned. Ron has stayed pretty much the same, so we were able to travel to Virginia for Thanksgiving. The weather cooperated, and we stayed at Matt and Kate's in Springfield. Niccole and Cole came for Wednesday and Thursday; they live about an hour away in Fredericksburg. So fun to see those 4 grandchildren have a good time together. They are full of energy and the parents and kids ran as a team in the D.C. Turkey Trot. Mike, Niccole's significant other, spent Thanksgiving with all of us, too. Truly so very much for us to be thankful for!
Our Christmas with Cale and Jess's family will be in BG. We're planning on spending the majority of the next 3 months in Ohio. So far so good; the weather has been mild. This was Ann Arbor week. We spent most of 3 days "up there" as Ron had blood work, two ECP treatments, had more eyedrops made from his blood, a transplant doctor appointment, and 6 immunizations. When you have a bone marrow transplant all of your protection from your childhood immunizations is wiped out, so Ron has had to have all childhood and adult immunizations repeated; the last round was this week. After driving to and from Virginia last week and back and forth to U of M this week, I have had my fill of driving! Ron has not been able to drive for over 3 years.
When Ron had his doctor appointment, I asked about tapering part of his treatment for what is basically the fight between the blood products made by his new bone marrow and his body. This is called graft vs host disease and can resolve early on or even years after a transplant. The GVHD is what has affected his skin and lungs the most. In March he will transition to ECP treatments every 6 weeks from monthly. He has had ECP treatments (127) for 3 years now, having started with weekly ECP appointments. He has 2 treatments on back to back days each week of treatment. Besides ECP, he takes prednisone daily. That will not be tapered. 10mg. His variety of antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal, and lung treatment is unchanged. SO, we have one more day in AA this month because Ron is due for his next immunity infusion. His new bone marrow does a pretty good job of making platelets and red blood cells, but did not recover to produce adequate antibodies to fight infection. The immunity infusion IVIG picks up the slack.
The pictures below show recent activities.