There's No Place Like Home!

At times I felt like Dorothy and how hard she worked to get home!

I was wishing I had some of these spiffy ruby slippers...

Never Give Up! We made it...

There truly is no place like home!

Thank you for all your Love, Support and PRAYERS that got us home!

We are very blessed.

Woo Hoo!

We got medical clearance!! We are in London. We fly out early in the morning to HOME!! We are so happy. Katie is actually very tired, but everything went well without a hitch. They have wheelchairs everywhere waiting for her. We walked out of the airport and there was this very nice gentleman with Katie's name on a card and he drove us to the hotel. We are staying at a Hilton, the clerk who checked us in was from Iasi, Romania. So she upgraded our room and we are now in the Executive Lounge. This hotel is connected to the Gatwick Airport which is the one we fly out of in the am. Life is good... 1:30 tomorrow we will be happily home! We are so grateful to Virgin Atlantic and British Airways for giving us clearance to fly!!!

it better be Wednesday...

We are still in the hospital.... and we aren't coming home Tuesday... but now Wednesday is the day. We will really believe it when the plane takes off and is in the air, until then we are still hopeful that it will really happen. We do get to head to London tomorrow though, which will be nice to have a change. We will stay the night there and then fly home Wednesday morning. I am so ready to be home again! Katie is even more ready...

Sunday update...

This is the Sunday Update, it has been a quiet Sunday.. Katie is right now having her last antibiotic IV. She is so happy, then they then can take out the IV.. The Dr has been in and given us all the necessary paperwork, the official Katie is fit to fly paper. We hope tomorrow the insurance can get the rest of the flight arrangements done. We will spend Monday night at the hospital per the doctor request. Katie says, "Dang" She was hoping for some variety in food. To celebrate that we might really leave, we went and bought a chocolate bar at the hospital cafe. I will say Milka chocolate bars give Dove a run for the money. The doctor told Katie to wear those lovely white socks for 6 months. Katie is banking on a second opinion from doctors in the states. She does not want to wear them to Church, and under Capri's. We have had several discussions (Katie terms them lectures) about following doctors orders. She is still holding out for the Doctor at home. I am going with her to the first appointment so I know what the doctor tells her.

Hopefully Tuesday...

We have had a delay in our travel plans. The insurance company is arranging our return home. (and they are paying - woo hoo!) but they can not get medical clearance from the airlines by Monday AM since it is the weekend. So we will probably be flying out Tuesday... So Sad.. The good news, we have found a little fridge in our room in a cupboard. We are so happy, we were tired of drinking room temperature water!

Our Daily Agenda

• 7:00 am Lady brings in fresh water glasses and German newspaper (sometimes they remember that we don't know German and we don't get offered the paper)


• 8:00 am Nurse comes and steals Katie's blood and starts her morning IV of antibiotics


• 8:10 am Breakfast arrives and everyday its the same (not too much to panic about), offered tea and coffee


• 9:30 am Ladies come in and change all of the sheets (they think we need fresh down comforter covers daily)


• 12:00 pm Lunch arrives and Katie picks whatever looks the best (a little scary for me though)


• 1:00 pm Ladies come in and and clean the room


• 2:00 pm Guy comes and tries to sell us magazines for $12 each or more German newspapers


• 2:15 pm Lady comes by trying to give us pedicures (an every other day occurrence)


• 2:30 pm Our afternoon cake is delivered (50% chance that it is edible), offered tea and coffee again


• 3:00 pm Nurse comes in to start Katie's 2nd IV of the day


• 5:00 pm Dinner is delivered (again Katie gets first pick... sometimes she doesn't want either plate)


• 8:00 pm Nurse comes and starts Katie's 3rd and last IV of the day


• 10:00-ish pm We head to bed ready for the same thing tomorrow

For entertainment in between all of the scheduled activities we read every blog that has ever been started, check our e-mail, and read magazines over and over again. Here are pictures of our dinner trays and then the cake they delivered yesterday:

Monday is the day!

Monday is the day we get to go home! The arrangements are being made!

We ventured out of the room today! Woo Hoo! But not without a lot of grief. The nurses were freaking out...and insisted that Katie use the wheelchair. The doctor keeps telling her it is okay to walk a little and there is a garden here at the hospital. The garden is not very far from our room but the nurses would not let Katie walk there. It was just too far. The whole outing was 10 minutes! When we got to the garden Katie thought she could get out of that wheelchair and walk around a little bit... I quickly made her get back in... what if the nurses were watching?!? Katie kept telling me she could walk... but to no avail. So here is Katie enjoying the garden from the wheelchair that she thinks she doesn't need. It was a pleasant morning.

another day in the hospital...

We have had blood drawn, an EKG, chest xray and moved the IV to the left hand. They are still doing antiboitics three times a day through the IV. We are waiting for the doctor to come give us the report and let us know when we can go home. Katie is thinking this hospital stuff is getting real old. She really wants to go home. The doctor wanted to make sure she did not have to go back to Romania. So we both planning on flying home "as soon as they let us out of here". (direct quote from Katie) The two doctors that we have met with are both named Wolfgang..random.. But I guess we are in Austria. Sometimes we are not sure where we are or what day it is. We have finally decided that it is Thursday. All the nurses can't figure out how someone so young could have blood clots. Nor can we. Thanks for your prayers, we will keep you posted.

Well we got the report from doctor. The Ekg was fine, he asked Katie if she was sporty? The chest xray was also good, he noticed she has a curvy spine. After the blood tests she needed to only take 1/4 pill more of Coumadin. He said we would talk tomorrow about when she gets to go home probably next Monday or Tuesday... Woo Hoo - an end in sight!!

We did not do so well on our German Meal ordering tonight, we had a hard time deciding which one was worse. We were not even sure what a few things were. We would smell it, look at it and then decide we were not brave enough to try it, luckily we had good rolls.

Quiet Day...

We have had a quiet day at the Hospital. Katie has had a few naps and I have read. We thought we would add some pictures so you could see where we are hanging out 24/7. We do have a nice balcony and Katie got the go ahead to walk around a little bit. She even ventured outside to see the sun for a minute or two. They took 3 vials of blood this morning and the doctor said they will take more tomorrow along with an EKG. Her dosage of Coumadin the last two days has been the same, 1/2 pill, so hopefully they have figured out her dosage to keep her blood thin enough. The

antibiotic seems to be working, the doctor was pleased with the blood test results. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

We have had a great day. We just chose our meals from the German menu, every meal will be such a surprise. We have no idea what we ordered. We ordered different things for every meal, that raises the chance of something we will like. For a fee they let me stay in the room and eat here.

Now for the medical update, we have meet with the Vascular Surgeon, don't worry no surgeries here, he said the blood clot is firmly attached to the wall and that is good. No risk of it moving to her heart or lungs. The pain from her upper thigh was the blood clot spreading. Katie has no pain today and she has not had pain medication so it is getting better. Katie will be on the medication for a year or longer and get to wear those cute white socks till spring. Won't they look nice with her wedding dress. The Vascular Surgeon reports that we could be well enough to travel in a few days. The attending physican reports that the blood test detected an infection. He wants to do IV antibiotics and reports that Katie will probably be ready to go home in a week or so. Katie liked the Surgeon's report better, I think she is ready to leave.

We had the sweetest German family come visit tonight. The Stake President had sent them. The father and the son gave Katie a blessing and we were grateful that he did it in English. You can be in the far corners of the world and still call on the Priesthood power. What a blessing the Gospel is in our life. Thank you to everyone for your faith and prayers.

Katie is so happy to be in Vienna!

Katie resting comfortably after the transport
Here is the lovely hospital.

They are doing alot of tests today. They already took 7 vials of blood. She is scheduled for an EKG and a Venus Scan. We received a call from a local member that the Stake President is sending to give Katie a blessing tonight. We are well taken care of here.
Thank you for all your prayers.

Katie is in Vienna!

Katie made it to Vienna, everything went as planned. The doctor accompanying her meet with the doctor here and passed her and the records over. Dr. Molnar has a full slate of tests planned for Katie in the morning. They are going to do blood work and another Venus Scan. He knows the goal is to be able to travel to the states. We will not know anything till after all the tests. Thank you for all your prayers. They got her here safely.Katie reports this is a much nicer hospital than Romania. They have us in a big suite and a bed for me. BYU has contacted the local Stake President and he graciously offered for me to stay with him, but I prefer right here in the hospital by Katie.

I´m at the Hospital...Katie is coming!

I´m at the hospital and they seem very nice. It´s too bad I don´t know German. It would be a bit less confusing. Katie is on her way. Katie is traveling with a doctor who speaks English. So she was happy with that. I went and got a local cell phone (verzion has no service here) and I have talked to her several times and she is anxious to come. I called Mike in the middle of the night to make sure the phone worked to the States. Lucky for me he was coherent enough to tell me he loved me. Robby the group facililtator will be heading back to Iasi. He has been wonderful, along with Sister Lundberg, Katie has not been alone in the Romanian hospital. We are grateful for all they have done. We are almost on to the next stage of this adventure. It is always something new.

Monday morning...

It is a nice Monday morning in Vienna. Katie is still waiting for the doctor to come, we have several hours until they leave. So hopefully the day will go without any glitches. I will meet them at the hospital. The ambulance will be on the tarmac so it is not very feasible to go the airport. Some security issue. I will keep you posted as the day goes on. THANK YOU for your faith and prayers!

A minor glitch...

Well I am in Vienna, Katie is in Bucharest. One more hoop we need to jump through...a doctor is flying in to Bucharest to give medical clearance and to fly with her. Hopefully this is the last step.. We are getting closer! At least I am closer to her. Hopefully tomorrow or I might be heading to Bucharest. As the saga continues.

Hurry Katie, I will be enjoying the Orange Fanta without you!

I am in London

I am in London. If all goes as planned I will be in Vienna two hours before Katie and waiting for her to arrive. BYU has called and I have her travel info. It will be so great to see her. Thank you to everyone for your faith and prayers as we journey this adventure!

We finally have plans!!

Katie will be leaving for Vienna shortly. She gets a ride in an ambulance to the airport and will fly on a stretcher. She is quite excited. Robby, the group facilitator is flying with her. I have bought my one way ticket to Vienna. I leave at 11:20 am and arrive at 4 pm Sunday afternoon. My next update will be from Vienna. We are happy this been decided, she is getting the care she needs and I am on my way. Mike and Riley are bachelors again! Frozen pizza here we come. Luckily I have just been to Vienna so I am familiar with the airport, where the ATM is at the airport and the public transportation system. Thanks for all your love and prayers!!!

We needed a cheerful picture!

Katie & Jermey, Katie loves bright colors!

Setback for Katie

Katie's pain has moved up her leg and her thigh is swelling and she has a fever. They have taken her to the Hospital there in Bucharest. The Mission President in Bucahrest is Scott Lundberg who knows Bob & Lonnie and they had been to the Park City Barn (Dad's old house). They comment to Katie "Oh you are a Bradley" It is a small world in the church and we are very grateful. Sister Lundberg is with Katie at the hospital along with Robby, the Group Facilitator, the American Doctors and the Romanian Doctors. They are trying to stablilize her enough to move her to Vienna, London or somewhere where the care is better. I will most likely be leaving as soon as they decide where she is going. I knew it was not going to be a good day when Sister Lundberg called me this morning. It is the middle of the night there so it is taking a while to get results. Sister Lundberg has her cell phone with her and she is a saint! Always do your compassionate service you never know when it will come around to help you in a big way!!

Latest on Katie

We talked to Katie and the doctor late last night. The doctor was very helpful to answer our questions and explain things. Katie was there bright and early learning to do the Heparin shot. She will give it to herself in the stomach. She is taking pictures of it all, even the shot for the blog. The doctor was questioning us for a family history of clotting disorders. He said this is very rare to occur on a healthy 20 year old. The only thing that came up is my history of miscarriages. He specifically asked if someone had a history of miscarriages, they could be linked to a clotting disorder. So when Katie gets back we will do extensive blood work. Katie is still at the Mission Presidents home and very happy, they had lasagna and ice cream! She reports she has a very comfy bed with pillows to prop up her leg. She hopes to go back to Iasi next week and then the doctor can still monitor her with frequent blood tests that can be done there. She was happy to be in Bucharest for the weekend, she will get conference. We are so grateful for a doctor who speaks english and is giving her great care.

Update on Katie

Katie actually has two blood clots in her leg. She has left the Romanian Hosptital and gone back to the Clinic with the American Doctor. They have given her a shot and a oral medicine. Katie will give herself a shot every 12 hours until her blood level is where they want it. She will be on a blood thinner for 6 months. When she gets back to Vegas she will go to a hematologist to see if she has a blood clotting disorder. Kate will stay in Bucharest til next week and they will treat her as an outpatient, she was not too impressed with the hospital. She likes the American Doctor at the clinic. Tonight they are staying at the Mission presidents home and he has a member they can stay with the rest of the time. We are grateful to so many people helping Katie. What a blessing!We are grateful for modern medicine. So far so good. Please remember her in your prayers! THANK YOU!!

Katie and her leg...

Katie last Sunday with her roommates Rachel and Alicia

Katie has had some pain in her left leg. The last few days it has intensified and started to swell.

We have talked to her doctor here and felt the urgency that she see a doctor. In Iasi (aush) they do not have a doctor that BYU feels comfortable sending her to.

Yesterday Katie and Robbie (the group facilitator) took the train to Bucharest (5 hour ride).

She is at the hospital now seeing an American doctor. They are pretty sure it is a blood clot. They are doing a scan now and running some blood tests. They will have to spend the night in Bucharest so they will stay at a members home.

What a blessing to be a member of the Church, my daughter is in an unfamiliar city in a far away country and there is a member to look after her.

We will keep you updated as we find out more information.

I am happy she is in Bucarest and they are at the hospital!

We are feeling blessed that she was able to get there. Heavenly Father really loves Katie.
Katie reports that she is taking lots of pictures, I am sure she will have plenty to blog about when she gets back to Iasi.