Thursday, June 26, the doctors released Ghaith to go to Jerusalem in hopes that on Monday he would have his final echocardiogram.  On Monday I was scheduled to escort Aros and his mother to Amman.  If Ghaith were to be released, he and his mother would travel with us. 

Monday was a very long day.  We left Jerusalem at 8:00 a.m. bound for the hospital.  A few hours after we arrived to the hospital and Ghaith’s echocardiogram was finished we got the news… Ghaith was free to go home!

Our journey to Amman began around 2:00 p.m.  It took some time for us to cross the border, but we did so without hindrance.  We arrived to the Shevet apartment in Amman around 10:30 p.m.  I thought we would go right to sleep, but the mothers were so excited, we stayed up talking and munching on snacks.  Finally around 1:00 a.m. we began to make our way to our bedrooms.

 

On Tuesday, the following day, we went shopping and ate lunch at a mall nearby.  On the upper level of the mall is a play area with rides for children.  Jody, a close friend of the mothers, and also a pastor of a local church in Amman, volunteered to watch the boys while the rest of us went shopping.  Aros and Ghaith were able to play around a bit while their mothers bought some last minute souvenirs.

 

After arriving to Israel, Ghaith and his mother waited nearly two months at the Save a Child’s Heart home for his surgery.  During this time they saw many children come and go, all with successful heart surgeries.  Before his surgery Ghaith was upset that he didn’t have a scar in the middle of his chest like most of the other children in the house.  The day before his scheduled surgery, Ghaith was taken in for a CT scan.  It was necessary to sedate him for this.  After he woke up he was disappointed to see that after, what he thought was his surgery, he didn’t have a scar.  Following his real surgery he wasn’t so excited about showing off his scar because he was in too much pain, however, now that he is feeling better things have changed.  I had a friend living in Amman join us during our shopping excursion.  When Ghaith heard us talking about his surgery, he quickly pulled up his shirt to show us his scar as if it were his trophy.

Both Ghaith and Aros’ mothers didn’t sleep that night.  When I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to say goodbye to Aros and his mother, Ghaith’s mother was also ready to walk out the door.  Her ride was scheduled to pick her up at 10:00 a.m. to take her to the airport.  At 9:30 a.m., both Ghaith and his mother were looking out the window in anticipation.  Finally, her ride arrived and we said goodbye. 

Ghaith’s mother once told us that it took her years to get pregnant with Ghaith and how saddened they were when they found out that their long awaited son was sick.  I remember immediately after his surgery one of the surgeons telling us how complicated it had been.  When we translated this to his mother she began to cry.  Through her tears she said, (in Arabic) “This is a miracle.  In Iraq this could have never happened, this would have never been possible.”  Now, one month later, Ghaith’s mother was finally headed home with her healthy son. 

  

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