Meet the lovely Hamza from Kafr ‘Aqab, near Ramallah. He came to Sheba with his mother and two other family members for his first visit. Born with a hole between his ventricles (VSD) and aortic atresia, Hamza underwent surgery in his first week of life. Now almost one year old, he has been referred to Sheba for further intervention.
It was a long day for little Hamza in the echo clinic. After several hours, five different technicians and doctors, and plenty of patience, they couldn’t get all the images they needed. As you can imagine, Hamza wasn’t impressed with a day of poking and prodding. I really felt bad for the poor wee guy. We tried milk, the phone and cuddles with Mum, while she patiently waited for a chance to change his very wet nappy! We were all working up a sweat trying to keep him calm for each new technician until, finally, he fell asleep. Hallelujah!
Things became much easier from there, until it was time to wake him for his ECG. Poor Hamza had definitely had enough and just wanted to be back in Mum’s arms. Following the tests the doctor asked about Hamza’s health, development, activity and medications before reviewing the echo images. Because his heart is so complex, even the senior doctor came in to take a look, but the images still didn’t provide the full picture.
In the end, Hamza needs a CT scan so the team can get a more detailed view of his heart and decide on the best way forward. He’ll return to Sheba as soon as possible for the scan. For now, this little boy has certainly earned some well-deserved cuddles and Mum a medal.
We pray that the CT scan will give the doctors the answers they need and that God will guide them as they decide the next steps for Hamza.
