Family Christmas Service Project...

We put together 144 Hygiene Kits! Woo Hoo! Go Family!

Merry Christmas

The Vegas/St. George Creer/Carnesale/Kohler family is gathered for a Christmas "Assembly Party." Barb's getting the plastic bags ready to receive the goodies. More later!

Now that I learned how to sign in and post a message, you will not beable to keep me off.

Merry Christmas One and All. Sidney

We have half the towels...

Christmas is coming...Our fun Humanitarian aid night is Monday December 22nd!

We will have yummy treats while we put together the Hygiene kits! We have half the towels we need.

We still need 144 hand towels 15X25.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FAMILY! I HOPE EVERYONE HAS A REALLY WONDERFUL DAY!!! I AM GRATEFUL YOU ARE IN MY LIFE!!

ENJOY YOUR TURKEY!!! I KNOW I WILL!

LOVE TO ALL!

TARA & BOBBY

Congrats Andi & Scotty!

Well I figured since Andi and Scotty are very busy with their brand new beauty I thought I would post some pictures we have received of beautiful Sydney. She is gorgeous and looks like a beautiful little precious doll.

Congratulations we are all so happy for your family! I can't wait to meet her in person someday soon!!

Love to all!!!

Tara & Bobby

Christmas is coming....

In lieu of a family gift exchange this year we are going to do a family service project.

At Gary's Birthday party we decided to get together and assemble Hygiene kits.

Hygiene Kits are sent to orphanages, homeless shelters, medical facilities and disaster areas.

We hope to collect supplies and assemble 144 kits.


We place the following items in a heavy-duty, one-gallon sealable bag:


2 unbreakable combs - Danny & Michael are getting all the combs.
4 toothbrushes (sealed) - Jen & Steven are getting all the toothbrushes.
1 full size tube of toothpaste (6-8 ounces) - Gary and Sidney are getting all the toothpaste.
2 bars of hand soap (3.5-5 ounces each) - Jeff & Darci bought ALL the soap!!
2 hand towels (approx. 15x25)



We will meet on December 22nd at Mike & Barb's to assemble the kits and have some Christmas Treats. We hope those out of town will join us or you can do a project of your own.

The test results are in!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and fasting in my behalf. The Vascular Surgeon in Vienna that met with us for a short while told me how lucky I was that I was still alive. I know that the prayers and fasting in my behalf have helped me immensly. I know that I am not merely lucky... but I am very blessed. Thank you for all of your love and concern.
I tested positive for the Factor V Leiden mutation. This means that I am prone to blood clots and the rest of my family gets to join me in the blood testing fun. The Doctor I saw today has ordered some more blood work to be done and also another ultrasound in December. I will go see him at the end of December to see if the clot is still there and to get the results of the blood tests. If the clot is there I will continue to take Coumadin every day and we will check later to see if it has dissolved. If it is not there then I will be homefree, but I will still have to take a baby aspirin everyday to thin my blood. I will probably have to take a baby aspirin everyday for the rest of my life, but that is easy. I just pray that the blood clot will dissolve by the end of December. That would be so nice if I didn't have to worry about it anymore. The Doctor also said that I didn't have to wear my favorite stockings unless I noticed swelling and that I could ease back into my normal day activities. Yay!
Here is some information pasted directly from good ole' Wikipedia about the Factor V (roman numeral 5) Leiden stuff: Studies have found that about 5% of caucasians in North America have factor V Leiden. The disease is less common in Hispanics and African-Americans and is extremely rare in people of Asian descent. Up to 30% of patients who present with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism have this condition. Factor V Leiden doubles the risk that a person will have a DVT during their life, but it is unclear whether these individuals are at increased risk for recurrent venous thrombosis. While only 1% of people with factor V Leiden have two copies of the defective gene, these homozygous individuals have a more severe clinical condition. The presence of acquired risk factors for venous thrombosis -- including smoking, use of estrogen-containing (combined) forms of hormonal contraception use, and recent surgery -- further increase the chance that an individual with the factor V Leiden mutation will develop DVT. Women with Factor V Leiden have a substantially increased risk of clotting in pregnancy (and on estrogen containing birth control pills or hormone replacement) in the form of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. They also have an increased risk of preeclampsia, as well as miscarriage and stillbirth due to clotting in the placenta, umbilical cord, or the fetus (fetal clotting may depend on whether the baby has inherited the gene). Note that many of these women go through one or more pregnancies with no difficulties, while others may miscarry over and over again, and still others may develop clots within weeks of becoming pregnant.

Happy Birthday Gary! Happy 75th!

Thanks for the call!

I got a call from the Doctor today... she said that I don't have to wear the socks anymore. WOOHOO! I can actually see my legs.. yay! and I can wear flip flops! She said that my blood clot still showed up on the ultra sound so I still have to be careful with my legs. The clot extends from the bottom of my knee all the way to the top of my inner thigh. My leg hurts when I'm up and moving, so I still have to take things slow. They still don't have the results from the test showing if I have some genetic thing going on. But my PT/INR blood test results that I have been getting every week are really good. That means that the blood thinner that I take every day is working and that I am on the right dose. Now I only have to get my blood drawn every other week. We are going to a Hematologist (a blood specialist) on Monday and I sure hope he doesn't make me put those socks back on.

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Medical Update

Here is a quick medical update: I went to the doctor on Thursday morning. They are always suprised at how young I am for having blood clots. I think it is always funny how the nurses or people that take your weight and height ask me questions like, "How did you get a blood clot?" I always think in my head, "Thats why I am here...Why don't you tell me how I got a blood clot?" :) But I just say, "I don't know... it's kinda crazy." Anyways... They took tons of blood and now we are just waiting for the results from all the different tests they are doing. I am also going in for another ultrasound on my leg at the beginning of next week. The records that were in Romanian and German just weren't making sense. But the doctor thinks the blood clots are probably linked to my genetics... thank you mom and dad! She said something about a Sector 5 gene... I don't really understand it all. I can't really do anything too exciting because a piece of the blood clot could still break off and go to my lung or to my brain. So I'm still hanging out in these great compression stockings just waiting for more information from the doctor. I'm just so happy to be home! Life is good!

I'm a Rock Star!

I just wanted to publicly thank HTH Worldwide Insurance. They flew my mom and I home from Vienna and took care of me while I was outside of the States. It took them a while to get everything worked out, but they kept at it and got us home safe. They also did a very good job at picking our seats. For our 11 hour long flight back to the states, we got to sit in what I like to call "Rock Star Class." It's the class above First Class. It was soooooo cool. The seats turned into beds and we didn't have those dippy blankets... oh no... we had fluffy pillows and down comforters! Crazy! Can you imagine flying like this all the time?? We also got free drinks. My mom and I ended up getting ice water every time and the guy serving us commented on how adventurous we were (if he only knew). I think a couple of the other guys in "Rock Star Class" were close to intoxication. Well, I can't really describe the greatness of this above First Class class, so here are some pictures:

AMAZING!

Pretty much what you see in the movies... and how you imagine Rock Stars travelling.

Woo Hoo

We are home!! Details tomorrow...

We're in London!

Yay! We have started our journey home. We are staying at a Hilton right by the airport for our quick get-away in the morning. The lady, Ana Maria, that checked us into the hotel is from Iasi, Romania. That is where I was! She just got back from visiting Romania two days ago and she talked about how she was at the Hala Centrala! I lived right across the street from the Hala Centrala! It was so crazy! I told her about how was I was working over there in the hospitals and orphanages and she thought it was pretty cool. After talking to her for a minute, she changed our room to a nicer one and gave us access to the Executive Lounge! So cool! We get free drinks and snacks, internet, and breakfast in the morning. She also gave us her card just in case we need anything else. What a nice lady! I pretty much have the hook ups...

Now Wednesday is the day...

So we have had a little bit of another delay and we will not arrive back in the States until Wednesday. Austrian Airlines will not allow me to fly on their planes for another three weeks with a blood clot. How mean?! We are flying through a different airline, but they don't have flights back to good ole America every day. So we have to wait for Wednesday before we will finally make it home. The call of bad news came from the insurance company shortly before our dinner arrived. I was already super bummed about not getting home until Wednesday, but then I saw what dinner was. The main dish: some vegetable mixture quiche looking thing, the side dish: pickled beets, the dessert: I still don't know. Veggies....(yuck) just aren't my thing. It was way more than I could take and after staring at my supposed meal for a few minutes, I just burst into tears. After dodging the nurses because we weren't sure if they would let me walk that far, my mom took me down to the cafe on the first floor and bought me the closest thing we could find to a ham and cheese sandwich and then a cherry yogurt, too. It was so nice to have something more familar! Thanks mom! After my mini meltdown we did finally recieve our flight plans via email. We get to leave the hospital tomorrow, much to my delight! I really don't think I could stay just one more day. We are flying to London tomorrow afternoon and we will spend the night there and then fly straight home Wednesday morning. I am so excited! We are really going to leave!

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. 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!

We ventured out of the room...

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.

I'm Busting Outta Here...

The doctor came in today and told us that we could go home on Monday! Yay! I am so excited! The hospital here has been great... but come on... its a hospital. I can't wait to get back home. Well going home is actually very bittersweet. For almost a year now I have been applying, preparing, and waiting to go to Romania. It makes me so sad that my experience was cut short. Part of me wants so badly to go back to Iasi. I want to go work with the little babies again. I want to walk into the room and see little Ovidiu looking up at me with his eyes begging me to pick him up. I want to get frustrated with him because he is the hardest baby to feed in the world, and then remember that I came there just to love him and it doesn't matter how long it takes for him to eat. I want to blow bubbles with Marion for hours and color with Alexandra even though she never likes my pictures. I want to let Catalina play with my hair even though she always ends up ripping a ton of it out. I want to change the diapers of the little babies there that have been abandoned and need my love even if I can only hold them for an hour. I will miss Iasi and my experience that I started there and didn't get to finish. I am so grateful that I got to serve the kids in Iasi for the short time I was there. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget. I hope the rest of my group will love and serve those kids with all their hearts, because I won't be able to.

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

Daily Report

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 happy to be in Vienna!

The lovely hospital!

Katie resting after the transport.

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, waiting for my plane to Vienna. If all goes as planned I will arrive in Vienna two hours before Katie. I have her flight info and I will be waiting for her and travel to the hospital with her. It will be so wonderful to see and be with her on this adventure in life as Katie calls it.
Thank you for your faith and prayers!

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!!!

The need for a cheerful picture!

Jeremy & Katie, Katie loves bright colors!